Holy sh!te brake fail....on the drive at least

[storminmike]

[quote="TimX5"]
[quote="storminmike"]
Not got the results back yet as is went on the AA trailer this morning. It also needed an oil service so whilst it's in that's getting attended to.

What I could see in the daylight (just) leads me to believe it is as bad as the pictures above
[/quote]

Yours are worse coz mine didn't burst lol , on a more serious note I hope you get sorted and there was no harm done thank goodness.

Tim
[/quote]

Hi Tim

I think that's possibly the point of me posting this. Not to create a scare story but perhaps make people aware of what at certain car ages could be a serious shortcoming.

This may not apply to every X5 E53 and quite what are the mechanics of fail are I couldn't say but the car does get quite muddy due to the roads it goes down. The pipework has its own built in shelf namely the suspension arms to collect crud. We didn't get it from new so maybe it had been exposed to less forgiving environments than tarmac roads.

Personally I would recommend other users to have a good look when chance arises.

It could be the bend in the metal pipe, the crimped join, or the rubber pipe that failed. I might be getting it back tommorow so I'll try and find out exactly which point gave in

[TimX5]

My guess would be that the metal part of the pipe failed ,  I'm with you on this one , folks need to be aware of how these pipes can be overlooked at mot time resulting in excessive corrosion and potential failure .

[Steamyrotter]

Not good at all and glad it was spotted when it was..

These pipes run in a plastic holder with cover over the top so would not be spotted as they do not open things like that.

[storminmike]

Got it back

This is Timx5s picture but just to show you where it failed. It was on the solid pipe bend nearest the wheel. In the picture where you can see a flake of crud sticking up.

Mine looked just as bad as this

[TimX5]

Glad you got it all sorted , I thought the metal part of the pipe would be favourite.

Do I get any royalties for using my pic lol

[storminmike]

[quote="TimX5"]
Glad you got it all sorted , I thought the metal part of the pipe would be favourite.

Do I get any royalties for using my pic lol
[/quote]

How about the warm glow when you go to sleep knowing you've provided valuable and insighful information to your fellow X5 owners

[TimX5]

[quote="storminmike"]
[quote="TimX5"]
Glad you got it all sorted , I thought the metal part of the pipe would be favourite.

Do I get any royalties for using my pic lol
[/quote]

How about the warm glow when you go to sleep knowing you've provided valuable and insighful information to your fellow X5 owners
[/quote]

That my friend is priceless  :alkashi:

[Turks]

Same place as mine failed, and same corner - must be more exposed to corrosion than the others.


Turks.

[storminmike]

[quote="Turks"]
Same place as mine failed, and same corner - must be more exposed to corrosion than the others.


Turks.
[/quote]

Ironically the covered bits are a teensy bit better condition....but not much. The issue seems to the way stuff can settle on top and remain damp, perhaps salt plays a part too? Not sure what I'd do now to protect it more although it did last 10years I guess. Although on an old part I'd be tempted not to mask it I feels like I should spray something over them ( the metal bits)

If I give the arms a good clean the I might give em a dust of laquer

anyhow...all done, serviced and out of pocket again

[TimX5]

[quote="storminmike"]
[quote="Turks"]
Same place as mine failed, and same corner - must be more exposed to corrosion than the others.


Turks.
[/quote]

Ironically the covered bits are a teensy bit better condition....but not much. The issue seems to the way stuff can settle on top and remain damp, perhaps salt plays a part too? Not sure what I'd do now to protect it more although it did last 10years I guess. Although on an old part I'd be tempted not to mask it I feels like I should spray something over them ( the metal bits)

If I give the arms a good clean the I might give em a dust of laquer

anyhow...all done, serviced and out of pocket again
[/quote]

Just give the new pipes (metal part ) a coating of copper grease brush on or spray either will do.

[storminmike]

Will do

Final thoughts. I always thought less joints was better in plumbing. With appropriate strapping to the arms I would have thought that this piece would have been better with wholly externally braided pipe. The OE part uses hose (not externally braided) as little as possible I guess because it's less capable of surviving damage/cuts....and cheaper than externally braided. So it temporarily changes to pipe....that rusts

[TimX5]

The hose doesn't need to be externally braided as it's not at risk of coming into contact with anything or rubbing /kinking , the whole design of the pipe running in the top of the arm is a poor design imho bloody muck /salt trap they would of been better if they'ed been more exposed,  less chance of crap collecting on them.

[X5Sport]

I bought one of these for getting underneath and giving everything a good blast.  It may not get absolutely everything, but a lot of muck does come off......just don't trigger the pressure washer until the head is under the car.  You will get very wet, very quickly!

[pvr]

I have the same, excellent product.

[storminmike]

[quote="X5Sport"]
I bought one of these for getting underneath and giving everything a good blast.  It may not get absolutely everything, but a lot of muck does come off......just don't trigger the pressure washer until the head is under the car.  You will get very wet, very quickly!


[/quote]

My Indy said he'd never seen so much mud underneath on a car. We use an unmade road that's not very long but it's potholed that bad that it looks like a scene from saving private ryan after a mortar attack. With all the wet weather and the fact that it rarely gets resurfaced the mud that gets thrown up is something else.

It does get a pressure wash under the arches at the local tesco (they can have my mud for free) but unless I crawl down in someone elses soap soads then getting at those arms is tricky

That under car gizmo looks ok and I do need another pressure washer. I was considering a K4, possibly the compact one but they do the k2 with that attachment as packages. Not sure a K2 is much better than the 8 year old Karcher (that hunts like mad) is though.