What brake fluid do you use?

[ryankokesh]

Does everyone use ATE Super Blue? Is there anywhere I can acquire this that isn't online? I'm guessing the dealer would have it or oem similar?

thanks!

[mikeyb74]

I have ATE Blue fluid in my car. The dealer will not sell it. They have the BMW DOT4.

[danewilson77]

I have ATE Blue fluid in my car. The dealer will not sell it. They have the BMW DOT4.

This is what I used....but may change.

HTC Thunderbolt+TT

[kayger12]

I use the Blue as well.

[ryankokesh]

Picked up some dealer oem fluid... only $9 for two bottles!? Unfortunately I didn't have enough foresight to order ATE blue in advance...

[ryrules1]

Just bought some ATE blue from ECS. I know people love it here, so I am excited to try it out. IIRC someone said it stains your brake reservoir blue, is this true? Not a deal breaker, but kind of... sucky (sucky isn't the right word)

[kayger12]

Just bought some ATE blue from ECS. I know people love it here, so I am excited to try it out. IIRC someone said it stains your brake reservoir blue, is this true? Not a deal breaker, but kind of... sucky (sucky isn't the right word)

I wouldn't be surprised. It stained the hose on my Motive Extractor.

Droid X. Tapatalk. Use it.

[echo46]

ATE Blue as well.

[Crickett]

OE BMW DOT4 here.

[static667]

The super blue works really well, but you have to bleed it twice as often as standard fluid. It has a higher affinity for moisture. I'm too lazy to do that, so I just run standard DOT4.

[ryankokesh]

Used a mityvac mv8000 today for the first time to bleed the brakes and refilled with oem fluid. Gotta say that I didn't really like it. First of all I had to take out all my bleeder valves to clean them and wrap the treads in that white tape stuff. Otherwise it wouldn't extract without TONS of tiny bubbles. After that was taken care of, it did work I guess, it just seemed to be kind of cheaply made and quite finicky. I guess I expected it to be much easier. Anyone have a pressure dealy they really like? I feel like pressurizing the reservoir would be easier than "pulling" the fluid from each valve.


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[danewilson77]

I think the motive power extract is tests. They make a brake breeder as well.

The Walker Texas Ranger model is also very efficient.

HTC Thunderbolt+TT

[MrMaico]

Used a mityvac mv8000 today for the first time to bleed the brakes and refilled with oem fluid. Gotta say that I didn't really like it. First of all I had to take out all my bleeder valves to clean them and wrap the treads in that white tape stuff. Otherwise it wouldn't extract without TONS of tiny bubbles. After that was taken care of, it did work I guess, it just seemed to be kind of cheaply made and quite finicky. I guess I expected it to be much easier. Anyone have a pressure dealy they really like? I feel like pressurizing the reservoir would be easier than "pulling" the fluid from each valve.


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I tried one of those on a bike once, like you said, kinda junk.

I have one of these now and have only used it once for my brakes but it worked great. Also used it to suck everything out of the oil filter housing during oil changes and for the power steering reservoir. I just smeared some grease around the bleed nipples to seal them and that worked fine. I think I paid $80 for it, used (one time). With the refill bottle it's an easy one man job.

http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53200-19255-0/1?ff3=4&pub=5574947307&toolid=10001&campid=5336776893&customid=&mpre=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fitm%2FMityVac-6835-Vacuum-Brake-Bleeder-Kit-w-Refill-Bottler-%2F110753141586%3Fpt%3DMotors_Automotive_Tools%26v xp%3Dmtr%26hash%3Ditem19c966d352

[dinanm3atl]

Super Blue and their other fluid. Switch back and forth so you know it is bled. That is why one is blue and other is 'yellow/clear'. Really not needed for a street car though. Standard BMW Dot 4 or really some quality Dot 3 would be plenty.

[az3579]

I had Motul RBF600 last and liked it. Didn't have any bubbles after bleeding after a track event.

Normally I alternate between Super Blue and ATE Type 200 every flush. I completely flush my fluid three times a year.

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[billschusteriv]

I like ATE Super Blue and use this in my e30 and e46. I've also used ATE Gold (Type 200?)


Normally I alternate between Super Blue and ATE Type 200 every flush.

You can always go with the ATE Gold (Type 200?) if you don't want to deal with blue stained Motive Power Bleeder hose or possibly a stained resevoir. I haven't noticed or thought any staining to the resevoir was a big deal - can't really see much of anything in the resevoir anyway.

[wsmeyer]

Motul RBF600

The fact that it's also really popular with the motorcycle crowd makes it easy to find locally.

I tried using one of those Motiv Power Bleeders, I wasn't impressed. At the max rated pressure the fluid just didn't come out fast enough, particularly in the rears. I had changed to SS lines and on all four corners there is a good 10" of vertical where the lines come down to the caliper. I felt that at the speed the fluid was coming out air bubbles could very easily be running back up and staying in the line. YMMV

William.

[billschusteriv]

I tried using one of those Motiv Power Bleeders, I wasn't impressed. At the max rated pressure the fluid just didn't come out fast enough, particularly in the rears. I had changed to SS lines and on all four corners there is a good 10" of vertical where the lines come down to the caliper. I felt that at the speed the fluid was coming out air bubbles could very easily be running back up and staying in the line. YMMV

William.

Good point William.

I haven't specifically had this problem with my Power Bleeder, but it could be a difference in our setups.

[GT172I]

I like ATE Super Blue and use this in my e30 and e46. I've also used ATE Gold (Type 200?)


You can always go with the ATE Gold (Type 200?) if you don't want to deal with blue stained Motive Power Bleeder hose or possibly a stained resevoir. I haven't noticed or thought any staining to the resevoir was a big deal - can't really see much of anything in the resevoir anyway.

I've used both too (after boiling my old fluid at a track day), they're actually the same fluid just with or without the dye so you can tell once it's flushed through the system. (Type 200 & SuperBlue)

Funny thing was a month or two later I had a free oil change at the dealer and they came back urgently claiming that my brake fluid needed to be replaced since it was so "dark and dirty" but was just blue.

[billschusteriv]

Funny thing was a month or two later I had a free oil change at the dealer and they came back urgently claiming that my brake fluid needed to be replaced since it was so "dark and dirty" but was just blue.

:spit


Sounds like something you'd hear from a mechanic. That it also happened to be at a dealer doesn't surprise me :facepalm

I would've loved to have been a fly on the wall and see the service manager tell the tech that it was ATE Super Blue and it was supposed to be that color. :slap

[GT172I]

:spit


Sounds like something you'd hear from a mechanic. That it also happened to be at a dealer doesn't surprise me :facepalm

I would've loved to have been a fly on the wall and see the service manager tell the tech that it was ATE Super Blue and it was supposed to be that color. :slap

haha no kidding, didn't leave me with much faith.

[billschusteriv]

haha no kidding, didn't leave me with much faith.

I can almost hear part of the conversation... if I had time, I'd work up a xtranormal cartoon (keith-esque). hehehe


"Hey Joe, that ZHP owner gave us a call back."

"Okay sir. What did he say?"

"Apparently, he knows his way around a BMW and this ZHP. He claims the brake fluid is supposed to be blue. Some kind of german high quality racing brake fluid."

"Did we get a smart one or did he sound confused? Why is he using racing brake fluid? This is not an M3. It is a ZHP. It is not special."

"I know what you mean, Joe, but he sounded pretty smart. I think we should stop while we are ahead. He already thinks we are stupid. Let's not lose his business before we can give him an expensive list of required service or maintenance to do."

[Marcus-SanDiego]

:like


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[ryrules1]

Just flushed my brakes with suoee blue. We will see if I like it. :)

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[echo46]

I have been using the Motive Power Bleeder for years on both my e46 and e36. I always have great results and ease of use. Indeed, wifey and I don't have to scream at each other when she doesn't hold the brake pedal down long enough or at the right time and let's air in to the system. Now we are a happy family.

[kayger12]

I have been using the Motive Power Bleeder for years on both my e46 and e36. I always have great results and ease of use. Indeed, wifey and I don't have to scream at each other when she doesn't hold the brake pedal down long enough or at the right time and let's air in to the system. Now we are a happy family.

Lol- worth the money right there (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002KM5L0/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=zhpcom-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399369&creativeASIN=B0002KM5L0).

Droid X. Tapatalk. Use it.

[ELCID86]

Waking a sleeper. Is there an evacuator that will work on both brakes and oil?

[wsmeyer]

Waking a sleeper. Is there an evacuator that will work on both brakes and oil?

All the ones I've seen come with the right diameter hose or an adapter that allows them to be attached to the bleeder screw.

In my experience though they are not very useful for bleeding brakes. They all suffer the same inherent design flaw in that they are using vacuum pressure to draw brake fluid out through the bleeder valve. Once you loosen the bleeder valve, air is then also drawn up through the loosened threads and out the hose. This does not introduce air into the brake system but when you see air in the tubing it's impossible to tell if it came out of the brake system or was drawn up through the bleed screw.

Back to the original question though.

I use Pentosin DOT4 Low Viscosity brake fluid - what BMW specifically calls for in DSC systems.

[BCS_ZHP]

Waking a sleeper. Is there an evacuator that will work on both brakes and oil?

Shawn,
I have a brake bleeder for our cars if you need to use it.

And if you're asking if you can remove the brake fluid first and then add new fluid, you don't want to do that as it may introduce air into the ABS control module which is a pain to remove. (This happened to one member, it might have been Joop, it took him several bleeding sessions to get all of the air out of the system.). So you remove some old fluid from the master cylinder, add new fluid, attach the pressure bleeder on there, pump it up to pressure and then go bleed the brakes in the proper sequence. It will take you longer to set the car up on 4 jack stands & remove the 4 wheels than it will to bleed the brakes.

Planning to mess around with cars this weekend, let me know if you want to fit this in. Also, I already have several cans of the ATE Blue & Yellow brake fluid, so no need to hunt that down.
Bruce

[ELCID86]

Thanks for the replies. Actually need to do both on the wife's TSX. The 330i was done just before I bought it in April. Mityvac MITMV8500 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002SQYUA/ref=ox_sc_act_title_5?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A1UMBRA5ZTBCX8) looks like it's for brakes and the Mityvac 7400 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000JFJM14/ref=ox_sc_act_title_4?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER) for oil. I was thinking of buying an extractor that I could use for bother cars and would handle brakes, power steering and oil.

[Crickett]

Ok, new conundrum for the Family to crack: DOT 4 low viscosity brake fluid.

The relevant quote from the BMW TIS regarding approved brake fluid is this:

All vehicles with DSC without a charge pump must be filled with the new DOT 4 low viscosity brake fluid.
http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=264192&d=1296184422

So the question is, does our DSC system have a precharge pump? The bit of searching I've done leads me to believe we do not (though the E46 M3, and E39s, E65s, etc. appear to).

If I'm right, then the DOT 4 LV fluid options I've thus been able to find include:

BMW P/Ns in the pic above: I've found 83 13 0 139 896, the 500-mL bottle, available from most of our favorite online parts shops (ECS, TheBMWPartStore.com, etc.). Note that this is NOT the same as the "normal" 12-oz bottle of BMW brake fluid (P/N 81 22 0 142 156).
Pentosin DOT 4 LV: fairly widely available (Amazon, AutohauzAZ, etc.)


Another possibility is ATE's SL.6, labeled as a "DOT 4 (Class 6)" fluid. Pentosin's spec sheet for their DOT 4 LV (http://www.pentosin.net/specsheets/Pentosin_Dot4_LV.pdf) lists "ISO 4925 Class 6" as a specification it meets, so perhaps Class 6 fluids are LV? (Or that could be a square-rectangle thing . . . )

So whaddya think? I'll probably "play it safe" & get a couple bottles of the BMW LV fluid.

[wsmeyer]

I did a bit of research on DOT4 LV and posted it here:

http://www.zhpmafia.com/forums/showthread.php?8918-CDV-Hydraulics-Explained&p=278434#post278434

[Crickett]

I did a bit of research on DOT4 LV and posted it here:

http://www.zhpmafia.com/forums/showthread.php?8918-CDV-Hydraulics-Explained&p=278434#post278434

THAT's where I heard all this before!! I was wracking my brain trying to remember / find that post! Thanks!