changing wheel brake cylinder for rear drum

[jasonbk]

Hey guys,

Few months ago my right hand side brake cylinder was leaking so I got it cleaned up and re-installed it because it looked fine after a bit of cleaning.

But looks like one of the rear brake cylinder is leaking because I lost bit of pedal pressure (it sinks about 1 inch deeper than before) recently.

My questions are:

1. Can I use rear drum cylinder part from early north american 318i(mine is late model 316i) even though cylinder diameter is different? (20.64 mm for early model vs 22.20mm late model)
* Because early 318i cylinders are much cheaper than getting cylinder for late euro model


2. Can I just clamp the brake hoses and switch out the rear brake cylinders, or do I have to re-bleed the brake (which I got it done about 2 months ago)


Late 316i rear drum:
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...87&hg=34&fg=10

Early 318i rear drum:
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...87&hg=34&fg=10

[jasonbk]

bump

[jasonbk]

bump

[vpilarrt]

1. No. That would cause the braking power on the 2 rear wheels to be non-equal.
2. You'll still have to bleed the changed cylinder. Best way to do this (so you don't damage the brake line) is to depress the brake pedal and put something(2x4, long screwdriver, etc) between it and the seat frame to hold the pedal down. This closes the ports to the reservoir and will keep fluid from leaking out the line while you change the cylinder but you'll still have to bleed it.

[jalopi]

hrm.. fuck $60-70 for a wheel cylinder, buy two aftermarket ones for a 318i if they're that much easier to come by, then you're getting a slight boost in braking torque in the rear.

[jasonbk]

Thanks. think I'm going to order pair of 318i wheel cylinders and switch both out, bleed the brake for now and keep scooping parts for disk swap.