Parking brake on MY15 F15

[NPickles]

Has anyone else noticed that when you stop and apply the park brake with the engine running it appears to apply and hold, but when you turn the engine off it appears to release and the vehicle rocks on the transmission park pin?

Mine has done it since day one, if you are stopped on a slight hill when you turn off the ignition it rolls ever so slightly.

The park pin holds it but if there is a park brake why not have that hold all the time otherwise whats the point of it?

[r33_RGSport]

@NPickles , yeap. Complained about it at the first week of ownership and the SA just said, that's how it is designed.
But since I have worked on the brake system, I think it is because on the first initial engagement, the e-brake and rear brake are both engaged. And after the engine is off, the rear brake is let off and the whole car is only held by the e-brake.
Which the e-brake is using the old school brake shoe system.

[spike5150]

Same on both of our F15's, and also did the same thing on our 2013 X3. My 2012 X5, however, did not have this issue.

[AntMan]

Coincidentally, I took my X5 to the dealer a couple of weeks ago for exactly the same complaint, saying to them that surely the electronic brake should hold the vehicle securely once activated......they said that they couldn't find any fault

I've had other cars with an e-brake and never once experienced this problem. I know none of us park one inch away from any other parked car or fixed obstacle on an incline, but a 2 ton car shouldn't roll at all once the e-brake is activated, surely?!?!?

My kids now know to wait a few seconds once I park before they open the doors to jump out......

[m_alnimah]

I've also noticed that back when I had my beloved X5!! Whenever I'd start the car with the Parking brake On and put on my seatbelt it would automatically go into "Hold" (discovered the Auto-release that way too) and whenever I'd park and engage the parking brake, it would hold untill the engine is off.

Whenever id turn the engine off id hear the sound of the Parking brake engaging at the Rear Left Tire (which I assume is that the Left Rear brake holds and the rest release)

Am I right?

[coolidge]

A parking brake that disengages when you turn off the engine would be retarded. Especially when parking on a hill.

[IvanLZ]

Same here. Passengers in my car tend to get scared for a moment when getting off the car

[Samurai of 2day]

My F16 does the same thing. I don't use the parking brake often, but I have noticed that when it's engaged while the car is one, once it shuts down, it does a slight "jump".

Looks like it is common among all of our vehicles.

[MotoWPK]

Happens on our '14 as well. While the failure to hold most commonly occurs when the engine is turned off, it some times occur after a few seconds with the engine continuing to run.

Had the dealer check this recently and the tech's response was that there were no errors reported by the system (which is not exactly the same as actually trying it to observe the symptom, is it). I've also noticed that some times I can feel the brake pedal being depressed slightly when I apply the e-brake but not other times. It appears as if the system is applying the brake inconsistently.

Will have them look at this further the next time our X5 is in for service because it's certainly undesirable for the vehicle to rest on the transmission parking pawl.

[artem123]

Bingo! That is exactly how my acts. It feels like a car releasing the parking break the second the engine turned off. Definitely strange. Although i barely use it since everywhere i park regularly is absolutely flat.

[cmyx6go]

Same here. Happened on my '10 & '13 E71s and current F86. Can be unnerving, especially when parking on an incline. My sweetie's house has that sloped down driveway. I always back in and hold my breath when I set the parking brake and wait for that jerk. I'm afraid I'm going to go through the garage door.

[Pastor Passum]

Our '16 is the same. Living in the mountains, the ONLY level space is in the garage. Anywhere else and it's like other's have said, hold your breath and wait for the jerk. Not ideal, to say the least.

[coolidge]

As this made zero sense to me I just read up on the parking brake in the manual which states, "The parking brake is used to prevent the vehicle from rolling when it is parked." It goes on to state a number of safety situations which the parking brake is supposed to keep the vehicle from rolling, including parking. So imo the parking brake is malfunctioning if its not doing its job and I'd print off that page of the owners manual and slap it down in front of the service manager and tell him to fix it.

[TOPEC]

A simple test would be to park on a hill, engage the parking brakes n put transmission into park n shut the car off. Then pull up the gear shifter boot n use the tool to unlock the transmission from the locked park position. If the car doesn't roll then ur parking brake is working.

[pragueX5]

how about you all put the car in P, shut the engine, and engange the parking breake, and presto, no jerk.

[P1]

My E70 did that, and so does the F15. I see it as "normal" at this point.

[MysticBlue]

It uses the parking brake control as an auto-hold when the engine is running and you are still in gear with the regular brake being held on. So you can come to a stop at a stop light and with your foot on the brake, initiate the p-brake and you can take your foot off the brake pedal. Then when the light turns green, just step on the gas to go... you don't have to turn off the p-brake. This feature means that using the p-brake control in this situation does not actually engage the parking brake, it just holds the regular brake. But if you then shut the engine off, the e-brake does engage, and the regular brake disengages. This is what you are feeling. I think.

[stewy604]

Agree, not ideal...but seems like normal operation (mine does it too). Definitely a little concerning the first time it happened to me...I was ready to stand on the brake pedal.

[BDO]

Please check my reply in the other thread - the rolling is not normal operation.

[HydroStream6]

My parking brake holds solid all the time.

[Qsilver7]

Just an FYI...on how the parking brake functions. When the engine is running and the parking brake is applied...the front and rear "hydraulic" brakes are applied (though DSC)...then when the engine is shut down, the electro-mechanical parking brake (rear axle) is applied.

So if the car appears to be moving...perhaps you should have your parking brakes adjusted or checked out...but it appears that there could be a physical feeling of movement (if the car is on an incline) as the regular front/rear hydraulic brakes are released.

BTW, the 2nd post in this thread (from back in 2016) appears to have mentioned this. See the highlighted text in the excerpt below from the BMW TIS:

[gvarr03]

Unfortunately, it is not normal. In E70 & F15 it is sort of a weak spot. Just have to either deal with it or replace/adjust the parts. Now, I've been fed a BS by the advisor that it was normal operation and technician test drove it and could not find anything wrong etc..

Mine X5 has been doing that kind of "jerking" on little, big hills it doesn't matter. I've been to two different dealerships trying to find out the problem. The result was both if the dealerships couldn't find anything wrong with E-brake.

Fast forward, I tried adjusting parking brake, Bowden cables and finally replaced EMF actuator unit and guess what happened? It's gone.

So I like mentioned I think it is a problem with X5's...BMW knows it but don't want to do anything about it...Kinda like the issues with lower control arms