MyE28.com

Hola e28ers. Great to meet you. Newbie in Atlanta here- just picked up a 1983 533i. It’s my first e28 (and my first classic.) Can’t wait to get tinkering. 
It runs and drives great, but needs some cosmetic work. Also, immediate focus is a grabby driver’s side front brake- first guess is it probably needs a new master brake cylinder.
Will try to add a couple of pics once I figure out the uploader…
Please bear with me- I’m going to have a lot of stupid questions!

 


 


 


 


 

 

Welcome! Fellow newbie here too, well to e28s that is lol. Love the color of your car and your steering wheel. As far as your brake issue goes have you checked the caliper on that specific wheel? Sometimes slide pins can give you weird stuff if they’re seizing, just my two cents. Either way sweet ride, enjoy it!

Welcome to the group!

I too would look at the caliper and pads before the M/C for the grabby brake.

Welcome! 3rd checking the brake hardware on that side first. I'm in Atlanta as well and I have a whole box of used stock e28 brake parts and a new set of pads if you would like them for free. Removed from my 535 when I upgraded the brakes and worked fine when removed. It does look like the part numbers for a 533 are different for the calipers but not quite sure if they are actually different dimension wise.

Welcome!  Please read and heed the Forum and Tech FAQ sections!

I'm in Metro Atlanta myself.  An Atlanta native, to boot!

Thanks- will definitely check the pads and calipers first. They were new in the last 6 months (doesn’t mean that isn’t the problem though.) The brake gets grabby once the car warms up. Then releases when cool- I read that was a likely symptom of master cylinder.

Also good to know there’s some folks here in Atlanta. I’m actually a Brit but I’ve been here 15yrs. Right in the city.

Plum Crazy!!!

Thought I’d post a quick update. Checked calipers and all looked good. Decided to go ahead and change the brake master cylinder. Mostly straightforward although a couple of the brake line nuts were reluctant to break loose. 
Interestingly the seal/gasket on the cylinder was missing… Anyway, it seems to have worked- not only is the break not grabbing, but idle is more consistent too.

VOM99 wrote: Jun 20, 2025 4:59 PM Thought I’d post a quick update. Checked calipers and all looked good. Decided to go ahead and change the brake master cylinder. Mostly straightforward although a couple of the brake line nuts were reluctant to break loose. 

Cool, hope it takes care of it.

Interestingly the seal/gasket on the cylinder was missing… Anyway, it seems to have worked- not only is the break not grabbing, but idle is more consistent too.

If you're referring to the O ring between the M/C and the booster, it's not supposed to be there. It's for vacuum boost cars and a 533 is hydroboost. Not sure if there would be any problem with it being in there, but just a FWIW.