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[bmw] [E36] Replacing brake pedal travel sensor?

At 10:06 PM 12/31/03, bmw-digest talked about:

Hello,
My ABS light is coming on, so I had it diagnosed.  Mechanic says that it
is the 'brake pedal travel sensor.'  It was the only part in the ABS
circuitry that was out of spec.

Has anyone had any experience replacing one of these?  If so, could you
maybe send out a set of instructions?  I haven't checked my Bentley, but
I highly doubt this is in there.
Interestingly, I just had this problem diagnosed, fixed it myself, and posted the results to the E36M3 list.

So, here's what I have:
Apparently there's a pedal travel length switch/sensor in the brake booster, next to the master cylinder. This is what needs to be replaced.

P/N 34 33 1 182 594 (list price $110.48) This is the repair kit which gets you the switch, o-ring, couple of circlips and several colored plastic end caps for the shaft of the switch.

Access was a bit tight for me, I removed the vacuum hose from the intake, and the rubber boot from the air box to the throttle body so that I had a straighter path to the sensor. You'll need some circlip pliers and a screwdriver, I found, in order to remove the circlip (I still managed to break off a bit of the plastic on the brake booster that helps retain the circlip). Pump the brake pedal a few times to help release the pressure in the booster, unplug the connector and pull the switch out (there may still be some pressure, so be careful).

Note the color of the plastic end cap of the old switch and install the same one on the new switch. Use the o-ring on the new switch. I didn't see one on the old one, and installed the new one without it at first. Vacuum leak resulted :-) Secure with new circlip, reconnect connector and any other items you may have removed and you're done.

So far, so good. I replaced mine on Christmas Eve and I haven't had the ABS & ASC lights come on since (~500 miles).

Hope that helps,
Jim Bassett
1998 M3/4 - also got a new door lock actuator on Xmas Eve - Merry Christmas M3!
1992 325is #44 JP/A5
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