Ok so I bought the shoes from partsbmw.com and putting them on today. Took the drums off, inspected them and looked new still with no grooves or valleys. Took the e-brake boot off and loosened the brake cables completely.
Now the problem is that there is just too much meat on the new shoes and the drums will not go back on, on both sides. Even with much persuasion they will not slip on, even with the adjuster eccentric bolts in their full tilt. WTF:emo Has anyone ever had this problem before? This is the 3rd set of shoes I will be installing and never had this problem before. Is there something you guys would recommend to fix the problem?
Thinking I should either get the drums turned even though they don’t need them, file the bottom of the shoe bracket down (although this may be drastic), or get some sand paper and evenly take the pads down
Please help need the car working for tuesday:az:

get a soft blow hammer, and persuade the shoes some more :D

i had to wack mine a little bit to get the shoes to squeeze under the drums. the drum will be snug, but enough lining on the shoes will burn off after u drive it around for a little bit.

oh, don't forget to bleed the brakes after u get the brakes on :stickoutt

I got the driver side one on after bangin on it, when i tried to spin it to see if it would budge, it wouldnt, I tried with everything I got and it didnt move I took it back off cuz this would make the drum overheat and warp...

haven't done my rear brakes yet, to cold outside. yesterday was 40 degrees and the wind speed was almost 50 MPH, it was insane....... and I was changing a coolant hose that goes from the block to the intake manifold.... it was a bitch to get off

oh, u know what u could do....
-open the bleed niple for the rear brakes
-push/wack/hammer the shoes together like before so it compresses...i'm thinking that should compress that little cylinder at the top...and have a rag handy or something cuz some brake fluid might gush out of the bleed niple.

if that works, that should let the shoes be pushed inward more, allowing the drum to fit over. IMO, it's okay if the drums are initially a snug fit.....mine were like that, and they loosened up after backing out the driveway.


btw, did u use one of those 'special' brake drum tool to remove & install that spring holding the shoes together? or just pliers?

Good call, I'll give that a wack in the morning...

Well there on and working just took some really TougH LuV!

good motivatoin for some rear calipers/rotors ;)