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Originally Posted by NISFAN
In theory, the shoes are correctly adjusted at the factory. The shoes don't wear unless you're doing hand brake turns, so shouldn't need adjusting at the wheels.
It happened on mine that the cable adjuster spring got stuck in the locked position. All I had to do was use a screwdriver to release it. It works well on mine now. If the handbrake has any excess movement, just yank it whilst driving slowly and it's down to 2-3 clicks again.
I have adjusted the shoe settings before when I changed the discs.
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I'm following you now... As you say "in theory", but having lived with this brake shoe mechanism since my first BMW (E12), it is surprising how quickly parking brake performance tails off when there is a bit more than the optimum shoe clearance. It is the reason why many BMW users complain about the poor handbrake. Some of the wear is not use, but lack of use, drums get corroded and shoes wear due to that, more than brake application.
User manuals used to state gently apply the handbrake at slow speed... statements such as:
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To avoid corrosion, apply the parking brake lightly from time to time when coasting to a standstill (at a traffic signal, for instance), provided that it is safe to do so.
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Your comments on the lever position, that is issues with the automatic cable adjuster (ASZE). The ASZE unit seems to jump out of position. The 'yank' can solve it, but if too frequent or severe needs replacement. I used to have that problem with my E91, sometimes there would be a lot of movement, other times stayed in the 3 - 4 click position for months.
If we want optimum parking brake performance there is no shortcut, shoes may need adjusting, to get the best efficiency.