Steve, mine went earlier this year. If you search there's a long posting about it. There were a bad batch of handbrake cables and what happens is that the outer sheath plastic coating cracks around the wire inner spirals and lets water in. The worst spot is at the tight bend where the cable enters the brake drum. I'd urge anyone who has a post 2009 car to check the outer cable at that spot. The faulty cables have a coarser spiral sheath compared to the earlier and later ones.
The cable costs around £75. If the near side one breaks you are lucky as the whole cable doesn't need to be replaced although you have to buy the complete cable. It the offside goes, the whole cable needs replacing and that means doing the job from inside the car as the cable runs along the propshaft above the floor and is held in there by "P" clips. To get to it, the seats need removing, the leather covering to the transmission tunnel which is glued to the floor and rear bulkhead needs carefully pulling free to unscrew the tunnel screws. It would be easier if the gearbox cover could be taken off as getting to the handbrake is otherwise only feasible from under the car. I couldn't get the car high enough to do that, nor could I get the gearbox cover off as the front was sealed to the bulkhead very strongly! In the end I cut an inspection hatch in the side of the tunnel to get to the clevis pin attaching the cable to the handbrake lever.
The other problem was getting to the end of the cable in the brake drum. I just could not get the brake shoes off as the hub flange covers a fair part of the brake shoe springs. I took it the my dealer, Mike Duncan who struggled until Ben suggested pulling the hub off! Took a few minutes then!
So.....a long job and I can easily see a dealer charging for several hours labour. I'm hoping the new cable will last a lot longer than 18 months but at least I know what to look out for. Good luck!
