Think about how it works... When the bed is sitting lower, the valve opens more to give more pressure to the rear brakes.

If your pedal is firm maybe you can take the rod off and adjust it manually to see if it works. Should be pretty easy if you have a gravel road to play on. Maybe you will find that it works and you just need to adjust the adjuster length.

It is difficult to eyeball and see if the rod is bent because it is not a straight rod. If it is bent I bet the paint will be cracking and falling off of it though.

97 T100 4x4
97 328i
95 540i restoration project