Clutch advise please - thanks.

[HBRAMSTEDT]

For the 1st time at 7100 miles, my clutch did a weird thing. I attempted a hard launch with low tire pressure and a full tank. The clutch clearly slipped a lot, and the tach. shot up a bit. I upshifted to second with slightly less throttle and it continued. The smell was obvious.

Ten minutes later, after things had cooled down, the clutch seemed perfectly stong. Hey guys, is this the way that the notorious clutch problems began for you? Did the clutch continually slip or did it begin to fail sporadically?

I would appreciate any feedback.

[2ND2N01]

That's exactly what had happened to me, but I saw smoke from the passenger wheel area! My clutch pedal fell to the ground after that

[HBRAMSTEDT]

Thanks.

My clutch seems to be working fine now though. My pedal was never affected. I am worried that the problem will return though, and that this is the way it begins.

Any confirmation on this?

[Lonman]

I had that too 6 months ago,....but now all is fine.

[Teutonaddict]

...but mine started at 35K miles. It continued to deteriorate--sporadically--over the next 7K miles. I just got my baby back today with a new clutch.

In my case, the Self-Adjusting mechanism failed prematurely, causing the clutch to slip. After an extended p*ssing match with BMWNA, they agreed beforehand to split the replacement costs with me 50/50, unless a defect was found and it would be 100% warranty. In the end, they covered it 100%.

Since there was a chance of me having to pay for it, I asked to see the guts once the tranny had been pulled. The master tech showed me how the clutch disk was NOT excessively worn (possibly indicating abuse), but also how the mechanism was causing the pressure plate to induce slippage.

The irony is I requested the Field Service Engineer to test drive the car to diagnose the slippage. He came back with "none whatsoever. hooks up as strong as my M5 w/ 8K miles!" To which I responded "yeah. right. let's go for a ride with BOTH of us in the car and let me show you how it slips." Bottom line, we rode together, and the tune miraculously changed to "you need a new clutch!" Followed very soon thereafter by "I have yet to see a failed M5 clutch that wasn't due to operator error."

Well, let me be your first!

Above dialogue is accurate. Taken directly from the pages of "How to Make Friends and Influence the Top 2% of Your Customer Base That has Purchased Five or More New Bimmers From Your Employer!"

After I get done breaking in my new clutch, I'm gonna have to write a (thoughtfully stated) nasty-gram to those folks in NJ!!

[HBRAMSTEDT]

Teuton, this sounds like what I am experiencing. The clutch seems to change character in a way that is not consistent with mechanical clutch disc wear. It seems to change personality from time to time. The dealer looked at it a month ago when I suspected something, and I got the same B.S. about how everything is OK.

So it seems probable that it is in the self-adjusting mechanism like yours.

[Teutonaddict]

Originally posted by HBRAMSTEDT
The clutch seems to change character in a way that is not consistent with mechanical clutch disc wear. It seems to change personality from time to time.

Perhaps that's why it took >7K miles (and four months) to get the issue resolved. Maybe the BMW folks weren't experiencing what I was feeling?

Although to me, it felt like a progressive deterioration, and I have my own theories as to why they would be "unable to replicate" my symptoms (can you say $$ non-warranty clutch replacement?).

I should also note that my hydraulics (pedal operation) "stiffened up" over time, and considerably so at the very end. (My new clutch operation is MUCH too light--more like my E39 98 540i/6). The BMW Field Service Engineer tried to blame my using ATE SuperBlue fluid as the likely culprit. Yeah, right.

Hope you get this resolved, HB. If you do a search on 'self adjusting clutch,' you'll find others that have experienced this problem.

-Dave