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5K views 56 replies 15 participants last post by  bmwdirtracer 
#1 · (Edited)
Hi everyone. Well I'm pretty stumped. I'd previously posted in another thread today how thrilled I was about my metric mechanic 265 conversion and my new Sachs 240 clutch ordered from same....
However (knock on wood *tap*) only a few hours would pass before I would find myself in quite a predicament.

I'm not sure what went wrong, but something went horribly awry on me at a major intersection. I was cornering out of an adjacent Staples parking lot when I felt my clutch sticking to the floor slightly. I didn't hunk much of it, but made the corner safely into the left lane and arrived at a solid red light intending to turn left. To my surprise, when I shifted into first gear upon seeing green, there was no response in acceleration or power. The engine only revved to high RPM's. I didn't want to make things worse, so I gave up on the matter fairly quickly. It was evident the car wasn't going anywhere.

I had AMA drop the car off, after the police arrived to discuss my untimely blockage of traffic on a major thoroughfare. It was around 7:00pm .

I had a cruise planned with a few friends for the May Long weekend. I simply don't have any other form of transportation whatsoever for the remainder of the May long weekend. I need to get that winter E39 sooner than I thought!

Anyone have any idea what the problem might be or have a similar experience?

Thanks a ton for any help or input.

Greatly appreciative,

Dave.







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#4 ·
Sorry guys. I don't know how to edit the post. Mods, could you help me out??

The pedal stuck initially, but did come up by the time I was stopped at the light. I was able to depress and move my shifter to any gear I desired, but NOTHING would happen- just a high revving engine. Beyond that, I'm stumped and pretty disappointed right now. Hope that helps give a better feel for what's going on. I really appreciate the response guys. Thank you!!


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#8 ·
Have you contacted the shop that did the work for you, yet?

They need to fix whatever they messed up. I do not think the actual new parts are the problem, I would rely on MM to provide a working unit. Nobody is perfect, but I think the install is where the problem lies.

It does not sound like something broke, it sounds like the clutch is not engaging? The question is: why?
 
#9 ·
+1. Metric Mechanic will have supplied good equipment. The problem will be with the installation. I'd suspect that the clutch has disengaged, and is not re-engaging, for whatever reason. Does the pedal feel normal? Does the shop which installed the unit normally work on BMWs? Do they know what "Getriebseite" means? (I probably misspelled that, but it means "gearboxside")

It seems to me that the gearbox is coming back out, to find out what's going on inside the bellhousing.

(I am a BMW pro tech)
 
#10 ·
Mr BMW Pro Tech - Metric Mechanic is as capable as anybody as far as errors go, and based on my personal experience, I'd say even more so. It may well not be a internal issue, but just as easily could be. They are not above reproach and do not deserve a blanket pass.
 
#19 · (Edited)
Wow; I'd hardly call my post a "Blanket pass". It seems obvious that the issue isn't internal to the gearbox, but a clutch issue, whether hydraulic or mechanical. Since clutches do not typically fail in a month, an installation error is highly likely.

Certainly, hydraulic failure is possible - but the fact that the clutch is failing to engage -- rather than failing to DISengage, leads me to think there's a mechanical linkage or clutch failure inside the bellhousing.

Maybe someone put the release bearing in wrong, or didn't tighten the bolts that hold the clutch assembly to the flywheel....or maybe they overtorqued them.

jross: Where on Maui are you? I recently moved here, after 13 years in Kula, Huelo, and Haiku. Worked at BMW Maui, and Pacific Motor Works, and others. Did you buy your M5 there? Was it Nick's?
 
#11 ·
Pedal dropping to the floor sounds like it'll be hydraulic. I'd say the slave cylinder or the master cylinder.

If this is the case I'd change both as they're not too expensive to buy.

Good luck
 
#13 ·
I spoke with the shop that installed the MM 265 Conversion and the new Sachs 240 clutch one month ago.
They informed me that the clutch had basically pooched and that it was almost certainly due to my, "spirited driving". He went on to quote me $1500 for a new install.

I'm stumped, because while I love this car, I definitely don't bag drive it. I love driving it, but mostly it's just my little 9yr old girl and I that ride in it together. I'm not going to say I never juice the car and have never driven fast in it. That would be a lie in almost all our cases. But truly, I just enjoy the car as my daily summer vehicle- point A to point B.

It just seems to me that something's not adding up. What would you guys do?! I mean, while I don't think every shop will soak all clients given the chance, something just doesn't seem right....
Thoughts?


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#16 · (Edited)
The original clutch was incomparable to the new one (the one that's now "fried"). It was indescribably heavier in every way.
A few of you have made mention of hydraulics tying into this. I had the MM tranny and the clutch installed a month ago. Like I said, everything felt fine. Then, last week I had the blown SLS deleted (yes yes, i know it's an M5 abomination to some of you), but by this point, spending that kind of doe to refresh it back to stock was out of reach financially. I gave it Koni adjustables and Eibach Sports instead. Might this be of pertinence to any clutch problems? I couldn't imagine how... But then, I'm pretty green horned with a lot of this.


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#17 ·
The clutch hydraulics work off of the brake system, the SLS delete you had done works off of the power steering.

A clutch fried in a month? Wow! And what happens if you replace it - how long will the new one last? Spirited driving is one thing, but burning the thing out so quickly is odd. I take it you weren't doing burn outs and such?

Is this your first manual tranny car? What happened before this that led you to replacing the tranny? Is this the clutch that MM recommended? And the new clutch is real heavy to depress? What about it's adjustment? Does it engage in a normal fashion?

For what it's worth, when my clutch slave failed last month, the clutch wouldn't come off the floor. It puked its load all over the driveway. I could shift into gear, but the clutch was always engaged. To move it, I could put the car into gear, then start it in gear.
 
#20 ·
Yep. linklaterdavid you'll sure find out when you yank that box out. Like dirt says it's not likely the internals, was it a reputable shop which did your install? And yes I ended up with Nick's car.Biff roasted the syncros in 2nd., thrd., and 4th., took it out and am tooling around with a 260 in it.
 
#21 · (Edited)
Wow. Thank you all for your sincere and thoughtful input. I truly appreciate all of it.

The scoop is that it has definitely been identified as Clutch failure and NOT transmission failure.

The shop is a reputable one, that's why my feeling is that they are led to believe that the clutch failure is indeed legitimately my fault. It's a bit of a double conundrum since the Sachs was delivered along with the Tranny from MM right to my door. I took it to the shop and they installed it. Was it installed correctly? That's something the Good Lord may only ever know. They certainly don't seem willing to own up to any possibility of wrong doing at the shop (though truthfully, I haven't even argued). I imagine Metric Mechanic could be contacted to see if they would concur that the clutch could have been faulty. They would just send a faulty Sachs 240 back to BMW anyways wouldn't they? Shouldn't it be warrantied against this kind of thing- at least to a certain point? We're talking six weeks!

Ideally, I guess I could propose that each of the three parties pay $500 a piece, since I was quoted $1500 for the full parts and labour install. In reality, I know that's not very likely, but would you guys even attempt proposing something like that? I've put over 10k into the car in the three months I've had it and feel like this one is starting to push me over the edge a bit. I know these cars cost money. I'm prepared for that, but it's just been a lot all at once. Never the less, the car only has 80k km on it. The body and interior are immaculate and I'm quite pleased otherwise!

I just have a hard time digesting a brand new 700$ clutch burning out from "alleged" spirited driving. But how do you put that to a shop? They have you over a barrel and aren't even spitting on it!


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#49 ·
Personally, I think it boils down to faulty install; inadequate torquing (as was mentioned), or something of that nature).
David, there is no doubt in mind it was an install issue. You should not be out of pocket a cent, much less $1400. I would fight this.

hanngmcgon ,are you following this thread or ? Maybe you can explain what you corrected, or am I missing something.
hanngmcgon looks like a bot, all "its" posts are copies of other posts from real users.
 
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