Two seasons and 23k miles later, I can honestly say my Beast is faster, stronger and healthier than ever. Before unleashing it on the track, there's just one more order of business, a new clutch. I came across member InfamousQ's thread about a RMS fix and got in touch with Clemster himself. Although it was 250 miles away, after chatting with Adam a few times, I was confident he was da man for the job.
The day finally came, and by 10am, I was already past the Delaware Memorial Bridge, after another hour, I found myself traveling the rolling country sides of beautiful Maryland. Adam was kind enough to leave a pair of cone markers knowing that I'd overshoot the driveway amist the zealous drive, so without further adue, I present you The Clemster Garage.
The garage is so huge, it can literally squeeze 6 E39s under its roof and hold a party with a fully stocked fridge and a big screen TV. After shooting the breeze for about 30 minutes, we put the car on the lift (a 9000 lb capacity, even beefier than some I've seen at Indys) and proceeded to pull the one piece factory exhaust, fortunately none of the studs broke, but I can't say the same about my back muscles.
The exhaust must've weighed more than 150 lbs, notice the red tapes Adam tagged to mark the pre vs post cat O2s, yes they do plug into each other's harnesses.
We unbolted the giubo side of the driveshaft, what a crack, I actually felt a vibration under the center console on the way there, good thing I had a new giubo and tranny mounts.
By then it was high noon, Adam jumped out of his overall and we hopped into the famous Clemstermobile to head to lunch. For those unfamiliar, this Beast holds the world record for 1/4 mile ET of all non-built (sleeved engine, etc.) E39 M5s, a blistering 11.72 @ 121mph. The car is immaculate inside and out. When we finally reached an isolated stretch of road, Adam dropped it in 2nd gear and gave it the beans, the PS2s immediately lit up for a good few seconds. Pop it into 3rd, stump on the gas, and the animal took off with ferocity only known to American muscle, upshift to 4th and the urge to lunge forward continued, stronger than my car in 3rd. I couldn't pay attention to the boost gauge, but this was without a doubt the most powerful E39 I've riden in. The Dinan differential and meth injection sure all helped, but I'm convinced this car can use some wider tires than stock.
By the time we got back, the transmission had cooled off to the touch. BMW engineers must have wanted to test people's will when they designed the location for some of the transmission bolts. Aside from the obvious ones on the bottom, starter bolts (marked in blue) and a couple with backing nuts that only a contortionist could reach, the two top bolts required a myriad of different extensions and swivel joints. Adam did all that in a breeze, after all this is his 5th or 6th time dropping an E39 M5 tranny.
The old pressure plate, clutch, flywheel and rear main seal all came off, pretty standard stuff. I took a moment to take a peek in the engine upper oil pan, saw a few mains and a couple rods staring in my face. Adam then pulled the pilot bearing and we noticed it was completely shot, rotating with a course audible noise. We proceeded to replace the parts in the front of the transmission, in addition to the clutch fork, ball pin, spring clip, and throw out bearing, I also opted to replace the guide bush which the TOB rides on. Adam applied a thin film of teflon for extra smoothness, I know BMW does not recommend applying grease, but this was not grease, and let me tell you, after 500 miles with the new clutch, it rides buttery smooth.
I took this chance to refresh an assortment of shifter bushings, many of which are only accessible with the tranny out of the way. I noticed the padding in the bushing kit on the front end of the selector rod had disintegrated, this definitely contributed to shifter slop. The new one did not require the yellow washers, much like the E60 SSK. I also replaced the selector rod rear end bushing which cost something ridiculous like $70. That old rubber insert had gone soft, so in the new one went. I attempted to replace a pair of dimpled bushings on the folk end, but that sucker was so tough even my swiss army knife could not cut it through. So far, I've noticed the shifts are more immediate, and precise, side to side slop has been eliminated by 75%, I think it may be the best it's been since new.
Adam scuffed up a lightly used OE flywheel which I acquired from a fellow member, and bolted it down plus the new clutch. Adam had all the critical torque values on a sheet and went over each bolt twice. Of course during all this, I probably asked a hundred questions, but Adam was very patient. We then bolted the transmission back on, and swapped in a new slave cylinder and did a power bleed. Lastly, we hauled the exhaust above shoulders with what little energy we had and bolted it back on. The thought of holding the muffler end of the exhaust for more than 20 seconds overhead still has my deltoids and oblique muscles cringe.
In all, we did a whole lot in a span of less than 8hrs. Finally, we knocked back a few cold ones, it was getting dark, and I had to be on my way. The new clutch felt so smooth, it starts engaging as soon as you lift the pedal, and the effort is so much softer than before. I stayed between 2500 to 3500 rpm throughout the trip, giving a few cars the misinformed impression that they can hang with an E39 M5. Soon enough, I hit the New York City traffic on a Saturday night, perfect time to break in the new clutch.
Overall, I had a great time working and learning alongside Adam. For anyone who has a big job for their M5, I highly recommend giving Clemster a call, can't beat top notch service and fair rates. Adam, it was truly a pleasure and I look forward to Clemsterfest this fall!
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I was a bit over zealous comming arond that last bend.
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