Clutch Replacement Time! Questions

[ursanegro]

Well, the noise from my throwout bearing is getting louder and I need to do the clutch soon. I have been looking into getting a LTW flywheel set up (M3 spec) but when I began adding up all the parts it was well over $1,000 :(

I am planning to rebuild my shifter (replace all bushings) and put in a Rogue SSK with WSR. I am also going to replace the guibo and center bearing for good measure. The car has 89,000 miles and I do believe the clutch has plenty of life left but that stupid $40 throwout bearing is whats bad :mad: and I am not going to take the transmission out just to replace that.

My question is to those of you that have changed your clutch. Did you go with the Sachs sport clutch or with a factory replacement part? The car is tracked and auto crossed so the stronger the clutch the better. Is it worth the extra $ to upgrade to M3 clutch by replacing the flywheel? How heavy is the stock flywheel and is it advisable to reuse it when replacing the clutch?

Sorry for the long winded post! Thanks in advance! :wave:

[TheGoldStandard]

I haven't replaced my clutch yet, but it is in my near future. The stock BMW clutch is a Sachs clutch. An M3 clutch will have a larger contact surface, and for all intents and purposes is better than a 325/328/318/323 clutch. If you get a LTW flywheel, you must use the larger M3 clutch, and in some cases you have to match it directly to the flywheel as in Rogue's kit with the Kevlar clutch (it think it's rogue that does that). You can pick up an 11 UUC LTW flywheel for about 500 bux though and teh M3 clutch kit for about 250, the stock duel mass is around 22lbs to the best of my knowledge.

[ursanegro]

I just don't know if it is worth the extra $$$ :dunno

I think for now I am just going to get a Sachs sporting clutch and call it good.

Maybe I will give a call to Turner's and see what they think. :buttrock

Thanks!

[bimmer95]

Over $1000 for an M3 clutch/flywheel? I don't think so. $589 for an aluminum M3 flywheel and $235 for a Sachs M3 clutch kit and you'll be set. As a matter of fact you could probably find a used M3 dual-mass flywheel for ~$150 instead, you'd give up the performance improvement of the light flywheel, but the M3 clutch would still clamp way better than the 325 clutch. When I put a clutch in my wife's 318ti last summer it I checked on the price for a 318 sport clutch and a M3 aluminum flywheel and standard M3 clutch kit combo was only $50 more. Guess which one I bolted in ;)

[ursanegro]

Sorry, just to clarify. The $1000+ figure came from the following parts:

RE LTW flywheel: $595
RE Kevlar Clutch: $295
RE SSK w/ WSR: $260
Guibo: $45
Centerbearing: $50
Misc. New bushings & Seals: $25

Grand total: $1,270 :eek:

I can install all of this myself but the parts alone are the killer.

Actually, I do have access to a M3 flywheel, clutch disc and pressure plate for around $200 and it only has 5,000 miles on it. I was just concerned that the M3 flywheel is actually heavier than the stock 325is flywheel. Is this the route to go???:dunno

What are your thoughts Bimmer95???

Thanks:buttrock

[bimmer95]

If it's a '96+ M3 flywheel then you should definitely go for it. The '95 flywheel is a few pounds heavier. I'm not sure how much a 325 flywheel weighs though :dunno

[ursanegro]

Yeah, it is a flywheel from a 1999 M3 :clap:

Wonder where I can find out the weight of a stock flywheel :dunno

Thanks for your thoughts, time to do some more research! ;)