323i Clutch Question

[KRD43]

Hi All, This is my first post. I apologize for any redundancy here. I recently inherited a 1999 323i convertible with 102,000 miles on it and the clutch was replaced at about 90,000 miles. It belonged to my late mother-in-law, who purchased the vehicle 4 years ago, and while she was good at maintaining the car at a local BMW mechanic, she rode the clutch a bit.

The car currently has 108,000 miles on it and a few thousand miles ago, I pushed in on the clutch when I started it up and the peddle went all the way to the floor and stayed there. I pulled the clutch peddle back up by hand and it has not happened again since. However, I started to notice some clutch slip at gears 4 &5, and now it is quite noticeable in gears 2 & 1. If I down shift, the clutch appears to be engaging, but under load, it slips. I have never smelled any burning or anything. The clutch peddle feels 'normal', in that it engages at about half way up during shifting.

My question is, has anyone experienced this type of clutch phenomen as well? 20,000 - 25,000 miles on a clutch seems quite low..

I have had some people suggest that the Slave Cylinder might be the issue, not allowing the clutch to engage all of the way, but I have not noticed any oil on the floor where I park it in the garage or a drop in the fluid level.

I have rebuilt and restored several vehicles, so doing the work myself is no big deal. However, this being my first BMW, I thought that I would throw it out there for some advice.

In reading several of the post, I believe that I will also overhaul the cooling system. The Information system is stating "Check Coolant Level" and "See Owners Manual". I have checked the coolant level and it is fine, but perhaps, this warning has a deeper meaning..

Many thanks in advance for your time and thoughts.

[MarcoZandrini]

It does appear to be a failure of the slave cylinder. Was the dual mass flywheel replaced when the new clutch was installed? What brand of clutch was installed?

[KRD43]

Hi MarcoZandrini,

Thank you for your reply. I have no information about what was done when the "clutch was replaced". Being that it was covered by the used car dealer, I can't help but question if they did not get through the replacement as cheap as possible. I will start with the Slave Cylinder though, as I have nothing to loose. I will follow up.

Thank you!

[KRD43]

I know that it has been a while since I posted the first questions regarding the clutch, but I wanted to provide an update. Thank you for those who provided input, I appreciated it. I replaced the slave cylinder, but the problem didn't go away. I went ahead and performed the clutch replacement in my garage, lifting the car up on 4 jack stands. I must say that it was a bit of bear, due to the very tight work area and some broken bell housing studs that had not been repaired by the last person who "repaired the clutch". Overall, the clutch didn't look too bad (no rivets grinding against the flywheel and no oil visible). The throwout bearing was toast, as was the drive shaft flex joint (rubber all cracked). I had the dual mass flywheel machined for $95, replaced the rear main seal, pilot bearing, clutch, pressure plate, Pressure plate bolts, exhaust manifold, gaskets, stud and nuts, and a few new exhaust brackets and mounts. Total cost about $400. I was able to extract the broken studs left in the bell housing, but lining that starter back up increased my vocabulary a bit.. At the end of the third day of working on it (taking my time, waiting for parts and the machine shop), I finished it up. Everything is working like a charm and it feels great to drive!

[MarcoZandrini]

Wow! Good on you! That’s a lot of work. Who ever replaced the clutch should have replaced the throw out bearing and the rubber puck (guibo in BMWeze) when the clutch was replaced.

However, the duel mass flywheel should have been replaced and not resurfaced. There are a couple of clutch kits out there that convert the duel
mass flywheel to a single mass flywheel.