Wanna hear what gearbox rattle sounds like?

[NoLastName]

Years ago when my M3 was a daily driver I installed a lightweight single mass flywheel. Shortly after I yanked it out and re-installed the stock dual mass. To me the light single mass, even using a sprung-hub clutch disc, had way too much gearbox rattle (flywheel chatter) for a street-driven vehicle. Everyone has a different tolerance for NVH. My tolerance is quite low when it comes to daily drivers. I despise my street car sounding like a cement mixer at stoplights. I’m a huge fan of stock clutch parts for the E36 in that regard.

But… now that the M3 is retired from street use I don’t care how the transmission sounds at idle. I only want the engine to spin up quickly and the clutch to grab hard. So here I present to you - the sound of MASSIVE gearbox rattle from a Tilton OT-II clutch and flywheel. I’ve been running this setup for a few months now.



The stock DMF and clutch assembly was 37.4lbs. The Tilton is 16.4lbs with two solid puck-type discs in an open carrier with floater plates. In the video I go on and off the clutch pedal a couple times to show the noise difference with input shaft spinning vs. not. With foot off the pedal in neutral the gearbox chatters away loudly. With pedal on the floor the gearbox goes quiet but you can hear clutch discs and floater plates banging around in the carrier.

Obviously sounds are amplified with a gutted interior – but take my word that the noises are quite loud and easily heard outside the vehicle. It’s really kind of laughable which is what gave me the idea to film this. Ha. Having said that, the clutch works incredibly well for its intended purpose. Awesome for track… would be hellaciously awful on the street.

A lot of people ask what sounds a lightweight flywheel makes in these cars. This is an extreme example of course, but you can expect some increased amount of gearbox rattle when you ditch a heavy DMF and go single mass. If anything, this can illustrate how things might sound if you go too light.

[rajicase]

Jesus.. I run a comp twin disc with two 3 puck clutch discs and floater plates and it hardly rattles at all. Its certainly not noticeable unless you know what to listen for and concentrate. Yours sounds awful lol...

[newman995]

This is actually comical for me because i know if that were a street car people would think you're driving a POS. LOL. Glad it works good for you on the track though. How does it sound when driving?

[NoLastName]

Yeah, like I said it's laughable at idle. The car actually sounds awesome while driving hard.

[RRSperry]

Now add a Vortech supercharger marbles in a can sound on top of that...lol

[NoLastName]

Now add a Vortech supercharger marbles in a can sound on top of that...lol

Yes! Let's see how far I can take this.

[hotdish]

This is the worse case scenario I pictured before I got my sprung 6 puck and 16lb flywheel.

Just add in some VANOS rattle and you'll have a real symphony going.

[NoLastName]

For sure this is a worst case. 8lb flywheel, 8 lb clutch, 75D engine & transmission mounts, no interior and no sound insulation. It's like sitting inside a drum.

My trans seems to be particularly sensitive to flywheel weight. The rattle was super noticeable before when I had a LTW flywheel but went away with the stock DMF. I'm sure it varies from car to car.

[Braymond141]

420G trans would be worse so there’s a plus for you.