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Thread: 1987 BMW 325e Dual/Single Mass Flywheel

  1. #1
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    1987 BMW 325e Dual/Single Mass Flywheel

    Gentlemen, I am new to this page and am not mechanically inclined. Long story short, my ‘87 325e transmission gave out and I took it to a mechanic for a transmission swap. I purchased a single mass flywheel and clutch kit without knowing modifications have to be made. Once everything was installed, my car would not start. Eventually, I was told I needed a new starter. NOW, this is where I am confused:

    The mechanic told me that they fear if they install the new starter, that it will give out like my current one did because they believe it is not compatible with my single mass flywheel, for my original flywheel is a dual mass. I want to know if this is true? Or how this conversion works. Thank you!

    For the record, my car has been there for months and I feel like they do not know what they are doing because everytime I go over to the shop they are stressing and giving me new theories about my car. I plan to just pay them of what I owe and tow it back to my home to work on it myself; I just hate working under the god damn sun lol

  2. #2
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    I will move it to the E30 forum
    Shogun tricks and tips for the E32 series are HERE!

  3. #3
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    swapping from dual to single mass requires a single mass flywheel from an early eta. 325i single mass flywheels do not have the reference pins needed for the sensors and will not work on an e.
    aside from that it is the exact same as a clutch replacement.

    check these part numbers to be certain
    dual mass e - 21211225979
    single mass e - 1121705046 - this is the flywheel you want
    single mass i - 11221706573

  4. #4
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    Thanks man! Will do!

  5. #5
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    No e30s, again :(
    and, if you swap from a single to a dual mass flywheel, make sure your trans doesn't have a longer bell housing. they are like 3/4 different in length, the shorter and longer ones. when we swapped my son's auto 325 to a 5 speed last month, we had two trans and three clutch/flywheel/pressure plate assemblies and learned the hard way about the dual mass needing the longer bell housing.

    our dual mass had thrown its reference pin and the other two were single mass. I ended up just threading a small bolt into the hole where the old pin was, tack welding it in place, and then grinding it to the correct height.

    car runs great now though.
    No e30s again.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by 82eye View Post
    swapping from dual to single mass requires a single mass flywheel from an early eta. 325i single mass flywheels do not have the reference pins needed for the sensors and will not work on an e.
    aside from that it is the exact same as a clutch replacement.

    check these part numbers to be certain
    dual mass e - 21211225979
    single mass e - 1121705046 - this is the flywheel you want
    single mass i - 11221706573
    I cannot seem to find the single mass e part number although I did find the dual mass part number. Any idea where I can find the single mass flywheel?

  7. #7
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    No e30s, again :(
    try for a later 86 325e

    all the stuff I had was from three different 86 325. two were single mass and one was dual. I think its just the luck of the vin
    No e30s again.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by superj View Post
    try for a later 86 325e

    all the stuff I had was from three different 86 325. two were single mass and one was dual. I think its just the luck of the vin
    Say if I were to just buy an oem dual mass flywheel and forget about the single mass flywheel, will I have to buy an oem clutch as well? Or can the clutch installed with my single mass flywheel work? The clutch and single mass flywheel both came in one kit

  9. #9
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    I was able to find the part with the correct part number for the single mass eta flyhweel. It does state for up to production date 05/86. So I assume my car was produced during that date since it is an ‘87. Kind of how our new cars titled “2019” are produced and sold in 2018 if I am correct

  10. #10
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    No e30s, again :(
    yup, that's how that works. august is usually the cut off month marking a new year model, if I remember right.

    I cannot remember if the single mass and dual mass clutch can be interchanged. I kind of think they can because I just swapped the clutch disk when I changed flywheels. I didn't get out from under the car and grab another one when I grabbed the pressure plate that matched the flywheel
    No e30s again.

  11. #11
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    I will be calling BMW today just in case to find out my manurfacture date because I cannot find it with the vin number. If my car makes the cut, and I purchase the correct single mass flywheel for the eta, will I need to make any modifications? Or can I just install the flywheel and the correct clutch as is?

  12. #12
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    No e30s, again :(
    go to realoem.com and type the last numbers of your vin in and it will tell you the month/year
    No e30s again.

  13. #13
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    Damn my car was produced late 11/86. What other alternatives can I do or should I just purchase an oem dual mass flywheel?

  14. #14
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    No e30s, again :(
    not sure. I just went with the dual mass but this is not an autocross car, or anything but a daily driver for my son to go to college in.

    - - - Updated - - -

    you should be able to go on realoem and see what other info is available, as far as part numbers, for the clutch/flywheel/pressure plates and see what came on other year cars to see if it will work with what you have
    No e30s again.

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