Hello All,

I had a serious issue with a Spec Clutch for my E86 M coupe and thought I would share to give you all a heads up.

Initially posted on Zpost.


So final update:

Don't do business with SPEC.

Recap: David Norton from Spec sold me a Stage 2 kit for my E86 Moupe.

What I received was a SS single mass Flywheel and Stage 2+ Pressure plate and friction disc.
Part Numbers:
Flywheel SB23S
Pressure Plate SB053HS-856.

I installed and there was severe vibrations from 4900-5400 RPM

So I removed and reinstalled OEM and it all worked fine. I returned the kit to SPEC at my expense and they rebalanced the Pressure plate that they claim was 6 grams off. This is not much and should'nt be an issue (they said). They ff-ed up the customs declaration and it cost me more money to receive it.

I reinstalled their kit post balancing and it was still Shite. Same vibrations at 4900-5400 RPMS

Harmonic vibrations

David Norton wouldn't admit to anything being wrong and tried to blame it on gearbox chatter.
He also used the phrase ' I do this for a living....' 'Trust me'

He refused to refund my money after installing the parts and when I told him it was unusable he agreed to send me a dual mass flywheel.

I receive the flywheel and I cross reference the part number
LUK 415 0109 10 on LUK's website and I get:

BMW 21 21 2 229 015

Which is for an E36 M3, E36 Z3 with an S52 engine.

I call him on it and he repeats the I do this for a living and it works great spiel...Same crankshaft flange blah blah blah.

So at this point I'm like f%ck him OEM clutch is going is going back in.

Surprise surprise, not so fast cowboy.

I pull the exhaust, heat shields etc and find that something inside the bell housing wanted to leave in a big way...there's a hole in the bell.

Not feeling ANY SPEC love.

I remove the SPEC clutch/FW and find that one of the balancing weights THEY installed decided to f-off and got caught between the pressure plate and bell housing and promptly ejected itself through the Aluminium.

I reinstall the STOCK OEM clutch pack and it works fine. NO VIBRATION.

I will do a thorough inspection of the harmonic balancer and hope it didnT get damaged.

If you cross check the abovemost part numbers on the SPEC website it becomes apparent he sold me an E36 M3/Z3 S53 clutch kit

http://www.specclutch.com/cars/BMW/M3/1997/Single

He should have sent me this instead (but wtf do I know, he does this for a living)
http://www.specclutch.com/cars/BMW/M3/2005/Single



Below are pictars of pressure plate BEFORE balancing, AFTER balancing and AFTER losing a weight and of the bell.

He refuses to communicate with me
New Spec Pressure plate.jpgSpec pressure plate installed after balancing edit.jpgSpec pressure plate missing weight.jpgBell Housing.jpg