Use E34 540i/6 clutch with M62 and 530i trans?

[T444E]

The clutch is toast on my 530i and I can't find a cheap one locally. But I can get a brand new Sachs for a E34 540i for like 350$.

Can I use the Sachs 265mm E34 540i one with my M62 and 530i trans?

[AHenry014]

dont think so. if im taking it the right way, i believe the 530 flywheel is a bit smaller and uses a smaller clutch. from what i remember reading, the 530 shares a clutch with an m3?

i could be wrong on all counts. just recalling some things ive read when i was looking as swapping in a 5/6spd

[T444E]

But I'm using an M62. Unless I need to swap the M60 fly wheel? Which if I do I can easily just get a B40 fly wheel instead of using my B30 fly wheel if that's all that is required.

[AHenry014]

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1650212

i know your using the m62, irrelevent as its just a v8. its the stuff thats behind it that matters. with the m3 statement i made, was that i believe the b30/5spd clutch is the same as an m3, or at least the same diameter disc. much easier finding an m3 clutch than a b30 clutch. try that thread for clarification.

if i were you i wouldnt spend the extra cash trying/attempting to make a b40 clutch work if you going to reuse the 5spd box. just get a b30 clutch.

[T444E]

So according to DUDMD, a manual M62 uses the same diameter clutch as a E34 530i. The motor I have came out of a 740 so it has a flexplate. But the input shaft becomes an issue (1.375 on a 540i E34 and 1.125 on a E34 530i) . Goddamnit. Or could I use an E39 540i clutch? Nope. spline on a E39 540i is 1 3/8 inch.
S50 M3 shares the same spline diameter and clutch diameter as a 530i. Wonder if it would work?

[AHenry014]

try realoem for some diameter matching. but then you run into hoping the input shafts match and only going on peoples words.

EDIT: checking craigslist for a post i saw for an e34 v8 5spd trans and supporting hardware

[AHenry014]

see i knew i read somewhere the s50 clutch would work. didnt think i made that up lol. try some searching i think its been covered somewhere.

[papado]

I dont think so..... It seems wrong to me

[T444E]

According to real oem the part numbers don't match. But the splines are the same diameter as is the clutch diameter itself and they both have 10 splines. I mean I don't see why it wouldn't work but I'd rather not put an S50 clutch it there if there is some glaring difference. Maybe I will order the over priced 530i and the S50 M3 one and just compare them

[T444E]

Sachs part number for M3 one is SD80106 and for the 530 clutch it's SD80107. They must be damn close.

[AHenry014]

slight difference in the springs or some difference in offset of the spline to disc. not sure but if you work at advance then why not order both and have a look. then if an m3 one works, dont buy either and buy something a little used and aftermarket here

[T444E]

The 530i clutch set requires payment before it will ship cause it's coming direct from Beck/Arnley's factory. The M3 one is no problem but I'd rather not have 600 some odd dollars in limbo on my credit card lol

[AHenry014]

gotcha. thats a bummer man. wish i had a 530 clutch i could loan you to figure it out. if the cars out of action (or not used currently) then yank it apart?

[jbh1989]

The 530i transmission is the ZF310 (early M50 cars and S50 cars). Obviously, they have different flywheels since one is behind a 6 and one is behind an 8. The pressure plate matches the flywheel. The disc may be close but the pressure plate may be the part that gets you since it bolts to the flywheel which isn't the same as an M3.

The 540i has a completely different transmission and input shaft. No way it's going to work.

Maybe you should go to a real parts store. I can get a 530i clutch kit from Sachs for 260.05 out of Torrance, CA for the Tuesday delivery truck. I know Carquest can get them since they have access to Worldpac's inventory.

[bmwmech1]

I'll jump in here with some definitive information... a bunch of us are using the 530i 5 speed in our E30 V8 swaps, since you don't really need the extra gear in the E30 and the size of the 5 speed is much friendlier in the E30 tunnel than the 6 speed. A racer on the West coast and I had been comparing notes on flywheel and clutch compatibility for a while between the x60/x62 V8s and the 5 speed box. Since the transmission is shared with the E36 M3, just a different bellhousing, we figured the tranny would be robust enough and he set out to find a workable, readily available clutch/flywheel package to use. I want to be sure that he gets credit for the R&D here since he spent a fair amount of time and money to find the correct applications and then was willing to share it with everyone. Super nice guy Bruce is. What he found is this...

E39 OEM 540i Dual Mass flywheel or lightweight equivalent
E36 328i or E39 528i or Z3 2.8i clutch kit P/N 21 21 1 223 602
E34 530i clutch slave

Now, the OEM clutch kit part number is given, but I highly recommend finding an aftermarket kit of at least a Stage 1 variety. There is a significant enough difference in torque between the 6 and the V8 that premature wear/failure may happen and Stage 1 kits are plentiful and not too expensive.

The flywheel must be an E39 540i Dual Mass or lightweight aluminum like JB Racing's E39 540i flywheel because of the friction diameter and mounting pattern for the Pressure Plate.

This combination has been both Dyno tested and Track tested, so it works, it's readily available and it's not fiction.

I immediately thought of the E34 guys with the 540 automatics that want to swap to manual, but wanted a less expensive/elusive transmission to swap in. This would work perfectly for that application.

Bruce is currently tracking this combo in the Pacific Northwest... JB Racing's E39 540i aluminum flywheel and Clutch Master's E36 328i Stage 1 clutch kit with an M60 and 530i 5 speed trans in his E30. Same setup that is going in my M60/5 speed E30 M3 clone...

Just thought I'd share the info here, since Bruce was gracious enough to share it with me and on another forum, for all to benefit from...

Garey

[T444E]

Looks like I'm on the hunt for an E39 flywheel and 328i clutch. Thank you so much!

Can the flywheel be from ANY engined E39?

[bmwmech1]

Looks like I'm on the hunt for an E39 flywheel and 328i clutch. Thank you so much!

Can the flywheel be from ANY engined E39?

You're welcome, I was thankful for the info myself, when Bruce told me! No, not any E39 flywheel, let me edit that in my post, as well... it can be either the E39 540i OEM Dual Mass flywheel or any aftermarket lightweight aluminum E39 540i flywheel. It must be the 540i flywheel for the correct weight and bolt pattern to mate up with the V8 crankshaft. I'll fix that in my post to avoid confusion...

Garey

[T444E]

Will a stock E39 M5 one work? I see one for sale for 150$

[AHenry014]

good info ITT

[bmwmech1]

Will a stock E39 M5 one work? I see one for sale for 150$

Not sure if the bolt pattern is the same for the PP... check realoem on the 2 part #'s.. that's a good deal if it will work...

Garey

[moroza]

You will need the proper flywheel. Since you're using the 530i trans, and were using the 530i's 240mm clutch, I assume your flywheel is also 240mm (friction surface, not OD). So unless you also swap in the 540i 265mm flywheel, the answer is no.

If you do, then it comes down to two more things: whether the trans input splines are the same, and whether the clutch slave cylinder and fork will match up.

EDIT: nevermind, looks like you found your answers. I do believe that the E39 M5 and 540i have identical clutch setups, with the exception of the crank sensor pickup point. If you did an M60-style bracket on the timing cover, this is a moot point and you should be able to use the M5 flywheel.

[ross1]

The 530i clutch set requires payment before it will ship cause it's coming direct from Beck/Arnley's factory. The M3 one is no problem but I'd rather not have 600 some odd dollars in limbo on my credit card lol

Do your matching with aftermarket catalogs. Factory changes part #s for reasons that don't correlate to fitment.
Beck Arnley & "factory" shouldn't be in the same sentence. I know you have insider pricing but my experience is BA is simply reboxed parts witha big mark up. Do you know the actulal brand of BA clutch?
Just a suggestion, I know you are a savy shopper.

[AHenry014]

true, i bought a bunch of beck-arnley oil filters for my m50 from advance auto online. turned out to be reboxed mann filters. they were cheap though. 7.50 a filter

[bmwmech1]

I did some snooping around last night and from what I can tell, the E39 540i and E39 M5 share the same flywheel, as far as the aftermarket is concerned. IE, lightweight flywheels are common for the 2 vehicles. As far as the OEM flywheel is concerned, I thought I had read or heard somewhere that the E39 M5 used a lighter weight unit than the E39 540i. Not sure if that's the case, though.

@Moroza... all of the info for what flywheel, clutch type and slave to use is in my post further up the page. The E34 540i 265mm flywheel will not work... no clutch package has a disc with the correct 10 spline disc, so that is not a consideration. The trick was to find a common clutch package, with the correct friction surface, mounting pattern and 10 spline disc that would work with a 240mm E39 V8 flywheel. Since the E34 530i 5 speed is the same trans used in the E36 M3, the search was narrowed to any 240mm, 10 spline clutch package and the proper setup was then found.

The only remaining question is whether the E34 530i V8 flywheel is the same mounting pattern as the E36 328i/E39 528i/ Z3 2.8i clutch kit. That would make the entry level price point very attractive to do a V8 5speed swap, with an uprated clutch that will not fail prematurely, due to the V8 torque difference...

Garey

Garey

[T444E]

I'm just going to go with a Sachs 328i clutch kit from my work. If it fails, I will just warranty it.

Also, when I said Beck/Arnley's factory I didn't actually mean a factory. I know they are a large repackager.