Clutch change Z3 !!

markrnorton · Post by **markrnorton** » Tue 29 Sep, 2009 07:56

Got to do a clutch and flywheel change on the Z3.

Has anybody on here done a clutch swap or had the gearbox out of a Z3

any advice before i mangle my hands !!

thanks

M

Jonttt · Post by **Jonttt** » Tue 29 Sep, 2009 11:35

Just paid an indy to do mine £900 !

markrnorton · Post by **markrnorton** » Tue 29 Sep, 2009 11:48

thats a bit steep, is it made of gold

henrycrun · Post by **henrycrun** » Tue 29 Sep, 2009 16:44

No, a clutch change on a RWD car used to be fairly easy, provided one has the strength to take the weight of the G/box when lying on your back.
Its the male Torx heads that baffle me.
Found this via bimmerfest though - http://webspace.ringling.edu/~dplassma/cj/cj.html

Jonttt · Post by **Jonttt** » Tue 29 Sep, 2009 18:04

markrnorton wrote:thats a bit steep, is it made of gold

No its the dual mass flywheel on the ///M racks up the cost

markrnorton · Post by **markrnorton** » Tue 29 Sep, 2009 18:45

So you got a new flywheel as well ?

motco · Post by **motco** » Wed 30 Sep, 2009 08:39

Jonttt wrote:
markrnorton wrote:thats a bit steep, is it made of gold
No its the dual mass flywheel on the ///M racks up the cost

Do only the ///M models have a DMF then? They are common on 'ordinary' cars these days - Audi TT 225 for example.

Jonttt · Post by **Jonttt** » Wed 30 Sep, 2009 11:41

markrnorton wrote:So you got a new flywheel as well ?

Yep, clutch was OK until "Warm" and then slipped badly / became hard to engage gears with classic clutch burning smell.

The indy let me know that the flywheel had 30mm of "play" and he would expect about 10mm. He did say he could leave it and may be fine but he knows the car is a keeper for me and advised whilst gearbox was off would be worth replacing so I did (he has told me to stop being stupid in the past when I've asked for things to be done so I trust him).

Obviously its made a massive difference and I now get the full benfit of the power

and I know the clutch is now sorted for another 50k which will take me over 10 years to do

Mike Fishwick · Post by **Mike Fishwick** » Wed 30 Sep, 2009 12:03

The M Roadster is not the only model with a dual-mass flywheel - the 2.8, and proabably all other six-cylinder models have them.

It's like the 'Drive by wire' throttle - just another unneccessary piece of kit forced on us to suit the automatic transmission-trained Americans, who want the social kudos of having a 'five on the floor' but lack the basic ability to change gear smoothly, and the judgement to change down at low engine speeds.

Given a degree of mechanical sympathy however, they will last for ages - my 2.8 has covered 105,000 miles, and Heather's Golf TDI has done almost 140,000 miles, both on their original clutches.

motco · Post by **motco** » Wed 30 Sep, 2009 12:29

Mike Fishwick wrote:The M Roadster is not the only model with a dual-mass flywheel - the 2.8, and proabably all other six-cylinder models have them.

It's like the 'Drive by wire' throttle - just another unneccessary piece of kit forced on us to suit the automatic transmission-trained Americans, who want the social kudos of having a 'five on the floor' but lack the basic ability to change gear smoothly, and the judgement to change down at low engine speeds.

Given a degree of mechanical sympathy however, they will last for ages - my 2.8 has covered 105,000 miles, and Heather's Golf TDI has done almost 140,000 miles, both on their original clutches.

Thanks Mike. I agree that they can last - I have a Mk3 Mondeo diesel with 112,000 miles and, as far as I know, the original clutch and flywheel. I agree about the fly-by-wire throttle too although the Mondeo has it and it's fine. On my 2.2 Z3 the software interferes too much with the action of the pedal and prevents, for example, adequate engine braking and makes heel and toe changes difficult. My 15 year old Westfield with all mechanical everything responds exactly as you would expect, not according to some algorithm written with half-baked drivers in mind. I wish I had a 'sport' button as my son has on his Z4M coupe - that cuts out the throttle damping it appears.

Jonttt · Post by **Jonttt** » Wed 30 Sep, 2009 14:48

Couldn't agree more guys, there is no reason why a cared for clutch should not last as long as the car. But my car is a weekend toy and is there to be driven, not as a daily driver but driven purely for fun and what that entails for me will inevitably reduce the life of certain parts such as the clutch. My daily drive is exactly the opposite, purchased to pile on the miles without the need for replacement parts etc......

I think 50k on the original clutch for a high performance car is pretty good, yes you could double this if the car was driven carefully but thats not what it was designed for.

Getting back to the point of the post its was a fair question re replacement of the clutch and flywheel on a car with significant increase in power that the owner obviously intends to use. My point was partly that I left it to an indie as was well beyond my ability (or inclination) to do myself and the fact that it was a good idea to consider the flywheel as well.

markrnorton · Post by **markrnorton** » Wed 30 Sep, 2009 15:08

I have managed to get hold of a lightened flywheel (M3), chromoly steel, a single mass or metal !!! its only 7.5kgs so it should help it spin up a bit quicker as the standard one is around 15kgs

the M3/Z3 M flywheel is the same diameter/ring gear and bolt pattern as the M44 dual mass contraption !!

so all i need now is the uprated M3 clutch and hey presto, bullet proof clutch for the increase in power.

alot of these goodies can be bought cheap from the states

merlie · Post by **merlie** » Fri 29 Jan, 2010 04:13

got my complete clutch done by "clutch care centre" for about £350 in the summer

correction ... more like £834 !!! just flicking through the paperwork as it might be up for sale soon

zroadster.net

Clutch change Z3 !!

Clutch change Z3 !!

Dmf

Re: Dmf