91 318i clutch chatter when hot

Bought a '91 318i with 5-speed in '94. Had 45k mi. At about 55k miles, I got stuck in bad stop-and-go traffic for for the first time, stuck long enough for things to get hot. When starting up from a dead stop was tough; as I let the clutch pedal off, the car would shake strongly as if the clutch plate was warped or something. Engine temp was normal or slightly above. Shaking was not as bad if I kept the revs high when starting from a stop. The symptom went away when I got moving at a steady speed again.

Took it to the dealer. They said it was the clutch, so at 60k I got a new clutch. I thought, OK, problem solved. But some months later, got stuck in bad traffic, and the problem was still there. The car now has

160k on it. All is well except when I get stuck in traffic. Sound familiar to anyone?

Ron

the clutches in the 316 and 318's (especially early ones) were known to warp or crack then judder when pulling away (think it was something to do with the clutch material composition).

The condition is due to how the car's been driven, so say the previous owner used to ride the clutch a lot, then it's quite concievable that when you got it, the clutch was already well on it's way to wobbliness.

You say you had the clutch changed at 60k? To be honest, 100k miles out of a clutch isn't bad going.

How many months are we talking about since you had it changed did teh vibrations start again? If it was only within a few hundred miles you should have taken it back to BMW?

The bottom line is it's the clutch again.

Only recently had the clutch changed in my wife's 316 Compact for this same reason (her car was on about 73k miles when we had it changed).

I think the OEM clutch is made by SACHS, you might try getting it replaced with another make.