Clutch Maintenance/modification Bulletins by BMW for 525 manual diesel 1998

Some idiot spoke in HTML - v v v v v v v v

Big car + Big engine + idiot who slips clutch while reversing up hills = very poor clutch life.

I know several people who've had these cars, and they've never had any clutch problems.

As for what a BMW 525d might be called in the US, that's very tricky....possibly a 525d?

If it's doimg that either it was already buggered or 'something' is stopping the clutch pedal coming to the top of it's travel.

so what!!!

FACT : I did not ride/ part ride the clutch when reversing except for a yard or so, necessitated by the road configuration. The car would then not move in the backwards direction up the drive in full or part clutch although the engine was still going. This after having a new clutch fitted 4000 miles previously Any comments to make?. The dealer had the second burnt out clutch examined by an " expert" on his own initiative but nothing was said about why it would not go up the gradient in reverse That was QED to them and end of story. Now I need evidence. Have you got any useful ideas? The clutch I have in now( the third) has now been in for 35,000 miles. I do not reverse up the drive. However I am experiencing two characteristics which occurred for a few weeks before the first clutch burnt out.

Namely at this time intermittently the gear lever judders on the flat going forward usually in second gear for say 15 seconds and the engine noise becomes rough. This has happened 5 times in the last 6 weeks. The last bill for the clutch replacement and accessories was £930 at the dealership so perhaps you can see where I am coming from. And I had a costly extended BMW warranty but all they would do was confirm that the clutch was burnt out.

Can you confirm that BMW use the same model nos in the USA as US sites I have visited suggest otherwise?

Hope this makes my position clearer and that you can help.I do not expect so but if you do not ask you will never find out! Rgsd Ron Koffler

The message from "Neil" contains these words:

You read it? I could be arsed.

4000 miles is certainly a very short lifespan for a clutch. Generally reverse gear tends to be slightly higher geared than 1st, so whereas a slightly slipping clutch may satisfactorily pull away in 1st, it may just be on the borderline for transmitting enough power for reverse.

Did they replace the flywheel last time? From the Information I have, this car is fitted with a Dual Mass Flywheel, which can go faulty and give the symptoms you describe. Did you take the car back to the same dealer after the 2nd clutch went? Personally, I'd be inclined to take it to an independant garage (or a different dealer at least). There are other faults that could cause this problem, but without seeing the car, I can merely speculate. Some of the faults I've seen are the clutch master or slave cylinder sticking (essentially causing the same effect as constantly riding the clutch), could be the clutch drive plate sticking on the gearbox input shaft, or a faulty flywheel.

I have never know BMW to change model numbers in different countries. I would suspect it's more likely that very few diesel BMWs are sold in america, so the information will be harder to come by.

Moray Cuthill (moray_dot snipped-for-privacy@v21.me.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Very few? None.

I've been trying to warn people against buying BMWs.. but they still insist :-P

The E28 524td was.

re

Some idiot spoke in HTML - v v v v v v v v

Who cares

Your BMW 'stealership' is a UK phenomenon. Which BMW for some reason known only to themselves don't want to upset. Other countries have decent BMW dealers. There are however some decent BMW independents - but not much use to you perhaps with a newish car.

The group in my sig might be able to help.

Be interesting why you think BMW somehow manage to fit inferior clutches to other makes, though?

In news: snipped-for-privacy@davenoise.co.uk, Dave Plowman (News) decided to enlighten our sheltered souls with a rant as follows

I don't think that at all.

However, I am of the firm belief that the clutches on 5 series and most late

3's are bloody awful. I don't blame the clutch itself, I blame the mechanism that operates it. I've owned 4 manual BMWs, and the E21 323i one and E28 528i clutches were fine. It's just the BMWs built after that all seem to have bloody awful clutch actions.

That and the build quality on all the late ones (and quite a few E34s) has appeared to be awful. Nice materials on a lot of the bits, some nice design, but poorly put together.

Example; 1996 I went from an E34 5 series on a G plate to a J plate Escort RS2000. I had to remove the stereo system, amps etc, from the 535 and put them into the RS2000. The way the trim was attached in the 5 was atrocious compared to the Escort. It was awful. With the BMW you just got hold of virtually anything and pulled and it'd come off. With the Escort you had to unscrew it, then pull it in the same manner as the 5 series. The Escort used better fasteners.