Starting around 220,000 miles, the clutch began sticking closed. That is, I'd put my foot down, the pedal would stick to the ground, and the clutch would remain engaged. I could pull the pedal up and pump it down a couple times and the clutch would open properly again. It started happening now and then, and then more and more often.
I replaced the plunger on the clutch master cylinder, which was leaking, on the suspicion the seal in it was bad. Didn't fix anything. Took it to a respected BMW indy mechanic around here, who swore I did it wrong and replaced the plunger again. Didn't fix anything. Replaced the whole master cylinder. Didn't do anything. Changed the fluid and replaced the slave cylinder. Still no go.
Now, I am assuming that there is no possibility of the line between the two cylinders being an issue, and no backflow valve anywhere in the system. Is this correct?
Recently it got worse, and I took it in to him again. At this point, we figure it has to be something inside the transmission. He drops it, and replaces everything that looks even a bit suspicious, namely the throwout bearing release lever, the lever pin, the clutch release bearing, and the shift bushings. Everything else looks clean, though neither one of us could see how any one of these would cause the problem.
Putting the thing back together, the problem is now actually worse, since the friction point is closer to the floor than it was before. The car is now doing it almost all the time, making it impossible to drive except on the highway.
Help! Anybody have any suggestions about what could be causing this issue?
--scott