Clutch = gone

[Venom]

My clutch has just died at 33k miles WTF!!!

Is this normal for a bimmer? This is my 4th major item to fail on the car in the past 3 months. How long are they supposed to last?

I am debating extending the warranty as it expires soon. Any advice or tips on what I should get to cover the car?

[Red Bread]

My original clutch was still going strong on my M Coupe at 144k miles. How many miles have you gotten out of previous clutches?

[Venom]

130k on my previous integra.

[sluflyer06]

I've got 35K of hard driving on mine and still fine. Put 70,000 on a E46 330i zhp and never had clutch issues on that either.

Either a premature failure or driving style. Only car I ever had a clutch wear out on me was a 01' Jetta 1.8T.

[Colt]

what power mods do you have done to the car? I'm at 31k and it still grabs great...

[Dackelone]

Venon - You might want to ask your service manager about this. There have been a number of early (2008) 135i's that have had sudden clutch failure at low miles(20 to 30K miles). Also even current 135i's and 1M's have been known to have a bad rear main seal that either leaks oil or that makes a funny cricket type sound.

So... your dealer might be able to get BMW to pay for the parts IF you pay for the labor. I would hit them up for some "good will". Also... a tune will dramatically shorten the clutch's life span.


Dackel

[JimD]

It seems like you know how to drive with a clutch and BMW clutches are not unusual in their life, at least under normal circumstances. That leads to questions like:

Is there a leak from the engine through the rear main seal? Were you adding oil?

Did pieces of the old clutch come off or did it just wear down (i.e. ask them to show you the old clutch)

Is the pressure plate good - and broken springs? Other signs of something unusual?


I routinely go over 100K on clutches despite towing things with my manual transmission SUVs (I'm on my second, non BMW). My late wife's Mazda 626 went through a couple, however, apparently due to inadequate pressure from the pressure plate. My son inherited that vehicle and changed the pressure plate which seems to have made a significant difference. This 626 is a NA 2 liter 4 - not a powerful car.

Jim

[int2str]

Originally Posted by Dackelone

Venon - You might want to ask your service manager about this. There have been a number of early (2008) 135i's that have had sudden clutch failure at low miles(20 to 30K miles).

Is there any more detail on this?

My clutch hasn't failed yet, but it's chattering pretty badly. Holds strong, just chattering badly. I'm thinking it's somehow going to fail soon (fail, not wear out)...

[Dackelone]

Originally Posted by int2str

Is there any more detail on this?

My clutch hasn't failed yet, but it's chattering pretty badly. Holds strong, just chattering badly. I'm thinking it's somehow going to fail soon (fail, not wear out)...

I have only seen guys post some horror stories in the past here on 1addicts. One guy just bought a used 135i in California. He went for a drive, parked his car. Then could not start the car when he returned to the car. Had the car towed to a dealer. Turned out he needed a new clutch/flywheel/pressure plate/rear main seal/and throw out bearing. COD price was like $3.5K! He had BMW pick up most of it. But I think he ended up paying over a grand for the repairs.

Most other clutch posts have had COD prices around $1.5 to $2K at the dealers. BMW has paid for some, and not for others. It all just depends on the mood of the people at BMW HQ in the states.

I think if this happened over here... we would be SOL. I am not sure IF a German dealer would cover this. I would think not.

But to answer your question... no I don't have any hard evidence about the clutch life span. I have only seen what members have posted here on 1addicts. Just do a search... and you will find the threads.

I also remember two 1M's when they first started hitting the streets - that had bad rear main seals, that leaked a lot of oil onto the pavement!

Dack

[Venom]

Originally Posted by Dackelone

Venon - You might want to ask your service manager about this. There have been a number of early (2008) 135i's that have had sudden clutch failure at low miles(20 to 30K miles). Also even current 135i's and 1M's have been known to have a bad rear main seal that either leaks oil or that makes a funny cricket type sound.

So... your dealer might be able to get BMW to pay for the parts IF you pay for the labor. I would hit them up for some "good will". Also... a tune will dramatically shorten the clutch's life span.


Dackel

I HAD THAT CRICKET SOUND! I thought that was normal!
Apparently, my dealer is going to check if it's blue before they do anything
And I may up having to eat the cost quoted at 1850... (1200 labor, 650 parts).

There was definitely quite a bit of that chatter sound... since I picked up the car.

I only had stage 1 on the car for a short time because it has been in and out of the service shop so much (20-40 extra hp, so not much more than PPK1). So the car should be able to handle that...

[bmw1racer]

112K on my E36 clutch.

[Venom]

Originally Posted by JimD

It seems like you know how to drive with a clutch and BMW clutches are not unusual in their life, at least under normal circumstances. That leads to questions like:

Is there a leak from the engine through the rear main seal? Were you adding oil?

Did pieces of the old clutch come off or did it just wear down (i.e. ask them to show you the old clutch)

Is the pressure plate good - and broken springs? Other signs of something unusual?

Jim

I have barely had my car since its been in the shop so much but I have had quite a bit of chattering. I have not added oil but I have had coolant leak a rather large pool in my garage. I have noticed that quite a few times the car wouldn't grab 3rd from an upshift in 2nd. (That was the first noticeable sign.) Then I had weeks of clutch slippage, but the dealership couldn't replicate it "through normal driving conditions". And then today it burned out completely and my whole street now reeks of burnt clutch. (I was testing it before work, so I wouldn't end up stranded.)

Now I am debating extending the warranty because this is my another major repair in a month. 2 new turbos, 1 new Headlight + assembly + control module, DSC control module, coolant leak and container replacement, break fade/ resurfaced, etc...

[KingOfJericho]

Extending the warranty? I would be selling that thing ASAP with those types of issues! I have 2 months left on my lease and I think I'll have to throw them back the keys after reading this. My clutch also feels less than amazing but I always figured it was from air possibly getting in the line when I yanked my CDV.

[tuco44]

From the OPs past posts, looks like he got the car in about July or 2011. Since it is an '08 MY, it obviously had a previous owner.

Does the OP know the past history of the car prior to his ownership? And could the clutch have been abused before he got it?

I often wonder how BMW deals with some of these cars where there has been some form of abuse??

Just wondering.....

[Diver]

Serious bucks fora clutch replacement. It must be in five figures to get a DCT repaired out of warranty.

[Dackelone]

Originally Posted by Diver

Serious bucks fora clutch replacement. It must be in five figures to get a DCT repaired out of warranty.

Or the "lifetime" fluid changed!

[tuco44]

Originally Posted by Diver

Serious bucks fora clutch replacement. It must be in five figures to get a DCT repaired out of warranty.

True, but the OPs car is MT.

[b00st]

Seems like an early failure. I've got about 45k miles on my car, with about 15k of those at FBO + JB3/4 power levels, and then another 5k or so with meth, occasional race gas, and for the past couple months an E85 blend + meth. My tires are destroyed, but the clutch is holding like a champ still.

[doublevanosrc]

Bummer

Try to have BMW covered assuming you weren't riding it. The clutch on my E46 330 had 50k miles when i let her go and it still grabbed great.

[KingOfJericho]

I thought I remembered seeing somewhere that BMW covers one clutch in the 4yr/50k coverage. Am I delusional?

[Venom]

Originally Posted by KingOfJericho

I thought I remembered seeing somewhere that BMW covers one clutch in the 4yr/50k coverage. Am I delusional?

According to my SA, it's a wear and tear item so it's up to the discretion of bmwna.

And I have had the car since last August. The previous owner babied the car, he preferred his motorcycle. So it's not on him either. Either way this is way too early for it to
give out.

[MinionM3]

.....