Hi guys. Need a bit of help once again if you would. This morning was a bit colder in LA than it has been the last few days, down to 43. When I started to leave for work, the car was very, very hard to get into reverse. Then first and second were hard also. All the other gears seemed to shift okay and when I had driven the car a few miles, I didn't seem to have any problems during the 15 mile trip to work. Went to get into the car a few minutes ago and it wouldn't go into reverse at all. Turned the engine off, put it into reverse and then restarted it. It seemed to want to creep just a bit with the clutch all the way to the floor. Still hard shifting from first to second. Seemed to be a bit of clunking sound coming from right under the shifter....and no gear grinding or other grindy noises anywhere. Do you think I'm having linkage problems or those clutch issues I've been dreading or maybe both? Any idea what it costs to have a clutch replaced? Also this morning when cranking it in the cooler weather, the starter seemed to stay engaged for just a second or two after the motor fired up. This car has always cranked up almost instantly ever since I've owned it...or at least since I replaced the entire fuel system...literally. Everything except the gas cap!

Thanks for any advice or opinions.
Ray

could be a worn out clutch slave cylinder. Cheap part and easy to replace.

I sure hope that's the case. So far, I haven't found too many cheap parts on this car....about time I found one that was! :)

Okay...another stupid question...is there a way to check for this? As you may have gathered by now, I am not at all mechanically gifted.

if the slave cylinder is worn out the clutch pedal feels different - in worst case you push it down and it stays there (won't come back up). I just had that on my 635 the other day. A new cylinder cost me about US$30,-

Just in case you need to replace it there is a simple trick to bleed it (it is hydraulic and connected to the brake hydraulic system):

Connect the bleeder screw of the slave cylinder via a tube with the bleeder of the left front brake calliper. Open both bleeder screws and slowly pump the brake several (10?) times. This pushes the air out of the slave cylinder back into the reservoir.

Cheers
Wolf

if the slave cylinder is worn out the clutch pedal feels different - in worst case you push it down and it stays there (won't come back up).
Cheers
Wolf

I haven't had a chance to check it out yet, but that doesn't seem to be the case with this. I couldn't tell any difference in the pedal feel and it came back off the floor normally. Also, shifts from third, fourth and fifth all seemed normal. I hope to have a chance to look at it later in the week. Thanks for the suggestion!
Ray

if the slave cylinder is worn out the clutch pedal feels different - in worst case you push it down and it stays there (won't come back up). I just had that on my 635 the other day. A new cylinder cost me about US$30,
Wolf

Checked out my clutch pedal a bit closer today and to my suprise found it at about half regular height. Maybe it is the slave cylinder after all. Checked with our parts guys and found there are two slave cylinders on my car, an input and an output. One is roughly $100 the other is $50 at my cost. With my luck, it is probably the more expensive of the two that may be going bad. Would you replace both at the same time just to make sure?
Ray :help

One is a clutch master cyl, the other is the clutch slave cyl. No need to replace both if only one is faulty.

Thanks Layne! Feel like I've already saved money. ( I hate it when I post/say something stupid. You'd think I'd be used to it by now. ):embarrasm

slave cylinder is an easy part to get to. Might as well check it to see if its leaking or something. 2 bolts and a hydraulic line. Some people say it is better to bleed the cylinder by hand during a R&R of the part. I like Wolf's method too, never heard of it, but i think ill give it a shot sometime!!

-Jeff

slave cylinder is an easy part to get to. Might as well check it to see if its leaking or something. 2 bolts and a hydraulic line. Some people say it is better to bleed the cylinder by hand during a R&R of the part. I like Wolf's method too, never heard of it, but i think ill give it a shot sometime!!

-Jeff

the bleeding method via the brakes works perfectly. I just did it on my black 635CSi because the slave cylinder failed from one second to the other. I bought an after market one for €18,- which is about US$27,-
No need to buy the expensive BMW part IMO.

Okay, just talked to the tech checking my car out for me. When you work for a dealer, sometimes you're the very last customer, it seems. Wokke, do you mind if I ask the source of your parts? That price is about half of the price I would have to pay here (cost + 10%). Also, the tech told me there is signs of leakage around the main cylinder, but not the slave. He suggests replacing both at once since he says a new master will sometimes make a slave leak. Any idea where to buy them cheaper? My cost on the new one would be just over $100. Any advantage of going OEM if you can find it cheaper elsewhere? He said he doesn't have a book that goes back far enough to show the labor time to replace the master or slave. Anybody have any ideas on what that hourly rate/time was?
Thanks guys, I really appreciate all the help!
Ray

Hi Ray,

my source is ebay. In Germany there's a lot of ebay shops offering parts which are of the same quality as the OEM part since they partially even come from the same manufacturer.
Replacing the slave cylinder shouldn't take more than 30 min incl. bleeding. Master cylinder I never did so I can't say.

Wolf

bmwrep, I was just wondering if you checked to see if there has been a drop in reivoir fluid level? You said that the pedal had dropped. Has this been confirmed as a fluid loss or the clutch disc wearing to the point that the pedal went out of adjustment? Many times a master or slave can leak slightly for a long time before needing replacing seeing how it's pressurized and just keeping fluid in it will maintain a good pedal and operation. IMO it's just something to check before replacing parts, Joe

Thanks, Joe.

No, I don't think that has been checked. They just said it looked like it was showing somes signs of leakage. I hadn't been able to really tell anything different at all in the way it shifted until a few weeks ago when I could hardly get it into reverse, first or second. I've not seen any problems at all in the way it pulled...no signs of slippage or anything like that. The pedal had been about halfway to the floor last week when I brought it in to have the wheels swapped. Finally got a set of Style 5s for it. Tire guy said he pumped the clutch a bit to build up pressure and then didn't have any problems getting it to shift.
Think the adding fluid would work? As far as I know, nothing has been done or added since March of last year when I bought the car from the PO. After replacing the fuel system I may have put 2k miles on the car in mostly 15 mile trips back and forth to work. Car has driven and shifted extremely well...until now.
Another stupid question here, but do you think I should just see about getting all fluid levels topped off and drive it until it happens again?

Thanks, Ray

Well from what you're saying theres something going on, but it doesn't sound too serious. I mean if you've only put 2K on it in a year and the pedal just dropped now, that seems to be a pretty minor leak. But one that should be addressed anyways. If you were really stuck for $ you could probably top it up, bleed it and be on your way. But eventually it has to be changed. A leaking seal will blow out sooner or later. As for it being hard to shift R,1st and 2nd, that's just cause your not getting full throw/disengagement. Like Wolfie said, a good aftermarket unit will work fine and save you some bucks.