How easy to do clutch

[cleoent]

Hey guys i have to get a new clutch but i also have to save money. I have a bentley and a hanes manual, how easy would it be to replace the clutch myself? I figure it will take forever but is it a pretty straight forward process? I have some mechanical experience (brakes and suspension).

[bimmer95]

It's fairly straight foward, but definitely set aside a full weekend to do it your first time. You don't really need any special tools, meaning you can get all the tools at Sears.

[cleoent]

Thanks for your help, you were the person i was hoping would answer! LOL. I have lots of tools so that shouldn't be a prob. How about getting the flywheel resurfaced? Do the books do a good job of explaining it?

[bimmer95]

Originally posted by cleoent
How about getting the flywheel resurfaced?

You can't resurface a BMW dual-mass flywheel. Do you have an air compressor and an air-impact? They'll come in very handy to take apart the clutch and to remove the flywheel (if you replace it). You'll also need to pick up a 20" long 3/8" extension.

[cleoent]

Originally posted by bimmer95

You can't resurface a BMW dual-mass flywheel. Do you have an air compressor and an air-impact? They'll come in very handy to take apart the clutch and to remove the flywheel (if you replace it). You'll also need to pick up a 20" long 3/8" extension.

Hmm... my neighbor does, so does my g/f parents, hand tools are a bad idea? 20" long extension, shit that is long, what the hell is that for?
So my mechanic was going to charge me to resurface my flywheel, he's trying to jack me eh? I'll show him, he's my buddy too, maybe he just doesn't know better. So to replace my clutch i do not need to resurface flywheel. Also can this be a one man job?

[bimmer95]

Originally posted by cleoent
Hmm... my neighbor does, so does my g/f parents, hand tools are a bad idea? 20" long extension, shit that is long, what the hell is that for?
So my mechanic was going to charge me to resurface my flywheel, he's trying to jack me eh? I'll show him, he's my buddy too, maybe he just doesn't know better. So to replace my clutch i do not need to resurface flywheel. Also can this be a one man job?

Hand tools are needed too, but it's WAY easier to remove the pressure plate bolts and flywheel bolts with an air-impact.... takes about 2 minutes to zip all of those bolts out. An air-rachet comes in really handy for remove the LONG bolts that hold the tranny to the block... compare 20 sec hold down a lever to 5 minutes working a rachet on all ten bolts

The 20" extension is to get to the top tranny bolts. There's no other way to get to them.

Your mechanic prolly just doesn't know WTF a BMW dual-mass is. You have two choices... leave it as is or replace it. You WILL want to have a friend lend a hand, especially when removing and reinstalling the tranny. Usually you need one guy to operate a floorjack and another one to balance the tranny on the jack.

[cleoent]

Excellent. So i will use air tools, i could always buy then return. Well in a couple of weeks i will do it and hope everything will turn out ok
Thanks man

[bimmer95]

Originally posted by cleoent
So i will use air tools, i could always buy then return.

:

[BMJaz]

If i wuz u... i would hang on to those tools man !!! u won't belive how handy an impact comes in until u have one:12:

[Bill]

If your going to be doing this job on your back make sure you have some good jack stands that raise the car enough to pull the trans out for under the car. I had some shitty sears stands when i did a clutch job years ago and when i went to pull the trans out for under the car i had no room.

[cleoent]

Originally posted by Bill
If your going to be doing this job on your back make sure you have some good jack stands that raise the car enough to pull the trans out for under the car. I had some shitty sears stands when i did a clutch job years ago and when i went to pull the trans out for under the car i had no room.

Crap i think i have jack stands! how high to the stands need to raise the car?

[M3RACER]

the sears jack stands that I used are 14.5 inches at the lowest setting , that was not enough. The problem may not be you jack stands because you might be able to adjust height, you'll need a jack that will go high enough. I would say you need at least 16 in. in order to get the tranny out.

[cleoent]

Hmmm, i my jack stands are adjustable, i think they could probably go about a foot and a half. They are just normal jackstands, i think they are without adjustment about a foot high. Will they extend that high?

[bimmer95]

Originally posted by M3RACER
The problem may not be you jack stands because you might be able to adjust height, you'll need a jack that will go high enough.

Jack height is easy to fix, jack the car up some, stick in jackstands, stick a 2x4 or two on the jack pad and jack it up again.

The real trick for doing a clutch swap is to get both ends of the car up in the air. Here's what I recommend: jack* up the front of the car, set the front tires on ramps, jack* up the rear of the car as high as possible (18" with my Sear's jack), put some tall (more stable) jackstands under the lift pucks, lower rear on to the jackstands, lift the front up as high as possible, put a pair of jackstands under the front lift pucks, lower the front of the car on to the jackstand and leave the ramps in place for extra margin of safety. When you're done the car will be "plenty" high enough to do the clutch swap, supported by 1 pair of ramps and two pairs of jackstands with the rear wheels free to turn (so you can spin the driveshaft to remove bolts).

* Jack up the front under the front crossmember, jack up the rear under the diff carrier. With a lowered car you'll probably have to use the spare tire jack to lift one side of the car enough to get a floor jack underneath..... I know I did

[cleoent]

Ok sounds good, so what i need is 4 jack stands, 2 ramps (which i dont have), and some air tools. No prob. Then i remove drive shaft, tranny, then clutch right? I was looking at my bently manual, looks a bit complicated. I'm scared, but i really have no choice, i can't afford the 450 bucks in labor right now.

[bimmer95]

Originally posted by cleoent
Ok sounds good, so what i need is 4 jack stands, 2 ramps (which i dont have), and some air tools. No prob. Then i remove drive shaft, tranny, then clutch right?

Yup that should do it..... don't forget the 20" extension though : The ramps don't have to be really fancy, won't need ramp extensions if you jack up the car and just sit the tires on them. Make sure you have GOOD jackstands though since they will be supporting the entire weight of your car. I've seen some SCARY jackstands that I wouldn't trust, you know the shitty split tube looking things. The 6 ton ones from Sears look a lot safer.

To do the swap: get the car on jackstands, remove the catalytic converter, remove the heatshielding, unbolt the guibo from the tranny, unbolt the driveshaft bearing, swing the driveshaft out of the way and hang it by a bungy cord, disconnect the o2 sensor harness from the tranny crossmember bracket, remove the tranny crossmember, unplug the reverse light switch extension cable on the driver's side of the tranny, remove the clutch slave cylinder and swing it outta the way, remove the tranny to block bolts (use 5/16", 1/2" and 7/16" 6pt SAE sockets for those funky reverse torx head bolts), carefully pry the tranny away from the block, lower the tranny using a floor jack and a friend to help out, whip out the air impact to zip off the pressure plate bolts, zip off the flywheel bolts only if you're gonna replace the flywheel, swap the new release bearing in to the tranny, use your clutch disc centering tool (crap I forgot to mention that you'll need one, they're $10 from BMPD.com) to hold the clutch disc in place while you bolt the pressure plate (using NEW bolts) on to the flywheel..... then "just" put everything else back together

[cleoent]

Can i get a clutch centering tool from turnermotorsports.com? The reason i ask is because i'll probably by their clutch kit. Also is there any benifit to maybe buying an m3 clutch kit instead of my clutch kit, will it fit? Sounds like any easy project, but i still have one question, why does it take so long? It seems pretty straight forward yet mechanics wanna charge you 6 hrs in labor, some even more!

[bimmer95]

Originally posted by cleoent
Also is there any benifit to maybe buying an m3 clutch kit instead of my clutch kit, will it fit?

You can't use an M3 clutch without a M3 flywheel. If you can find a used M3 flywheel for cheap then you can bolt it right in with the M3 clutch. Dunno who all sells he centering tool, check around, but if all else fails get it from BMPD.com. Why are you buying your clutch kit from Turner? BimmerParts.com sells the same Sach's 325i clutch kit for $22 less.

As for the time involved.... you'll know afterwards why they all charge so much Like I said, clear a whole weekend for doing you're doing this your first time. Start on Friday night as early as possible, that way if you need any extra parts you'll be able to pick them up Saturday morning. Most dealerships around here aren't open on Sundays, especially not the parts departments.

[cleoent]

Originally posted by bimmer95

You can't use an M3 clutch without a M3 flywheel. If you can find a used M3 flywheel for cheap then you can bolt it right in with the M3 clutch. Dunno who all sells he centering tool, check around, but if all else fails get it from BMPD.com. Why are you buying your clutch kit from Turner? BimmerParts.com sells the same Sach's 325i clutch kit for $22 less.

As for the time involved.... you'll know afterwards why they all charge so much Like I said, clear a whole weekend for doing you're doing this your first time. Start on Friday night as early as possible, that way if you need any extra parts you'll be able to pick them up Saturday morning. Most dealerships around here aren't open on Sundays, especially not the parts departments.

Good call, friday it is. I didn't know that the turner kit and bimmerparts.com was the same kit, i'll get it from bimmerparts.com for sure. Would there be any benefit to put an m3 flywheel and clutch into my car you think?

[Stockman]

heres another option

www.alloembmwparts.com -- free shipping.. usually cheaper them bimmerparts.com also

[cleoent]

Originally posted by Stockman
heres another option

www.alloembmwparts.com -- free shipping.. usually cheaper them bimmerparts.com also

Huh, that site is cheaper, thanks stockman

[cleoent]

btw, can you guys see my sig pic? On my comp it's just a red X

[Stockman]

cant use geocities for sig pics

[cleoent]

really, how come? Can i use aol?

[Stockman]

they dont allow linking outside of their network

aol? possible... I dont use aol so Ic ant tell you