BMW 1 SERIES clutch judder

SatanicHare

See you've already found babybmw.net, well documented on there, loads of reading and opinions, contacting Watchdog has been mentioned

robredz

If it is a dual mass flywheel, changing the clutch, will make no difference, and many clutch faults are actually a failing flywheel.
They are used to damp down the vibration from a diesel, and make the vehicle feel less like an old truck.

Shazzap_3

This happenend to me on Friday evening after collecting a brand new BMW 1 Series Coupe just less than 48 hours earlier in March 2010 having only driven 57 miles!


I could’nt get out of the car, it filled with black smoke and an acrid smell.
The car then decided to totally shut down after several attempts the door decided to open.
Once out I called the Fire Brigade who then disconneted the battery due to possible electrical fault?
I had to wait in the pouring rain for over an hour for a recovery vehicle to collect the car because it would not lock!
Eventually the car was put on a low loader and the car is now back at the dealership in the workshop.

Please check out my blog at wordpress under Shazza P I have contacted Watchdog and also there are links to other Bmw forums about this issue

bigbulldog

We had the same fault on our 2008 3 series coup'e for months and there original cure was to increase the rev's at idle as this was the fix as they were told to use from Germany this went on for months still juddering,so the car went back to the dealer more times than I can remember anyhow they replaced the clutch and fly wheel in the end and still left the rev's idling alot higher than they should of been and there excuse they gave was .....we need the area techican for authorisation to reduce the rev's.........what a load of poppycock.:(

malcolmpercy

I have a 03/07 318SE which has only 24,000 miles but has had a judder problem virtually from new and has been back in the local BMW dealership on numerous occasions without any permanant solution. It had its clutch replaced after 16,000 miles and earlier this year the VANOS valve but still has an intermittent problem. The dealer has told me that the new clutch is now out of warranty, being more than 12 months old, but only having 8,000 miles use!! Whenever we take the car in the engineers cannot feel the judder and blame me and my wife for the way we are driving - cheek!! I am 55 years old, have been driving 37 years and have had 6 previous BMWs without this problem. The dealer is having the car for a full week next week so that the engineer can drive it regularly to try and establish the problem. I know that they are going to try to charge me for whatever is needed so look out for fireworks at the end of next week. I also drive an X3 and have had issues with the panoramic sun roof which the dealer didn't want to know as it is out of warranty. I don't know about anyone else but I have found the local BMW dealership to be particularly difficult and reluctant to help. Never mind I will be in the market for a new car later this year and Audi's look very appealling.

harveybobbles

If you've had it from virtually new then I think it could be your driving style thats the problem.

Regardless of how long you have been driving, cars and technology have changed.

AndyGuil

Kilty wrote: »

Well Vauxhall only warrant a clutch for 18,500 miles, I don't know about BMW.

I wouldn't expect a clutch to need replacing on a car I bought two weeks ago, though.

My Vauxhall clutch is still going strong from the day it was installed 93k ago. A friend's VW Polo had the original clutch when it was scrapped at 160k.

chrisw

harveybobbles wrote: »

If you've had it from virtually new then I think it could be your driving style thats the problem.

Regardless of how long you have been driving, cars and technology have changed.

Clutch judder is a fairly well known issue with the 3 series, my 320d has done it since new, but not all the time, only now and again. It does appear to passengers that you don't know how to drive. BMW don't know quite how to fix it, or don't want to say. As an above poster has pointed out, they initially tried to fix it by raising the idle speed which masked the issue rather than fixed it. Replacement clutches and flywheels seem to be a bit hit and miss.

There is a clutch delay valve fitted in the hydraulic lines to help smooth clutch release, some people have found removing this improves it.

Lots of cases here:-

http://www.e90post.com/forums/search.php?searchid=17771130

(12th post down mainly)

redped

As chrisw says, the 3 series is known for clutch judder. My wife's 318i suffers from time to time, and I find giving it a few extra revs when moving off from standstill helps. As for the CDV, why did BMW ever fit these? They're an awful concept, and in the Z4 can lead to the car kangarooing until you learn how to minimise the effect of the CDV.

RichGold

I concur. Flywheel sounds knackered to me. You need a proper diagnosis though, but that means having the gearbox off.
Do that somewhere you actually want to have it fixed.