BMW - clutch failure (2 Year old Car)

paultate

This happened on November 15th, 2017
To explain in more detail Car is still in Warranty and purchased from a UK main dealer as a new car.
Car Registered in Sept 2015
Millage - 20,000
Car was driving all ok - no issues. Error message on screen for "drive chain error"
BMW Assist came out and tested the car - could not find a fault. I drove the car to the dealership.
After 2 days - advice the clutch was gone "blue" and needs to be replaced at a cost of £2300.

The dealer advised that BMW is unwilling to replace as its not covered by warranty.

I would expect that on a car less than 3 years old with low millage that there should not be a need for such a major repair - This is 10% of the purchase price of the car.

iolanthe07

Clutches are not usually covered by warranty because they are so often abused. My mother used to get through two clutches a year in her Peugeot 207 because she drove with her foot resting on the clutch all the time. I'm not suggesting that you have abused the clutch, but that is probably what BMW will infer.

System

paultate wrote: »

After 2 days - advice the clutch was gone "blue" and needs to be replaced at a cost of £2300.

The dealer advised that BMW is unwilling to replace as its not covered by warranty.

I would expect that on a car less than 3 years old with low millage that there should not be a need for such a major repair - This is 10% of the purchase price of the car.

Depends how you drive. Slip the clutch or be one of those people who leave their foot resting on the clutch pedal or you're one of those people who keep the clutch on the biting point on a hill instead of using the park brake or sit there at lights with the car in gear and your foot down on the clutch and what you've had happen is perfectly possible and the colour the flywheel or pressure plate has gone is suggesting that is what has happened. My grandad used to wear special shoes due to a foot issue and he would go through a clutch once a year and I doubt he did more than 5000 miles a year. Also drive it very hard and you can. Cars used in motorsport can go through a clutch in a few hundred miles.

"Blueing" of metal is what happens when there is a lot of heat applied to it which would be the case with a slipping clutch. They would check the clutch slave cylinder, the clutch pressure plate and release bearing and if those showed no signs of a fault then the only cause can be the driver. If more than one person drives the car, such as the missus, it could be them and it doesn't have to be you. You could kill a clutch if you spent a few minutes sat at a set of red lights on an uphill using the biting point as a brake instead of the handbrake.

Another thought is if you've got an automatic car which is actually a manual gearbox with computer controlled clutch and gearchange. If you're in the habit of leaving it in drive whilst you're sat stationary for a long period then that can kill the clutch as it is similar to sitting there with your foot on the pedal.