# CDV disaster



## DZeckhausen (Mar 11, 2003)

Can someone with Roadfly privileges get this guy to send me an email with his shipping address? Tell him I'll GIVE him a modified CDV no charge. I can't stand to think about where this is leading. Someone just suggested he pull the entire slave cylinder! :yikes:

Roadfly Leaking CDV Thread

Not that I want to reward this sort of penny wise, pound foolish behavior, but ... :tsk:


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## mottati (Apr 15, 2003)

DZeckhausen said:


> Can someone with Roadfly privileges get this guy to send me an email with his shipping address? Tell him I'll GIVE him a modified CDV no charge. I can't stand to think about where this is leading. Someone just suggested he pull the entire slave cylinder! :yikes:
> 
> Roadfly Leaking CDV Thread
> 
> Not that I want to reward this sort of penny wise, pound foolish behavior, but ... :tsk:


I think this guy also posted on the yahoo e39 board. It sounds like he's just going to take the cdv out...
mike


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## DZeckhausen (Mar 11, 2003)

mottati said:


> I think this guy also posted on the yahoo e39 board. It sounds like he's just going to take the cdv out...
> mike


 Yeah, and his next post is going to be a cry for help after he strips out the hydraulic fitting and the threads on his slave cylinder!


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## DZeckhausen (Mar 11, 2003)

DZeckhausen said:


> Yeah, and his next post is going to be a cry for help after he strips out the hydraulic fitting and the threads on his slave cylinder!


All is well. He called me and left a message and he emailed me. I modified a CDV just now and it's going out in tomorrow's mail as soon as I get his address.


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## The HACK (Dec 19, 2001)

Be sure to tell him that if Roadfly had continued to at least let you participate on their forums, he wouldn't have to jump through all these hoops just to get his stupid CDV fixed.


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## TeamM3 (Dec 24, 2002)

classic Goadfly  

glad he had enough sense to call you rather listen to the numnuts


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## Ågent99 (Jan 7, 2002)

DZeckhausen said:


> All is well. He called me and left a message and he emailed me. I modified a CDV just now and it's going out in tomorrow's mail as soon as I get his address.


Good to hear, Dave. I posted as "Help" on that thread. Mike A. and I argued a bit over which was easier: deleting the CDV or replacing with a gutted one.

I figure for a beginner, one-timer doing this, replacing the CDV was much easier. He disagreed. 

:rofl:

Mike's cool....

Chris


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## DZeckhausen (Mar 11, 2003)

Ågent99 said:


> Good to hear, Dave. I posted as "Help" on that thread. Mike A. and I argued a bit over which was easier: deleting the CDV or replacing with a gutted one.
> 
> I figure for a beginner, one-timer doing this, replacing the CDV was much easier. He disagreed.


It's a close call. For a 540i, it is not too tough to get the line bent properly. I did it on my 2000 540i. But I've done enough of these to know that it always goes smoothly when you replace, rather than delete. And the comment about having TWO sets of threads to possibly screw up is not accurate. The CDV always screws into the slave cylinder easily and you would have to be a moron to get that cross-threaded. And with a replacement CDV installed, the hydraulic fitting goes in easily and you can get a bunch of turns with your fingers, ensuring that it's not cross-threaded.

What gets me is that RevHigh places his desire for revenge above his desire to help people with honest, accurate information. I would never trust what he writes, simply because he lets his agenda color what he types. A perfect example is provided by the link (sort of) that "Spanky" posted, showing RevHigh losing his temper with DanB. If you look a few posts up, you'll see that RevHigh is claiming that the carbon fiber hood made by BeastPower is a Taiwan import. That was BEFORE he extorted sponsorship money from Daniel, who owns BeastPower. I can see how Daniel would think it would be easier to just pay off Roadfly so that they didn't bash his products unfairly. Hell of a business tactic, don't you think?

By the way, it was obvious who "Help" was based on the Cisco IP address. But who is Spanky? Anyone? IP address says you're in Texas. You're my hero. Now if only you would stand up and post with your REAL name, we could benefit from your wisdom over here on Bimmerfest full time. I don't imagine you would last long on Roadfly!


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## Chiboy (Oct 25, 2003)

Well, I'm the guy with the leaky CDV. Once I figured out where the smart people hang out, I joined!  

Please be easy on me...


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## fixdaserver (Oct 19, 2003)

*CDV Success*

Dave, 
Installed the modified CDV and changed to Royal Purple. Two small changes and the car shifts great and I can really control the clutch again. Why would BMW design such a usless coutner productive part?

Also installed Bilsteins and HR sports and it's the perfect combo for my south florida potholeless roads. 
Thanks for the tips! :thumbup: 
Steve

Current ride: 
1998 540i/6 sport

Retired:
1989 535i
1992 525
1986 325
1982 Alpina B7 Turbo (633) - still can't believe I sold it 
1980 320i sport


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## Ågent99 (Jan 7, 2002)

fixdaserver said:


> Dave,
> Installed the modified CDV and changed to Royal Purple. Two small changes and the car shifts great and I can really control the clutch again. Why would BMW design such a usless coutner productive part?
> 
> Also installed Bilsteins and HR sports and it's the perfect combo for my south florida potholeless roads.
> ...


Steve,

The prevailing theory is that the CDV protects the warrantied drivetrain parts SANS the non-warrantied, wearing item...namely your clutch.

So, in effect, BMW is purposely causing wear on the clutch while saving the rear drivetrain.

Chris


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## Corkdsp (May 19, 2003)

Live in Central Florida anyone know of qualified tech that can do work on CDV? Will this void any BMW warranties?


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## fixdaserver (Oct 19, 2003)

Corkdsp said:


> Live in Central Florida anyone know of qualified tech that can do work on CDV? Will this void any BMW warranties?


Read http://www.zeckhausen.com/CDV.htm

Installation is simple, once the car is in the air any mechanic can install the part in under 5 minutes, then bleed the clutch and add fluid. You would not want to advertise the fact that you've done this to your BMW dealer.


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## DZeckhausen (Mar 11, 2003)

fixdaserver said:


> Read http://www.zeckhausen.com/CDV.htm
> 
> Installation is simple, once the car is in the air any mechanic can install the part in under 5 minutes, then bleed the clutch and add fluid. You would not want to advertise the fact that you've done this to your BMW dealer.


The acid test is if your mechanic knows where the master cylinder reservoir is! That's the hardest part of this job. If he goes right to the driver's side microfilter housing and removes it properly, then you've got a winner. 

The only other concern is the technique for bleeding the clutch. A pressure bleeder is MUCH faster and easier than the manual method and has a higher success rate. You can find yourself screwing around with the clutch pedal, doing a manual bleed for quite a while. With the pressure bleed, all you do is pressurize the reservoir to 20 psi and then crack open the clutch slave cylinder bleed screw 1/4 turn for no more than 5 seconds. Done! Of course, you need to make sure the small clutch chamber in the reservoir is filled to the top first. It's easy to miss because it is so skinny that the full brake chambers can easily deceive you into thinking the clutch chamber is full when it's totally dry. The clutch chamber is the one closest to the firewall. The other two larger chambers are for the front and rear brake circuits.


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## Ågent99 (Jan 7, 2002)

DZeckhausen said:


> The acid test is if your mechanic knows where the master cylinder reservoir is! That's the hardest part of this job. If he goes right to the driver's side microfilter housing and removes it properly, then you've got a winner.
> 
> The only other concern is the technique for bleeding the clutch. A pressure bleeder is MUCH faster and easier than the manual method and has a higher success rate. You can find yourself screwing around with the clutch pedal, doing a manual bleed for quite a while. With the pressure bleed, all you do is pressurize the reservoir to 20 psi and then crack open the clutch slave cylinder bleed screw 1/4 turn for no more than 5 seconds. Done! Of course, you need to make sure the small clutch chamber in the reservoir is filled to the top first. It's easy to miss because it is so skinny that the full brake chambers can easily deceive you into thinking the clutch chamber is full when it's totally dry. The clutch chamber is the one closest to the firewall. The other two larger chambers are for the front and rear brake circuits.


Do you really find it necessary to bleed the clutch?

I just usually have someone watch the fluid level when doing the CDV swap or delete and that is it. I have only tried to bleed one clutch that gave me fits but I think it had some other problems! 

Chris


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## DZeckhausen (Mar 11, 2003)

Ågent99 said:


> Do you really find it necessary to bleed the clutch?
> 
> I just usually have someone watch the fluid level when doing the CDV swap or delete and that is it. I have only tried to bleed one clutch that gave me fits but I think it had some other problems!


I always notice a couple really tiny bubbles come out when I crack open the bleed screw. It's only an extra minute or so to do this, so I figure it's worth the trouble. The clutch can feel funny with a small amount of air in it, even though it usually clears up after a while.

For someone who hasn't done as many of these as you or me, it's probably essential to bleed the clutch because they haven't caught on to the little tricks that minimize fluid loss during the swap. Especially the ones who listen to RevHigh :tsk: and struggle with bending the line, and that darned little nut just won't engage the threads properly. By the time that's straightened out, there probably isn't ANY fluid in the clutch system.


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## DSPTurtle (Oct 4, 2003)

I live in Central FL also... while I am not a "qualified" mechanic, I have done this mod on my 540. I can help you if you are interested. It could probably be done in under 1/2 hour. Is yours a 540 or one of those wimpy six cylinders?


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## Patrick (Dec 23, 2001)

DSPTurtle said:


> Is yours a 540 or one of those wimpy six cylinders?


 :rofl:

Oh yeah.


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## Chiboy (Oct 25, 2003)

Patrick 520iAT said:


> :rofl:
> 
> Oh yeah.


Well, I'm the guy with the leaky CDV. Got Dave Z's CORRECTLY modified valve, installed it in 2 minutes, bled clutch in three minutes, replaced air filter housing in ten minutes : ^ ), and am set to go! Yes, it's a simple operation (especially the second time around...). Thanks again to Dave Z for his assistance! Time to figure out a shortshifter!


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## Ågent99 (Jan 7, 2002)

Chiboy said:


> Well, I'm the guy with the leaky CDV. Got Dave Z's CORRECTLY modified valve, installed it in 2 minutes, bled clutch in three minutes, replaced air filter housing in ten minutes : ^ ), and am set to go! Yes, it's a simple operation (especially the second time around...). Thanks again to Dave Z for his assistance! Time to figure out a shortshifter!


http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39235&highlight=short+shifter

Start there and add to the thread or start a new one if you like. The nice thing about this format is the ability to "resurrect" old threads and continue adding to them.

Chris


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