# clutch pop



## Fuzzypuppy (May 1, 2003)

jeff330i said:


> damn the McKenna has had my car since monday, i have no loaner and they've only called me once (which was tuesday). what gives?


Take it to Rusnak. Have Tim Craft look at it. I swear by those guys. Their service department is the best kept secret in SoCal. So long as my M3 is down here in the LA area, I won't use anyone else.


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## j2 (Jun 13, 2003)

jeff330i said:


> damn the McKenna has had my car since monday, i have no loaner and they've only called me once (which was tuesday). what gives?


Man, if they had my car, I'd be calling them 2-3 times a day. Especially if I didn't have an equivalent loaner.


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## jeff330i (Feb 2, 2002)

yeah, so apparently they decided wednesday that nothing was wrong with the car because they could not reproduce the pop, but yet no one bothered to call me. Today is Friday, and i called and then they told me this information. So i went to go pick up the car today, and they said " we can't feel any pop", and of course there was no pop. I'm going to bring my car monday into a different dealer. I just can't believe they made a decision to do absolutely nothing to the car, but yet held it in their lot without telling me anything.


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## tai1spin (Mar 29, 2004)

*I have several issues with my clutch*

My 330ci is a Jan 2002 production (2002 330 model), and I bought it CPO with 15,000 miles. I always thought there was a problem with my clutch. 
1. High pedal engagement when driving. (Clutch engages at what seems to me a very high pedal position) When it engages, it does so with an apparent delay.
2. Verified no CDV valve on my car by two independent mechanics.
3. When cold, car makes a "thump" when engaging tranny from neutral to reverse or first gear.
4. No quick engagement when powershifting with the DSC completely disabled (DSC and brake light on after holding DSC and brake for 3 seconds or longer)
5. Slight click, (hard to hear unless in a parking garage with lots of echo and no outside noise) when shifting from 1st to second and slowly applying gas. (Launch from first, let go of gas, depress clutch, shift to second, release clutch nicely, apply gas lightly, slight "click" is heard)

I'd like some ideas on what specifics I can say to them so that if there are any applicable TSB's that they apply them no questions asked.

Luis


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## The HACK (Dec 19, 2001)

tai1spin said:


> 1. High pedal engagement when driving. (Clutch engages at what seems to me a very high pedal position) When it engages, it does so with an apparent delay.


Normal. Every single 330i/Ci I've driven, CDV or no CDV, have had really high clutch pick-up point.



tai1spin said:


> 3. When cold, car makes a "thump" when engaging tranny from neutral to reverse or first gear.


Normal. There's a lot of slack in the transmission driveline (for whatever reason almost all BMWs I've driven has a lot of slack in the driveline, and more HP the bigger the slack. The Z3 1.9L I originally had, had smaller slack than say, Stuka's now defunct E46 M3) and when cold you will get a nice "thump" from neutral to any of the moving gears.



tai1spin said:


> 4. No quick engagement when powershifting with the DSC completely disabled (DSC and brake light on after holding DSC and brake for 3 seconds or longer)


By powershift, you mean you shift without disengaging the clutch? Or do you mean speedshift when you shift without lifting off gas?



tai1spin said:


> 5. Slight click, (hard to hear unless in a parking garage with lots of echo and no outside noise) when shifting from 1st to second and slowly applying gas. (Launch from first, let go of gas, depress clutch, shift to second, release clutch nicely, apply gas lightly, slight "click" is heard))


Is that click heard from exterior or coming from the interior? If it's an electronic sound (like a switch being thrown) then I wouldn't worry about it. There's a couple of switches and sensors around the clutch and gas pedal areas that makes noises as they engage/disengage. If it's MECHANICAL, like two pieces of metal clicking against each other, then maybe you have what the TSB calls for.


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## solsurfr (Oct 19, 2003)

operknockity said:


> AFAIK this is when there is a sticky point in the clutch travel so that even when you let the clutch out smoothly, it hangs up momentarily and then let's go. You end up with a very bad shift and the car lurches. At least this is what was happening to me.


I have an '04 e46XI and notice a slight pop/delay when starting from 1st gear. I thought this was normal when accelerating slow because you are not giving it a lot of gas and/or I'm just lazy with the clutch? When I give more gas from a stopped position, there is no delay. I have been thinking about it more lately then saw this thread. Is this something to be concerned about? I only have 1400 miles on my e46.


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## tai1spin (Mar 29, 2004)

The HACK said:


> Normal. Every single 330i/Ci I've driven, CDV or no CDV, have had really high clutch pick-up point.
> 
> Normal. There's a lot of slack in the transmission driveline (for whatever reason almost all BMWs I've driven has a lot of slack in the driveline, and more HP the bigger the slack. The Z3 1.9L I originally had, had smaller slack than say, Stuka's now defunct E46 M3) and when cold you will get a nice "thump" from neutral to any of the moving gears.
> 
> ...


Good point. The click sounds like switches, not mechanical. Thanks for the clarification.

Oh and also, at times, it's very difficult for me to put my car into 1st,2nd or reverse when at a complete stop. Sometimes reverse requires a LOT of effort to slip into from a dead stop.


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## The HACK (Dec 19, 2001)

tai1spin said:


> Good point. The click sounds like switches, not mechanical. Thanks for the clarification.
> 
> Oh and also, at times, it's very difficult for me to put my car into 1st,2nd or reverse when at a complete stop. Sometimes reverse requires a LOT of effort to slip into from a dead stop.


Hate to keep telling you it's normal, because I haven't seen the car in person and can not really make that judgement. But every single BMW I've driven occasionally is difficult to put into 1st, 2nd, and reverse as well, stock or modified.

Try this. If the car is hard to put into gear at a dead stop, put the selector in neutral and pump the clutch a few times. This will force the gears to spin-up when the clutch plate is engaged/disengaged and the synchros will force the gear to line-up. If the gear selector rod is still hard to put in place, try replacing the transmission fluid (but do be aware, when you do this on a manual you SHOULD change it out regularly, like every 30,000 miles or so) to something like a Redline D4 ATF and see if that alleviate the problem.

Worst case, it never hurts to make good relationship with your local BMW mechanic (not dealership, they have ulterior motives) and pay them like $50 to physically inspect the car/test drive it with you. I've come to rely a lot on the advice of Imad, our friendly mechanic who works like half a mile away from my house.


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## tai1spin (Mar 29, 2004)

The HACK said:


> Hate to keep telling you it's normal, because I haven't seen the car in person and can not really make that judgement. But every single BMW I've driven occasionally is difficult to put into 1st, 2nd, and reverse as well, stock or modified.
> 
> Try this. If the car is hard to put into gear at a dead stop, put the selector in neutral and pump the clutch a few times. This will force the gears to spin-up when the clutch plate is engaged/disengaged and the synchros will force the gear to line-up. If the gear selector rod is still hard to put in place, try replacing the transmission fluid (but do be aware, when you do this on a manual you SHOULD change it out regularly, like every 30,000 miles or so) to something like a Redline D4 ATF and see if that alleviate the problem.
> 
> Worst case, it never hurts to make good relationship with your local BMW mechanic (not dealership, they have ulterior motives) and pay them like $50 to physically inspect the car/test drive it with you. I've come to rely a lot on the advice of Imad, our friendly mechanic who works like half a mile away from my house.


Yeah, I have a friendly BMWCCA mechanic that has been invaluable as my dealer in South Florida tends to be rather "difficult"... (Service in South Florida SUCKS everywhere, but some places are notorious for it). I am worried about the problem with putting car in gear because there is an actual TSB out for "notch pins" or something like that, for manual trannys. I saw it/read it/printed it out and the procedure is to replace the pins for 1st 2nd 3rd and whatever other gears... (TSB# SI B23 03 02 January 2002) and my car falls under the production dates stated in the TSB.


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## jm8571 (Mar 3, 2002)

*Pop goes the...clutch?!?*

Does anyone have the TSB number? Nevermind, got it.

I have a March 02 build and lately the clutch "poping" has become very noticable - only at slow speeds though.

Also, for those of us who aren't too familiar with clutch design, could someone provide a brief description of the issue? I would like to sound like I know what the problem is when I talk to my SA.

Thanks.


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## Salvator (Oct 14, 2003)

Drove my wife's 2003 525iT yesterday and noticed the pop... Happens when the car is cold, for the first few miles... Goes away, then was there again after it sat in the parking lot at work, went away again... I did not note the TSB # for this in this thread, anyone have any info on it? TIA! :thumbup:


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## RChoudry (Jan 13, 2002)

search under my name (RChoudry) and the clutch issue. Mine was a MArch/April 2002 build and well after the TSB dates and I had it replaced. If I remember, it was TSB 21 01 01 or 21 10 10.

You can verify on ALLDATA.COM

Many of the mid 2002 e46's had this problem and it was a defective throw out bearing. Good luck getting any dealer to fix it now.

Mine went at 500 miles!!!!! Replacement was perfect after that.


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## Salvator (Oct 14, 2003)

RChoudry said:


> search under my name (RChoudry) and the clutch issue. Mine was a MArch/April 2002 build and well after the TSB dates and I had it replaced. If I remember, it was TSB 21 01 01 or 21 10 10.
> 
> You can verify on ALLDATA.COM
> 
> ...


Thanks! I went out to Alldata and found it under the MY2002 listings for the E39 525iT:

210101 FEB 02 M/T - Popping/Clicking From Clutch Pedal

My wife's car is a 2003, built in late 2002, I beleive... We'll have to keep an eye on it and take it in if it keeps it up... of course, I asked her if it did it this morning and she said she forget to pay attention to it...  how can you not notice the pedal popping under your foot as you release it! :eeps: (If you ask me, I think she pops the clutch and overrevs anyway, probably why she doesn't notice it...)


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