Re:535is Clutch - Need info quickly

[shane.a.kleinpeter@xxxxxx]

Rui asks:

Snip:
I
had never driven an e28 series car and I was somewhat taken back by how
stiff the clutch was.  The guy said that this is how it is supposed to be.
I've driven many cars before and I've yet to experience a clutch as stiff
as
this outside of large military off-road vehicles.  Is the clutch in the
535is supposed to be stiff in general?

Unsnip:

I've been meaning to write about this for a week now so looks like a good
time.  First off the answer is, yes, the clutch on the E28 535is is stiffer
than your average car, more so than any other car I have driven.  As for
longevity, I just had mine replaced on Monday after the release bearing tab
broke off and prematurely ended the flywheel reference sensors life (and
the tab on the flywheel to add insult to injury).  The car has 128K miles
on the clock.  I had a new clutch put in even though the old one had at
least another 10K to go to save myself the labor on down the road.

 Unfortunately this all occurred at the Tarheel and Toe drivers school on
Saturday afternoon, rendering the car pretty much useless.  Fortunately, my
instructor was (is!) a mechanic and diagnosed the problem rather quickly.
Even luckier still, a friend, and Digest member, lent me his car for the
rest of the weekend because he had a student in my run group.  My mechanic,
Bob Shields, who owns Bavarian Auto Service in Rock Hill, SC, towed the car
home for me since he had trailered his 88 M5.  I drove the M5 home Sunday
night and he lent me his 320i (which is really a 328i) and got me back on
the road Monday night.  All in all I lucked out due to some great friends.

The new clutch is actually a lot lighter than the old one was, but is
getting stiffer every day as it beds in.  I expect that it will be back to
the way it was by the end of next week.  Hope this helps.

Shane Kleinpeter
Tarheel Chapter BMW CCA # 110057

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