chasinthemirage Posted October 10, 2017 Share Posted October 10, 2017 G'day you jokers, looking for some opinions/experience regarding replacing a factory dual mass flywheel with a solid one. The clutch in my brothers E34 535i has become juddery and is slipping during heavy acceleration. I've just been speaking to Exedy and have been quoted two options, a dual mass kit or a solid conversion kit which is about $100 cheaper. Has anyone got experience with converting to a solid flywheel? I've never dealt with them before and am wondering whether it's worth spending the extra coin on the dual mass kit. The car gets some spirited driving occasionally but the majority of it's use is just daily driving around town with the odd bit of open road. Also while we're on the subject, how much of a pain will replacing this clutch be? It's a factory manual car but it's bloody low and I'm really not sure I can be bothered doing the job myself. Thanks in advance, Chaz 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Vapour Posted October 10, 2017 Share Posted October 10, 2017 Yo They are not hard to do. BMW gearboxes are quite light and easy to move around. I pulled one at Zebra last week and I could reach all the bolts from the ground. Main issue I find is they use 18mm bolts on the guibo and I don’t have a 18mm spanner. I got lucky last time and used a good quality adjustable. They also have a clip on top holding the gear linkage in place that can be a pain in the ass. not a major just annoying Go for the single mass flywheel. The weight difference is massive and it will rev much quicker. Less chance of failure in the future also. Some people report the gearbox becomes a little rattily after but this causes no issues I can recall hearing about. Im not sure about the fork and bearing @MM can you answer this? M33b35 is more your area of knowledge. E34 are a great car. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chasinthemirage Posted October 11, 2017 Author Share Posted October 11, 2017 Sweet that's what I want to hear. I don't think a bit of a rattle will be an issue, my main concern was whether it would cause the car to become harsh to drive. Haven't actually had a look at how much room there is around the box but most of my experience is with heavy cast iron gearbags so wanted to make sure they weren't known for being a pain to do. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kws Posted October 11, 2017 Share Posted October 11, 2017 I converted to single mass in my old e36 and yes the gearbox rattled like a bag of spanners at idle in neutral, but didn’t cause any other issues. It revved very quickly though, and I’d certainly recommend it over dual mass. No obvious harshness and wasn’t any harder to drive in Wellington hills etc. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chasinthemirage Posted October 12, 2017 Author Share Posted October 12, 2017 Sweet that's good to hear! I took it for a drive last night and I don't think there's actually anything wrong with the clutch. It's missing under load so that's a whole other kettle of fish. Good to know for the future though. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUNAMUCK Posted October 12, 2017 Share Posted October 12, 2017 In my experience missing under load is often coozed sparking plugs. I should put my E34 back together. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chasinthemirage Posted October 12, 2017 Author Share Posted October 12, 2017 Does anything else commonly go wrong with these things? I've ordered a set of spark plugs and a fuel filter for him. Aside from doing an oil change on it and replacing a couple of fuel lines it hasn't really required anything in the time he's had it. It goes like a cut cat once it's wound up but shit its a big waka! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoKer Posted October 13, 2017 Share Posted October 13, 2017 21 hours ago, RUNAMUCK said: I should put my E34 back together. Airing mine out after sitting on my lawn since January Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUNAMUCK Posted October 13, 2017 Share Posted October 13, 2017 4 hours ago, chasinthemirage said: Does anything else commonly go wrong with these things? Nothing. Or everything. They are getting old now. And they're perhaps a little bit cleverer than they are "well built". They would be been mighty cars when they were brand new. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chasinthemirage Posted October 13, 2017 Author Share Posted October 13, 2017 Yeah it's actually a fair bit older than how it looks/drives. I've thought about buying it off him but yeah, too many electronic doohickeys inside that dash to cause issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kws Posted October 13, 2017 Share Posted October 13, 2017 Im a huge fan of E34s, and the manual 535i sport is an awesome car. Big capacity straight sixes are win. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoKer Posted October 13, 2017 Share Posted October 13, 2017 My indicator just got stuck on so I parked it up, was a relay, Replaced radiator & tires, nothing much really, put gas in them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Vapour Posted October 13, 2017 Share Posted October 13, 2017 5 hours ago, chasinthemirage said: Does anything else commonly go wrong with these things? I've ordered a set of spark plugs and a fuel filter for him. Aside from doing an oil change on it and replacing a couple of fuel lines it hasn't really required anything in the time he's had it. It goes like a cut cat once it's wound up but shit its a big waka! Common issue is the computers under the back seat get wet and cause havoc. Ensure the sun roof drains are clear 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chasinthemirage Posted October 13, 2017 Author Share Posted October 13, 2017 Hmm interesting, will have a look at the drains! Cheers! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajg193 Posted October 13, 2017 Share Posted October 13, 2017 Just like anything old and electrical, if you touch it or look at it funny it will break. Best to just enjoy it while it works. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chasinthemirage Posted October 13, 2017 Author Share Posted October 13, 2017 @ajg193 I'd better remove the Bosch electrics and replace it with some quality Lucas parts! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sr2 Posted December 1, 2017 Share Posted December 1, 2017 We replaced the clutch in my sons 96 E39 528i with a solid flywheel. Worst decision ever, the gearbox rattled at idle and the clutch action was terrible! In the end we made the parts company that supplied it take it back and exchange it for a dual mass for an extra $150. The result was a super smooth acting clutch and no gearbox rattle, It simply wasn't worth the $150 saving! I'm not 100% sure re the E34 but the E39's that replaced them ran very tall diff ratios in the manuals. My sons car was running a standard 2.9 diff that had you in 2nd and 3rd around town and using 4th most of the time on the open road, the top speed however was quite spectacular! We bought a 3.44 ratio 325 auto diff from Zebra for $130, swapped input flanges (one nut and a lock-tab) and the transformation was like night and day, she pulls like a raped date off the line, you can use 4th around town and she cruises in 5th on the open road with 4th in just the right spot for overtaking. Fuel consumption hasn't appeared to change and as the traction controll and speedo work off the ABS sensors everything works as it should. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kws Posted December 3, 2017 Share Posted December 3, 2017 I never had issues with clutch action in my e36 but the rattle was there. Be careful changing diff ratio to auto as well, I left the auto diff in the e36 when converted to manual and it revved it’s nuts off at 100kph in 5th, although off the line it was like a cut cat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chasinthemirage Posted December 4, 2017 Author Share Posted December 4, 2017 The fuel filter and spark plugs seemed to have fixed the issue. I've driven it a couple of times since they were replaced and the clutch seems fine. The car will be up for sale shortly anyway as he's looking for a Hilux. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nominal Posted December 4, 2017 Share Posted December 4, 2017 1 hour ago, chasinthemirage said: The fuel filter and spark plugs seemed to have fixed the issue. I've driven it a couple of times since they were replaced and the clutch seems fine. The car will be up for sale shortly anyway as he's looking for a Hilux. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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