Clutch replacement/upgrade problems

[03Z]

Info: 2003 Z4 3.0i sport with the m54b30 and GS6-37BZ transmission.

So a little while back I pulled into a gas station and in pulling up to the pump there was a loud bang, and the clutch pedal fell to the floor. after disassembling everything I found that the pivot pin had broken, the fork retainer clip broke, and the fork came off the slave cylinder letting it explode into the bell-housing.

While I have everything apart I was going to replace all the seals on the trans and the rear main and the clutch as well because I don't want a contaminated clutch to be the reason I have to do this again. Took the clutch off, aaaand my DMF is shot.

I've decided I want a single mass setup so I don't have to worry about it, but don't want to go lightweight as the car is a daily driver and I don't want to spend all that money for performance I won't really get to use. I searched all over the internet and finally found a Valeo kit on UUC that they said would fit and was the same weight as stock. Well it doesn't fit, my DMF has 8 bolt holes, the kit's flywheel has 7. My guess is that it's meant for the 2004 cars with the n52

So my question is this, where do I get a single mass clutch kit with same flywheel weight as stock, without spending 1k plus, that will actually fit my engine/tranny combo. I've looked, this valeo kit was all I could find. I'm not spending 800-1k on another DMF that I know is a flawed, failure prone design. Will a kit meant for any of the 3 series cars of the same year range work for me, or are most of those n52 as I've heard?

TL;DR 2003 Z4 3.0i sport with m54b30/GS6-37BZ combo needs a single mass clutch setup of same weight as stock because daily, could only find one Valeo kit that UUC said would work, kit is meant for 2004+ N52 cars. Where can I find a kit for this engine/tranny combo or will a kit meant for some 3 series fit correctly? Or am I SOL because I have the first year and no one supports it?

I just want to drive my car again.

[Steeler]

I would not shy away from the LWF even for just street driving. It is such an enjoyable experience how free revving up and down the rev range the engine is when you have one.

FYI the N52 was not put into Z4's until 2006.

Finally see here for an excellent review on the LWF.
http://www.zpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1092418

[GuidoK]

I can understand you dont want a low mass flywheel because of the chatter.
Do you have partnumbers/kitnumbers of the valeo parts?

With 7 boltholes I even doubt its for a bmw at all...
Does the clutch plate have a 22 spline hole or a 9 spline hole?

Edit: 1 of the 'boltholes' is probably a dowel hole, in which case you could have a n52 version; that has 6 boltholes in the flywheel.

If I were to guess you'd need valeo kit 835101 and you now have kit 835115
Am I right?

[03Z]

Originally Posted by dbarton62

I would not shy away from the LWF even for just street driving. It is such an enjoyable experience how free revving up and down the rev range the engine is when you have one.

FYI the N52 was not put into Z4's until 2006.

Finally see here for an excellent review on the LWF.
http://www.zpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1092418

the lightweight flywheel is also a money thing, I don't want to spend that much money right now when I've put more than a few grand into parts this year on what was essentially a rebuild except for the drivetrain... which I'm doing now. Although it's beginning to look like there is no other single mass options for me so it's between a performance kit and another DMF, both being similar prices.

My understanding is that 2006 production started in 10/2004, or at least thats what seems to be being conveyed by fitment notes from clutch manufacturers and by realOEM. Just makes it all the more difficult to figure out if a kit will fit. you've got some manufacturers using model years in fitment notes, some using production dates. Two different inline six engines of the same displacement and manufacturers don't specify engine model. Then you've got multiple different transmissions that they also don't specify the model of so you can't really be sure that what you're getting will fit.

Oh and apparently the Z4 has it's own version of the GS6-37BZ spec'd by the "thea" code at the end so it's possible that a clutch kit meant for a 330i with the GS6-37BZ "theg" might not work, though I can't find any information on what the differences in those transmissions are.

[03Z]

Originally Posted by GuidoK

I can understand you dont want a low mass flywheel because of the chatter.
Do you have partnumbers/kitnumbers of the valeo parts?

With 7 boltholes I even doubt its for a bmw at all...
Does the clutch plate have a 22 spline hole or a 9 spline hole?

Edit: 1 of the 'boltholes' is probably a dowel hole, in which case you could have a n52 version; that has 6 boltholes in the flywheel.

If I were to guess you'd need valeo kit 835101 and you now have kit 835115
Am I right?

Sorry, my bad, it is 6 bolt holes and it is kit 835115 for an N52 drivetrain. I looked at kit 835101 but it says it wont fit my car. So I started looking into interchangeability between 3 series cars and the Z4 because i know they share the 6 speed transmission but apparently they are different variants. Can't find info on what is different though so I don't know if I can make it work. Its got the right bolt pattern but maybe it doesn't fit the Z4 bell-housing or the input shaft length is different? I would think its got the same number of splines but maybe that's different as well. I seem to remember that 4 years ago when I got the car aftermarket support and information was better...

[GuidoK]

E46 and z4 are virtually identical

I think that aftermarket support is mainly bad in the USA. These are european cars (ok, the z4 was made in the us but...), and valeo is a european brand.
When I look for data I almost always look for the german data because that usually shows much more. Maybe thats in the german nature to be more elaborate and factual correct. (although valeo is of course a french brand)
If you look at the german valeo data:
http://www.4kkit.de/fileadmin/user_u...huere_2015.pdf

or this spreadsheet:
http://www.4kkit.de/fileadmin/bilder...-_Website.xlsx

You can see that the 2.5i and 3.0i prefl Z4 are listed at product 835101
(the spreadsheet shows all partnumbers/replacement numbers etc)
(What usually makes it confusing is that there is both a n52 and m54 z4 2.5i and 3.0i (in the US at least))


And it makes sense, the prefl z4 3.0i has the exact same flywheel as the e46 330i, but a smaller clutch disc (228mm vs 239mm). Fitting an e46 330i clutch is a very common upgrade (I also use a 239mm 330i performance clutch from Sachs race engineering on my z4)

[03Z]

Originally Posted by GuidoK

E46 and z4 are virtually identical

I think that aftermarket support is mainly bad in the USA. These are european cars (ok, the z4 was made in the us but...), and valeo is a european brand.
When I look for data I almost always look for the german data because that usually shows much more. Maybe thats in the german nature to be more elaborate and factual correct. (although valeo is of course a french brand)
If you look at the german valeo data:
http://www.4kkit.de/fileadmin/user_u...huere_2015.pdf

or this spreadsheet:
http://www.4kkit.de/fileadmin/bilder...-_Website.xlsx

You can see that the 2.5i and 3.0i prefl Z4 are listed at product 835101
(the spreadsheet shows all partnumbers/replacement numbers etc)
(What usually makes it confusing is that there is both a n52 and m54 z4 2.5i and 3.0i (in the US at least))


And it makes sense, the prefl z4 3.0i has the exact same flywheel as the e46 330i, but a smaller clutch disc (228mm vs 239mm). Fitting an e46 330i clutch is a very common upgrade (I also use a 239mm 330i performance clutch from Sachs race engineering on my z4)

Both of those links don't work for me. In fact I've been trying to view any spreadsheet of Valeo technical specs and model matchups but none of the links I've found seem to work and I don't see any technical spec sheets on Valeo's website. I've never had this level of confusion trying to buy parts for my car before or finding information on what is interchangeable with other models.

If you are saying that you use an e46 clutch on your car and that the flywheel is the same, then I'm ordering the 835101 kit . You've done some impressive stuff with your car, I assume you know what you're talking about. Exactly the information I needed to confirm that the 330 parts will work.

[03Z]

Welp, decided to go with the UUC lightweight flywheel and clutch kit anyways. Only a few hundred more than the 330i kit and kept me from having to pay a 15% restocking fee on the kit I already bought. Will post a review once I get everything back together and running... In the middle of changing the oil pan gasket right now... who's bright idea was it to make it impossible to change the oil pan gasket without removing everything but the engine itself? not to mention not put a support hook on the back of the block so that if the trans is out you can still support the engine? Why BMW? Why do you have to be like a high maintenance woman that nothing is simple with?

[GuidoK]

Originally Posted by 03Z

not to mention not put a support hook on the back of the block so that if the trans is out you can still support the engine? Why BMW? Why do you have to be like a high maintenance woman that nothing is simple with?

Just put a strap between the crank pulley and arb. (note the few wooden blocks to set it under some tension)



Only needs to hold a few kg as the engine balances almost on the engine mounts.
Much easier than putting up an engine brace at the top/back of the engine as that might require removing the hood.

Believe me, this car is in general much easier to work on than say a fwd turbodiesel.

lowering the subframe to remove a sump is pretty common.

Originally Posted by 03Z

and kept me from having to pay a 15% restocking fee on the kit I already bought.

They do that? You wrote that they said it would fit.
Reminds me to never buy anything there.

[03Z]

Originally Posted by GuidoK

Just put a strap between the crank pulley and arb. (note the few wooden blocks to set it under some tension)



Only needs to hold a few kg as the engine balances almost on the engine mounts.
Much easier than putting up an engine brace at the top/back of the engine as that might require removing the hood.

Believe me, this car is in general much easier to work on than say a fwd turbodiesel.

lowering the subframe to remove a sump is pretty common.


They do that? You wrote that they said it would fit.
Reminds me to never buy anything there.

I meant to support the engine without the trans and while dropping the subframe. Did it another way. Everything is in now but I can't get the clutch bled. Getting clean, solid fluid from the bleed nipple but the pedal is spongy as all hell and the clutch won't disengage so I can get it in gear.

Also UUC's site pulled that kit up when I searched for my car, but the manufacturer uses production dates instead of model year so that was the problem. also I can understand the need to repackage the parts and all that. Still, 15% is a bit steep, 75 dollars to repackage a new clutch kit? So long as I get my car moving again I'm not too bothered.

[GuidoK]

You're not supposed to remove both the subframe and transmission


Why did you have your hydraulic system open? normally bleeding isnt required with changing the clutch; the clutch actuator unbolts from the transmission without removing it from the hydraulic line. Does the clutch work? (does it engage/unengage?)

You know the procedure for bleeding the clutch? (its slightly different from bleeding brakes)

[03Z]

Originally Posted by GuidoK

You're not supposed to remove both the subframe and transmission


Why did you have your hydraulic system open? normally bleeding isnt required with changing the clutch; the clutch actuator unbolts from the transmission without removing it from the hydraulic line. Does the clutch work? (does it engage/unengage?)

You know the procedure for bleeding the clutch? (its slightly different from bleeding brakes)

the clutch slave exploded into the bellhousing because the fork pivot pin snapped and the fork came off the slave. the entire system emptied onto the ground. that was the whole reason I did any of this, plus I took the cdv off.
The clutch feels like it's spongy but just on the verge of releasing and working properly. there's resistance at the pedal and it feels like the release point is just past the end of the pedal travel. as of now the clutch does not disengage.

as far as bleeding goes, I've tried reverse bleeding. I've tried having the slave cylinder out, clamping the piston down into the cylinder and pumping the pedal. I've tried manually pumping the slave cylinder. I've tried just leaving the slave in and the bleeder open and pumping the pedal. I've gone through 3 quarts of dot 4 at this point and there is still air in the master. I'm about to build my own pressure bleeder and try that.