New Owner - Needs New Clutch

[DiscoJax]

Hi All

New owner of a 2005 Z4 3.0i. Its in pretty good shape with regular wear and tear. Just picked it up in North Carolina yesterday and drove it home to Jax without much of an issue. Taking a break from the detail work.

Here is the list of odds & ends I need to take care of so this can be my daily driver for work. I'm looking for any advice you have.

1) It has a VF Supercharger that was added, maybe two owners ago. Seems to pull just fine however it does make a lot of noise (pulley? Bearing?) when idling. I have sent a video to VF to ask them if this is normal or if I need a new pulley or something else.

2) The clutch is stock (like everything else) and so it is already trashed from the extra torque from the supercharger. I don't need anything exotic but am thinking I will need a stage 2 clutch and new flywheel. I am looking at the Spec Clutch SB073H-2 and the Spec Clutch SB07A SPEC Aluminum Flywheel. Let me know if you have a better suggestion for a daily driver.

3) Looks like it has been well serviced. Did a pre-sales inspection with G3 Automotive in Raleigh and he said the only thing I mechanical I needed to fix was the clutch and maybe a minor oil pan leak.

4) Got a P0420 (Catalyst System Efficiency Below Threshold) error that I need to research.

Everything else seems cosmetic to me. Please let me know if you have any first timer tips and tricks.

[DiscoJax]

Talked with the folks at Bimmerworld and gave them the details on my car and how I plan on driving it. Went ahead with the following clutch strategy:

1) Upgraded Steel Clutch Pivot Pin with Spring Clip
2) Clutch Masters FX250 Clutch Kit (Sprung Hub)
3) JB Racing Aluminum Lightweight Flywheel

I've also reached out to VF Engineering about the bad pulley on the supercharger. Hoping to get that sorted soon.

[Steeler]

Originally Posted by DiscoJax

Talked with the folks at Bimmerworld and gave them the details on my car and how I plan on driving it. Went ahead with the following clutch strategy:

1) Upgraded Steel Clutch Pivot Pin with Spring Clip
2) Clutch Masters FX250 Clutch Kit (Sprung Hub)
3) JB Racing Aluminum Lightweight Flywheel

I've also reached out to VF Engineering about the bad pulley on the supercharger. Hoping to get that sorted soon.

As far as the pulley goes. The blower pulley does not have an internal bearing,
The idler pulley has a bearing.
How old is the blower and what spec is it?
Does it use engine oil for lubrication or is self oiling ie. has its own sump?

[DiscoJax]

Originally Posted by Steeler

As far as the pulley goes. The blower pulley does not have an internal bearing,
The idler pulley has a bearing.
How old is the blower and what spec is it?
Does it use engine oil for lubrication or is self oiling ie. has its own sump?

Not sure on the age. I talked to VF today. I told them it is a V-3 SCI which they said was the latest version. It has an internal oil reservoir that should be drained and refilled every 7500 miles. I don't have a lot of history on the vehicle so I will probably go ahead and do that. I did notice this note in the service notes so the noise I am hearing might be normal. I sent them a youtube clip of the sound so I am waiting to hear back on if this is normal or not.

"The Vortech V3 unit is known as “super quiet” however it will make a rattle sound on idle and this is normal. The sound will quiet as rpm increases and with the hood shut, the unit will be almost silent when driving at part throttle. At certain specific RPM you may hear a harmonic resonance from the Vortech unit which is normal. If during the use, the sound is not the same and changes
dramatically compared to before, you may wish to consult Vortech
Engineering directly at www.vortechengineering.com."

[Steeler]

Originally Posted by DiscoJax

Not sure on the age. I talked to VF today. I told them it is a V-3 SCI which they said was the latest version. It has an internal oil reservoir that should be drained and refilled every 7500 miles. I don't have a lot of history on the vehicle so I will probably go ahead and do that. I did notice this note in the service notes so the noise I am hearing might be normal. I sent them a youtube clip of the sound so I am waiting to hear back on if this is normal or not.

"The Vortech V3 unit is known as “super quiet” however it will make a rattle sound on idle and this is normal. The sound will quiet as rpm increases and with the hood shut, the unit will be almost silent when driving at part throttle. At certain specific RPM you may hear a harmonic resonance from the Vortech unit which is normal. If during the use, the sound is not the same and changes
dramatically compared to before, you may wish to consult Vortech
Engineering directly at www.vortechengineering.com."

Well, that's good news and yes what they say is correct from my experience with the internal oil reservoir blowers. There is a specific oil that is used that resembles ATF but I have always bought the correct fluid from Summit.

[Lucky1]

How much power is this pushing?

[DiscoJax]

Originally Posted by Lucky1

How much power is this pushing?

Not sure on the actual as I have not put it on a dyno. This is what is on the VF website. I haven’t been able to stretch its legs yet because of the clutch issue.

BMW Z4 3.0i 2002-2005
Engine: M54 / ECU: MS45
Stock: 225HP / 214TQ
Supercharged: 330HP / 275TQ
(Not compatible with N52 engines)

[wdb]

If they recommend an aluminum flywheel you must have told them you are going to go racing with the car. I don't think that will be much fun in stop/go daily driving. Also you will be introducing new loads into the crankshaft that the dual mass stock flywheel (plus the crank pulley at the other end) dampens out.

[DiscoJax]

Originally Posted by wdb

If they recommend an aluminum flywheel you must have told them you are going to go racing with the car. I don't think that will be much fun in stop/go daily driving. Also you will be introducing new loads into the crankshaft that the dual mass stock flywheel (plus the crank pulley at the other end) dampens out.

Everything’s a trade off I guess. Not going with dual mass.

[DiscoJax]

Got my clutch and flywheel this week. This evening I started the process of removing the bell housing bolts and the exhaust. Only worked on it for a couple of hours but I plan on hitting it hard tomorrow and finish it up by 6 pm.

[DiscoJax]

Got the clutch and flywheel installed successfully. A much bigger job than I anticipated. I spent a total of 15 hours working on it over 3 days but at least 3 hours was for trips to autozone and breaks.

1) Day 1 - Dropped the exhaust and shielding, disconnected the driveshaft and removed bell housing bolts. 2 hours
2) Day 2 - Removed transmission, clutch and flywheel. Installed new throw out bearing, clutch kit, and flywheel and reinstalled the transmission. Also reconnected the driveshaft. 10 hours.
3) Day 3 - Installed exhaust, shielding and transmission bolts. 3 hours.

Overall the installation went well. The process is a 2 person job for sure. I also installed a brass pivot pin to replace the plastic one. Clutch is stiff but will probably loosen up as it breaks in. I took it out for a test drive and it worked great. A little bit of chatter at stop signs with the clutch pedal depressed but that is also expected with the racing flywheel.

[wdb]

I did the clutch in my Z4MC solo. What part of the job required 2 people?

In any event congratulations on getting it done. I hope your choice of components meets your expectations.

[Steeler]

Good job.

You can raise the idle speed to get rid of most of the rattle/chatter at idle.
Mine is set around 950rpm.

[DiscoJax]

Originally Posted by Steeler

Good job.

You can raise the idle speed to get rid of most of the rattle/chatter at idle.
Mine is set around 950rpm.

Interesting. How did you raise the idle speed? 60 miles into the breakin period. No issues so far. The chatter is not too bothersome although I will be adding some insulation to the hood to mute chatter from the supercharger. Will see if that helps.

[Steeler]

Originally Posted by DiscoJax

Interesting. How did you raise the idle speed? 60 miles into the breakin period. No issues so far. The chatter is not too bothersome although I will be adding some insulation to the hood to mute chatter from the supercharger. Will see if that helps.

I have the capability to raise idle on the Foxwell code reader.
My tuner actually raised the idle though as part of one of the tunes.

Insulating the hood is not a good idea IMO. You want to extract heat from under hood to prevent heat soak to the blower and induction air.

What chatter are you talking about?
All I hear is glorious gear whine!

[DiscoJax]

Originally Posted by Steeler

I have the capability to raise idle on the Foxwell code reader.
My tuner actually raised the idle though as part of one of the tunes.

Insulating the hood is not a good idea IMO. You want to extract heat from under hood to prevent heat soak to the blower and induction air.

What chatter are you talking about?
All I hear is glorious gear whine!

Ahh that's a good point on the heat soak. I'm new to super chargers and my Z came with a vortech SC already installed. The vortech chatters at idle - much like the flywheel - and so I was trying to think of a way to quiet it. But I get your point on insulating the hood.

[Steeler]

Originally Posted by DiscoJax

Ahh that's a good point on the heat soak. I'm new to super chargers and my Z came with a vortech SC already installed. The vortech chatters at idle - much like the flywheel - and so I was trying to think of a way to quiet it. But I get your point on insulating the hood.

Unsure on the chatter you have.
Can you post a sound byte of that.
My V3 only whines.

[DiscoJax]

Here's a snippet from the service notes. I confirmed with VF that it was normal.

[DiscoJax]

100 miles on the new flywheel and clutch. I don't really see a discernible difference between the OEM and the new clutch/flywheel I added other than it require a bit more pressure to push in the clutch pedal and a bit of chatter occasionally at idle. There's certainly no issues with stoplights and traffic like I thought there might be.

I also had some squeal in the idler pulley next to the super charger. After spending two weeks back and forth with VF Engineering, (they were going to charge me $130 for a Dayco pulley and spacer) I canceled the order and found the dayco part on my own and replaced it. Also replaced the supercharger oil, cleaned, primed and painted the rusty brake calipers and topped off the hydraulic fluid in the convertible top motor.

I was also having a couple of electrical codes so I found some blown/mis-sized fuses, replaced them and cleared the codes.

[Steeler]

Originally Posted by DiscoJax

100 miles on the new flywheel and clutch. I don't really see a discernible difference between the OEM and the new clutch/flywheel I added other than it require a bit more pressure to push in the clutch pedal and a bit of chatter occasionally at idle. There's certainly no issues with stoplights and traffic like I thought there might be.

I also had some squeal in the idler pulley next to the super charger. After spending two weeks back and forth with VF Engineering, (they were going to charge me $130 for a Dayco pulley and spacer) I canceled the order and found the dayco part on my own and replaced it. Also replaced the supercharger oil, cleaned, primed and painted the rusty brake calipers and topped off the hydraulic fluid in the convertible top motor.

I was also having a couple of electrical codes so I found some blown/mis-sized fuses, replaced them and cleared the codes.

Excellent. If the tune in the DME is straight from VFE it is likely far from optimal.
Do you have an AFR guage in the car?

As an example, when I complained to VFE about my engine going into limp mode, they tried several revisions and finally told me they had sent the wrong pulley with the kit and sent me a 4.00 inch diameter pulley. Band aid solution that solved zero.

Excellent hardware. Poor tuning, in my experience.

I eventually hooked up with Josh pokeybritches ar Severn Tuning and never looked back.

[DiscoJax]

Originally Posted by Steeler

Excellent. If the tune on the DME is straight from VFE it is likely far from optimal. Do you have an AFR guage un the car?

AFR gauge? I'm a noob when it comes to this kind of thing so you'll have to speak slowly and eliminate acronyms 😂

I have an OBD scanner and OBD fusion app which allows me to create a number of digital gauges (including boost) on my phone. Haven't messed with it yet because there are so many options. But if you tell me what I am looking for, I can trend it or create a gauge to monitor it.

[Steeler]

[QUOTE=DiscoJax;29120354]AFR gauge? I'm a noob when it comes to this kind of thing so you'll have to speak slowly and eliminate acronyms 😂

I have an OBD scanner and OBD fusion app which allows me to create a number of digital gauges (including boost) on my phone. Haven't messed with it yet because there are so many options. But if you tell me what I am looking for, I can trend it or create a gauge to monitor it.

See my added comments above.
AFR monitors and shows air/fuel muxture in real time.

Engines that are boosted need additional fuel in the mixture.
Read up on stoic pressure and AFR required for boosted/forced induction (FI) engines