Clutch issue

[JBird]

Agreed Mark, I brought the cable yesterday after realising this is gonna have to be done yearly.

Also agree with the previous post that in some aspects shifts have improved since the accidental factory reset as 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th are all nice and crisper than before winter, just clunky at low crawling speeds in 1st and 2nd which need sorting. I suspects that since my clutch is basically brand new, the factory defaults aren't too far off, and that it had learn't some bad habits commuting leading up to winter which have now effectively been erased.

So when our cars go in for service, presumably the battery is disconnected. Is an SMG teach performed after reconnecting? Doubt it. May be contributing to all the clutch issues over time.

Solution = Get your own cable, do a reset, take it for a hard run / td.

[JBird]

Hi Mark, I forgot to ask, when you say prop shaft donut, do you mean the fwd coupling shown as item 2 in the diagram. (Also discussed at length here)

I recently replaced the rear joint, just fwd of the diff (Item 14 in diagram, part Nr 7 841 003). That took away 70% of the driveline play I'd say.

[Mark CSL]

yes it takes up any play on the prop and can crack with age
This part

[digi]

Originally Posted by Mark CSL

yes it takes up any play on the prop and can crack with age
This part

this part seems to always break. Had to replace it a number of times on my E36 ///M3. Only replaced it once on the cesil though. It was not visible, was a hairline split. Once it was off, the thing fell apart. LOL

[shimmy]

Changed mine last week, it was fooked good and proper

[cantfind1]

Clutch problems! always the same lol.....most often you will find that it is this part causing the problem, it is what the clutch slides on and should be replaced everytime you replace the clutch it wears out and gets grooves in it causing the clutch to stick, slur, not engage smoothly, clunky operation as the hydraulics sense resistence and are fooled into thinking clutch is fully engaged when its not.

BMW recommends when you replace the clutch to not lubricate this part, however from past experience I have found using copper grease is very effective in keeping this part functioning correctly.

If your car has been sat for a long time over winter then it could have become corroded from moisture. This causes the calibration to be incorrect in the SMG ecu as the clutch no longer moves like it used to before you parked it up!

Only way to solve this is gearbox out inspect and replace part or lubricate depending on condition or you could try driving it with some hard full throttle shifts in order to smooth out some of the sticky sections along the shaft.

Part I am talking about is number 1 in the diagram.

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...19&hg=23&fg=15

[AlexGTT]

Originally Posted by Mark CSL

The clonk can be down to a worn prop shaft donut
i had this replaced and it helped a lot.

Also why dont you lot invest in the bmw tool easy to use and you can teach
the gearbox shift bite in every gear it also does a lot more all you need is a laptop and this cable its £37.99

http://bmwcables.moonfruit.com/

Mark, how does this work and is there software to download?

[Rick H]

Originally Posted by AlexGTT

Mark, how does this work and is there software to download?

Got mine from www.cable-shack.co.uk

Inpa etc came with it.

[JBird]

Originally Posted by AlexGTT

Mark, how does this work and is there software to download?

Alex, See posts from Tom (NZ_M3), keywords GT1, cable etc. I should have mine by next week and will do a write up if I have any success. Not sure if I am game to do a reset unless i'm sure i know what im doing, but a bit of a looksy at the current offsets can't harm!

Before I do go screwing with it, i'd still like to know for sure that disconecting the battery does actually wipe the SMG settings. It seems odd to me that it would, as disconecting a battery is a common service thing to do. You'd expect a warning lable on the battery terminal or something if that was the case.

Shimmy or digi, could a layman see the cracks in the fwd coupling, or do you have to half pull it apart to see if its fooked?