M6 clutch warranty dilemma

[Irish_Stu]

So I have the juddering clutch in my e63 M6, mainly when its warm... BMW say they need to drop the gearbox to diagnose properly. What are the chances of them not finding the release bearing/guide wear and me having to pay for it myself instead of the mondial warranty?
Anyone had a clutch done recently under warranty as a result of juddering?

[AW10]

If it's just the guide tube that's worn/galled you might get lucky and get it covered under warranty but if the clutch disc is worn or worse they'll deny the claim. That was my experience - slowly worsening juddering and when they took the box out the clutch discs were knackered so I no chance of a warranty claim. I had never used the launch control - must have been the PO! Given the state of things it's surprising the car shifted as well as it did.



I would suggest that you prepare for funding the clutch replacement out of your own pocket by negotiating with the dealer before they start the work. You should be able to get 10-15% off the parts and ask them to apply the warranty labour rate (probably around £65/per hour rather than £110 or more). You can also buy the same clutch parts from ECP or carparts4less for around £1000 or as low as £800 with discounts if your timing is good. A good indie can do the work in 4 to 5 hours at a labour rate at or less than the main dealer's warranty rate.

So you have to weigh the odds of the dealer finding cause for a warranty claim (low, in my opinion) and thus having to pay them for the work versus going straight to an indie knowing 100% that you'll have to foot the whole (lower) bill.

Hope this makes sense/helps.

[Mr Classic]

Clutch kits for the 6 series are £163 on ECP, just wondering where your £1000 figure came from?

[Schermerhorn]

Mr Classic said:

Clutch kits for the 6 series are £163 on ECP, just wondering where your £1000 figure came from?

Might as well do flywheel as the same time.

I got quoted £800 for both; LUK flywheel and Valeo clutch kit.

Friday offers after 5pm bring prices down by another 10% as they chase targets for the week.

[AW10]

Mr Classic said:

Clutch kits for the 6 series are £163 on ECP, just wondering where your £1000 figure came from?

Link please!?!?

[Irish_Stu]

Thanks for the feedback. Very helpful.

At the minute I feel inclined to just leave it until the clutch eventually goes altogether, then get it done at an Indy. Hard call to make...

[AW10]

Irish_Stu said:

Hard call to make...

Yup! I was in that same position and got lucky, relatively speaking. My warranty claim was denied but after some gentle persuasion the main dealer fitted the clutch and flywheel I supplied (previously purchased by me from CP4L) at a bargain labour rate, probably as good as any indie. The planets all lined up that day - I'm still amazed they did it as they could easily have told me no.

[Irish_Stu]

How was your clutch behaving before you replaced it? Mine isn't that bad, it only does it when its warm and I can generally drive in a way that minimises the juddering... so it isn't the end of the world. However I'm fully aware that the longer it goes on and the more the clutch wears, the less likely they are to do it under warranty..

[AW10]

I would describe the take-up in first gear being like it was a conventional pedal-operated clutch car driven by someone with poor coordination who wasn't balancing the throttle input with letting the clutch out. So not the end of the world but annoying. Shifting between the other gears was generally OK. But then I discovered that after a couple of full throttle upshifts between first and second and then second and third subsequent shifts up or down were very very harsh as though the clutch pedal was being sidestepped. Once things cooled down the harshness went away. I thus suspected the release bearing was sticking on the guide tube. When the gearbox was taken apart the release bearing was broken and the guide tube galled and the clutch discs looked like a dog had gnawed at them.