E39 CLUTCH AND FLYWHEEL

[ROUNDHILLS]

My M5 is now on its third clutch and flywheel at 76,000 miles - average mileage is therefore about 25K.Main dealer says it's due to the power of the car and the way it's driven.I've not experienced this before with previous M5 or M3. Does anyone have any similar experiences or technical views on this? Thanks

[S800VXR]

I had one of these for a short period and to be honest the clutches are not that strong but for it to need replacing that often it must be driven badely IMHO. Uprated setups are available but they cost alot!
I would not recomend holding it on the clutch or slipping it at all apart from the normal pullaways.

[Neil.D]

Whilst the clutch is slightly uprated from the 540i you do need to be careful. They will eat through them in less than 5k miles with poor vehicle sympathy and failing to fully release the clutch before power is applied.
With care they can last over 150k miles.

Once you feel the clutch is on its way out the key is to not delay or it will eat the flywheel too which doubles your costs.

N

[rassi]

The first week of ownership I was convinced the clutch was slipping, as under full bore acceleration and after changing from say 3rd to 4th it would slip badly. Realised that I was not releasing the clutch fully before applying WOT, and after that lesson and 75.000 km the clutch is still going strong. It may even be the original clutch, but even if it is not, it just goes to say that driver input will dictate the life span of the clutch - our US friends are known for frying the clutch in as little as 10K miles.

Also, much talk about the clutch being marginal, but the new ESS VT550 kit use the original clutch and it is holding up fine even with 550 bhp to deal with.

[ROUNDHILLS]

Driving style is important - sitting at the lights with the clutch engaged, rapid acceleration, etc. I usually don't do this.

Apparently, if launch control is used on an E46 CSL, for example, the clutch will burn out after 5 launches.

We don't get told these things by dealers!