2 Series - Clutch vibration?

[scg1]

Hi,

I have a 218i which I feel is not very smooth to ride. It has just under 36k miles on the clock and it's a 66 plate so almost 6 years old.

This is an intermittent issue I keep experiencing - it's a manual gearbox and sometimes the clutch vibrates when I'm changing gears. It doesn't make any noise or clunking when I press it down without putting in gear.

To be specific, if I am parked and I press the clutch down, on the press down it won't vibrate, I then put it into gear 1 and when I release the clutch is where the vibration starts, and this is pretty similar for all gears.

Sometimes the problem is there, sometimes it's not - I don't know whether it's related to temperature etc. I have no problem changing gears at all, but its the vibrating clutch which is just making me not enjoy driving it because I've never had this issue with any other car.

If its a flywheel issue then I may just sell the car as I can't afford to be paying around £1500 for a new clutch and flywheel on a car with such low mileage - I bought it at 30,600 miles.

I'd be grateful for any suggestions as to what it may be.

[Knoxville2410]

You've started a few threads about this car - either there is a lot wrong with it or you are paranoid!

My 2013 320d is a manual and does exactly the same. Sometimes it will judder setting off in first gear - it has done this since I had it on 50k miles and is now on 90k. I believe this is a common issue with the BMW 6 speed box.

One thing that I read that helps (that seems to sometimes work) is to set off in 2nd gear. Apparently this helps remove any friction material buildup/uneven surfaces on the clutch plate. Could be a load of bks but I tried it a couple of times and it seemed to work.

[scg1]

Knoxville2410 said:

You've started a few threads about this car - either there is a lot wrong with it or you are paranoid!

My 2013 320d is a manual and does exactly the same. Sometimes it will judder setting off in first gear - it has done this since I had it on 50k miles and is now on 90k. I believe this is a common issue with the BMW 6 speed box.

One thing that I read that helps (that seems to sometimes work) is to set off in 2nd gear. Apparently this helps remove any friction material buildup/uneven surfaces on the clutch plate. Could be a load of bks but I tried it a couple of times and it seemed to work.

I guess I may be a little paranoid since the dealer I bought it from back in the summer lied about the number of previous owners...

I fixed the fuel issue by simply switching to E5 fuel so that's all good. Only thing now is the annoying clutch thing.

[Olivergt]

I might be misunderstanding your post.

Are you saying that the clutch judders on every gear change?

Clutch judder is normally only associated with pulling away from a dead stop in first, as the clutch starts to engage, it doesn't do it very smoothly and causes a judder. Once the clutch is fully engaged and the car is moving the juddering will stop. Changing gear after that, there should not be any juddering unless you are very bad at gear changing and slipping the clutch on each gear change?

I know older BMW's have a Clutch Delay Valve (CDV) which basically slows down the clutch engagement, the idea being that it makes it smoother. A lot of people will remove the CDV (very simple) which the puts the driver in full control of how the clutch engages.

Can you confirm that it happens on every gear change? Maybe try and rev match on the gear changes to see if it goes away?

[scg1]

Olivergt said:

I might be misunderstanding your post.

Are you saying that the clutch judders on every gear change?

Clutch judder is normally only associated with pulling away from a dead stop in first, as the clutch starts to engage, it doesn't do it very smoothly and causes a judder. Once the clutch is fully engaged and the car is moving the juddering will stop. Changing gear after that, there should not be any juddering unless you are very bad at gear changing and slipping the clutch on each gear change?

I know older BMW's have a Clutch Delay Valve (CDV) which basically slows down the clutch engagement, the idea being that it makes it smoother. A lot of people will remove the CDV (very simple) which the puts the driver in full control of how the clutch engages.

Can you confirm that it happens on every gear change? Maybe try and rev match on the gear changes to see if it goes away?

Thanks for the reply, it's not so much a shudder, just a vibration through my left foot.

I'll try rev matching to see if it works!

[Olivergt]

scg1 said:

Olivergt said:

I might be misunderstanding your post.

Are you saying that the clutch judders on every gear change?

Clutch judder is normally only associated with pulling away from a dead stop in first, as the clutch starts to engage, it doesn't do it very smoothly and causes a judder. Once the clutch is fully engaged and the car is moving the juddering will stop. Changing gear after that, there should not be any juddering unless you are very bad at gear changing and slipping the clutch on each gear change?

I know older BMW's have a Clutch Delay Valve (CDV) which basically slows down the clutch engagement, the idea being that it makes it smoother. A lot of people will remove the CDV (very simple) which the puts the driver in full control of how the clutch engages.

Can you confirm that it happens on every gear change? Maybe try and rev match on the gear changes to see if it goes away?

Thanks for the reply, it's not so much a shudder, just a vibration through my left foot.

I'll try rev matching to see if it works!

When do you get the vibration? Is there all the time, or only when you lift your foot up to engage the clutch?

If it's all the time, depending on how bad it is, it could be quite normal, you shouldn't be resting your left foot on the clutch pedal anyway, once the clutch is fully engaged, move your left foot out of the way. You can probably feel similar vibrations through the gear lever as well. Place your hand on the gear lever while you are driving, you will generally feel something and what you feel might change when accelerating, braking, coasting. This would be quite normal, although the engine and gearbox will use flexible mounting points, they won't be able to remove all vibrations.

[Jamescrs]

It does sound a little strange, I have an M240i manual and have never experienced it, mine is on around 40k miles now and I bought mine at 30k, mine is also a 66 plate though it could be a different clutch given the engine differences, could be just down to driving style though?

[helix402]

Op-you’ve got a cylinder missing.