BMW E36 Clutch Replacement

[John]

Any of the BMW aficionados here done a clutch on an e36? A friend has a '99 328i which is in need of a clutch. He asked me for a recommendation on where to get the parts, so I figured I'd see if anyone here knew of any good online shops to get BMW parts at. Also, any thoughts on the difficulty of the job? He has another friend who is going to do the labor for him (they're both in South Carolina). Any "while you're in there's" they should be considering?

[Jase007]

Believe it or not ... Advance auto / Pepboys / Autozone carry LUK products which happen to be OEM in BMW, Porsche and lots of other cars. If you don't like them, Rockauto.com also carry's OEM mfg. clutch parts for good prices. Partsgeek.com is another one and of course, pelicanparts.com

Traditional BMW online vendors like bavauto.com are more expensive but have greater expertise, wider inventory, etc....

Specialists like UUCmotorwerks.com and vacmotorsports.com and bimmerworld.com carry the $$ good $$$ stuff $$$. (LW flywheels, race clutches, etc...)

WYIT:

rear main seal
trans seals
starter
driveshaft guibo
shifter bushings (short shift kit?)
....

Good luck

[smdubovsky]

Its GIUBO. All you propellerheads spell and say it wrong:)

[Jase007]

Must be my "eye-tie" roots .. :lol:

[cmartin]

Not a bad job. Shifter bushings are a good add on, same for the drive shaft flex joint. Check the engine and trans mounts now too, no better time to replace them.

Get the flywheel surfaced when it's out.

[William Miller]

Take pictures, I may need to do one in the not so distant future.
Are there any inspection holes or plate to look inside the bell housing?
Or any other way to tell if there is any meat left on the clutch?

[magnetic1]

Not a bad job, but not fun if youre doing it on jackstands. You need to remove the trans, as well as a lot of the exhaust bits.

I can get you a Sachs Clutch Kit for $300 (PP, Clutch Disc and TO Bearing).
Clutch Disc itself I can get you for $130.

You can also find them pretty cheap on Ebay.

Take pictures, I may need to do one in the not so distant future.
Are there any inspection holes or plate to look inside the bell housing?
Or any other way to tell if there is any meat left on the clutch?

No inspection holes. You need to remove the whole thing and separate from the pressure plate to get to the disc. While youre there, you should also replace the input shaft bearing, the pivot arm pin ($1) and spring ($5).

[kaefer]

Take pictures, I may need to do one in the not so distant future.

X2. I'm in the middle of purchasing an E36 M3/4/5 with original clutch!

[magnetic1]

X2. I'm in the middle of purchasing an E36 M3/4/5 with original clutch!

No pics to take really... You also will need a reverse E10/E12 socket for the transmission bolts and some nifty use of extension sets and swivel bits. Remove the transmission mount carrier to get some more access.

[John]

Thanks for the input, everyone. I passed the info along to my friend.

Unfortunately, I won't be able to take any pictures, since the car is in South Carolina. He's having a friend of his down there (VW Tech) do the work for him to save some cash.