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Teenager vs. clutch

2K views 15 replies 13 participants last post by  patrick_y 
#1 ·
So I'm teaching my 15 1/2 year old daughter to drive my 535 with a manual. She is doing ok but I usually smell the clutch afterwards (a smell from my more auto-adventurous youth). Today we were at a stop sign heading up a hill and there was a car close behind. Despite the rollback prevention feature we started to roll backward. As we both panicked, the revs shot way up and she was slipping the clutch like crazy. I seriously saw blue/grey smoke come out from under the car. And the clutch smell was quite strong. My question is, how much damage does a situation like that cause? She is doing pretty well most of the time, but does the clutch smell indicate there is real damage happening? Any other tips about teaching a kid to drive a stick?
 
#2 ·
Yes!, there is damage happening! She needs to learn on something else. The clutch disc will get glazed and start slipping, once it starts it all down hill fom there. But maybe you know that from your youthful adventures? Seriously she needs to learn on something else.......a rental? Would still be waaaaay cheaper than replacing the clutch disc in your car......that is if u can find a rental with a stick. Good luck
 
#3 ·
Totally agree. 535 is not the greatest for a newbie with a manual. I learned on my high school girlfriends VW Golf. If she has a boyfriend use his car. Always best to tear his clutch as opposed to Dads. Good luck. The rental is not a horrible idea but maybe just buy her a cheap beater for a while. Keep us posted
 
#4 ·
+1000 a cheap HOnda Accord or Civic, with a manual would be cheaper than a new clutch. Get her something cheap to beat up. I learned to drive a manual in my first car, car cost me $735, and yup, I burned the clutch up. The replacement clutch cost me $65 in parts (did the work myself - the first of many, many times I had an engine or transmission sitting on my chest). ALways better to learn on something "breakable" :thumbup:
 
#8 ·
Haha - this! If not, get a rental - should be $50-$60 for the day after all the taxes and fees. That is much better than a few thousand for a clutch replacement.
Where the heck can you rent a manual non-sports car in the U.S. in this day and time? I thought everything rentable nowadays is automatic?
 
#6 ·
If the clutch got hot enough that it started smoking then real damage has already been done. In a shop environment expect to pay around $1200 to get the clutch replaced. Now if the dual mass flywheel needs to be replaced, and there is a good chance that it will, they are VERY expensive and could easily double the cost of doing the job.
 
#10 ·
My E39 has 190k miles on it with the original clutch and it was burnt 3-4 times in the last 60k. That's what I know about it. And it's still ok. I might replace it soon since I can feel the flywheel is getting old.
When it burns due to too much slipping the surface of the clutch literally burns and becomes hard. And as long as that hardened layer is there it will slip a bit. But it's like the brake pads, the burnt layer will erode by regular driving (like in 10 - 100 shifting) and everything goes back to normal. You just lost a little in thickness on the clutch.

You could rent a manual car on RelayRides however they specifically say that this is not the place to learn driving a stick shift.
 
#11 ·
Thanks for all the great replies!!! Update: The car feels fine and its been 3-4 days since the smoke event. Is this something that will now deteriorate since that layer has been burned? Sell the car now? I also am presuming that "slipping the clutch" is when you hold the revs high and keep the clutch partly engaged for a prolonged period of time. I presume that the lurching when she lets the clutch out too quickly is ok, is that correct? (Other than being completely annoying and likely causing whiplash)
 
#13 · (Edited)
I think that's more like burning the clutch than slipping the clutch. It can give u problems later if it's really burnt bad, and will slip while it's in gear . The RPMS will rev up and the car will not progress foreword .If it's not doing that, u can count your lucky stars cause you lucked out and didn't totaly burn out the clutch. You can slip the clutch with out burning it but u have to know what your doing .
Like the guys mentioned get a stick honda civic or something and teach her on that .
Also the best time to teach someone how to drive a stick is when the clutch is already staring to slip and needs to be replaced anyways . It's easier for the beginner cause the clutch don't bite and it's a smoother take off and won't break your neck ,, lol . Then you install a new clutch and it's good to go for the new driver .
 
#15 · (Edited)
A 535 is a pretty bad car to learn how to drive stick on. Too isolated, too heavy, and too much torque. CDV doesn't help either. Even if she starts to get the hang of it, she'll likely form improper techniques. It also sounds like you need to teach her the basics in a more controlled environment. I didn't really venture into populated roads until I got the hang of doing hill starts without slipping the life out of the clutch.

Your clutch definitely had its life expectancy reduced, but should still last a while. I'd be more worried about the flywheel being damaged from all that heat.
 
#16 ·
I'm in a rental about 40 days a year. This year I've already been in a rental for nearly 30 days and it's only half way through the year. That being said, none of the major rental car companies have manual cars. Even Hertz's Prestige Collection has a Porsche and that was an automatic, so was the Aston Martin. So for the smart money saying you should rent a stick car, then I would challenge them to find one in the US.

Your daughter is 15.5. She's just starting her learner's permit. Do you only have a stick-shift car in the household? Is there an automatic car she could learn how to master first before driving a stick?

And for the other people stating you should buy a $1000 beater, I would advise caution. Car accidents are a major risk for young children. I would want your daughter to be in a very large and safe car. Not too large of a car to the point she'll do huge amounts of damage if she hits another vehicle. But something that's relatively large and relatively safe. Logically, with the exception of your BMW 535i, most stick-shifts are in smaller inexpensive cars (or very expensive sports cars). Normally $1000 beaters with stick-shifts aren't safe cars. Not something I'd ask my new-to-driving child (if I had a child whom was new at driving) to drive.
 
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