I wanted to share our story to see if there are any others like it out there...
We have a 2010 E61, 6-spd manual, purchased new in November 2009. A week ago, with only 35,000 miles on it, the clutch went out -- major slippage and that horrible burning clutch smell. (My wife and I have driven manual cars for 20-30 years and never worn out a clutch.) We brought it into the dealer, they drove it and said it needed a new clutch and that it wasn’t covered under warranty because it was a wear and tear item. So I took it to our trusted independent BMW mechanic. They removed the transmission, pressure plate, clutch disc and flywheel. They confirmed that we needed a new clutch. They sent the flywheel to a machine shop and replaced the other parts. The guys at the machine shop (an experienced/reputable shop) said the flywheel showed no signs of heat checking. The independent BMW mechanic also said that his inspection of the clutch disc, pressure plate, throwout bearing and flywheel didn’t show any signs of abuse or excessive riding of the clutch. They said everything looked normal and it looked like the clutch disc “simply wore out.” They thought this suggested the clutch was faulty or under-engineered for the car, rather than anything caused by driver error or due to normal wear and tear given the low mileage.
Interestingly, the mechanic also said that a couple days after we brought our car in, another customer came in with a 535xi wagon with about 45,000 miles on it complaining of a slipping clutch and burning clutch smell. He said this customer was also a very experienced driver of manual transmissions. So this seems like an unlikely coincidence...
I called BMW NA today to ask about getting reimbursed for the cost of the clutch repair. Not surprisingly, they said no. They said that since an independent mechanic did the repairs there was no way they would/could reimburse me for the cost. For reimbursement to be even a possibility, the work would have had to have been done by a BMW dealer. And then I guess the dealer would have had to argue convincingly on my behalf that the worn clutch had nothing to do with normal wear and tear, but was defective/under-engineered.
Anyone else out there with a manual 535xi (sedan or wagon) with a failed clutch?
We have a 2010 E61, 6-spd manual, purchased new in November 2009. A week ago, with only 35,000 miles on it, the clutch went out -- major slippage and that horrible burning clutch smell. (My wife and I have driven manual cars for 20-30 years and never worn out a clutch.) We brought it into the dealer, they drove it and said it needed a new clutch and that it wasn’t covered under warranty because it was a wear and tear item. So I took it to our trusted independent BMW mechanic. They removed the transmission, pressure plate, clutch disc and flywheel. They confirmed that we needed a new clutch. They sent the flywheel to a machine shop and replaced the other parts. The guys at the machine shop (an experienced/reputable shop) said the flywheel showed no signs of heat checking. The independent BMW mechanic also said that his inspection of the clutch disc, pressure plate, throwout bearing and flywheel didn’t show any signs of abuse or excessive riding of the clutch. They said everything looked normal and it looked like the clutch disc “simply wore out.” They thought this suggested the clutch was faulty or under-engineered for the car, rather than anything caused by driver error or due to normal wear and tear given the low mileage.
Interestingly, the mechanic also said that a couple days after we brought our car in, another customer came in with a 535xi wagon with about 45,000 miles on it complaining of a slipping clutch and burning clutch smell. He said this customer was also a very experienced driver of manual transmissions. So this seems like an unlikely coincidence...
I called BMW NA today to ask about getting reimbursed for the cost of the clutch repair. Not surprisingly, they said no. They said that since an independent mechanic did the repairs there was no way they would/could reimburse me for the cost. For reimbursement to be even a possibility, the work would have had to have been done by a BMW dealer. And then I guess the dealer would have had to argue convincingly on my behalf that the worn clutch had nothing to do with normal wear and tear, but was defective/under-engineered.
Anyone else out there with a manual 535xi (sedan or wagon) with a failed clutch?