Clutch judder

[SparkyNW]

Hi picked up a lovely low mileage (40k) 2.0 manual a couple of months ago. It’s rarely seen more than 2k a year in the last 10 years. It drives lovely I use it daily. It does every now and then have a judder when pulling away in first, more revs and away it goes. Doesn’t do it again till the next day at the earliest. It is quite hard to select 1st on occasion too. Is this likely to be just old bmw clutch and needs usage or is the clutch failing? Any way of checking? I’ve tried pulling away with handbrake on and it stalls so not slipping.
Thanks

 

[Mike6]

Probably not the clutch plate, but if your car has the dual mass flywheel it's most likely that is causing the problem. My series 1 developed that a few years ago and it comes and goes. It will be an expensive fix so I just put up with it and suggest you do the same unless it gets very bad.

 

[BumpyZ4]

Try removing the Clutch Delay Valve (CDV) and see if that helps. Extremely easy to do.

 

[SparkyNW]

The valve has been removed

 

[Usel]

My Passat B5.5, bought at 110k miles, had clutch judder in the mornings but would quickly go away and drive no problem after that.

It's now on 250k miles and still does the same and still on the original clutch.

I put it down to condensation overnight.

 

[SparkyNW]

I focussed on slower pedal release and a few more revs this morning and it didn’t do it. I’m going to drive it harder for a while to see if this helps?

 

[Usel]

I focussed on slower pedal release and a few more revs this morning and it didn’t do it. I’m going to drive it harder for a while to see if this helps?

You can try but it sounds like you have the same issue I have had for the last 140k miles. You won't stop the condensation overnight. It'll be better in the summer but worse in the winter. When it does judder it's gone within 5 minutes and won't happen again until the next day.

If you want it fixed and gone then put in a new clutch and hope it's fixes the first gear issue. If not then you may have to have the gearbox looked at.

Or just live it and think of it as a quirk of owning an older car.

 

[bigwinn]

I’m not advocating this but I have used to effect before

The clutch plate gets surface deposits on it- a vigorous slip of the clutch in 1st burns it off and helps the judder

Of course it may bury a failing clutch so don’t come at me if it goes pop in a puff of smoke

 

[SparkyNW]

 

[Mike6]

As I said before it's most likely a weakening dual mass flywheel. It comes and goes as you pull away in 1st gear. Can last year's before failing so either a very costly job to replace with the clutch or put up with it for now

 

[Joez4]

My car also suffers from this (m54 engine) when it does happen the entire car shakes but then it won't do it again for the rest of the drive, I've noticed it is usually pulling off with maybe just not quite enough revs but I've also noticed I can pull off with minimal revs and it won't do it, it's very unpredictable and when it did it to me on a hill start it was quite the experience I had to dip the clutch and try again from that point on i always rev it more than I should on a hill start,

I've read that it can be contamination on the clutch plate from condensation or even a oil or transmission fluid leak but most likely the dual mass flywheel is on the way out, I think it gets uneven hotspots on it and if it engages at that point you can get the judder or it just wears out and gets to much play in it which is usually how they test to see if it needs replacing.

Anyway for my engine the flywheel is nearly £500 and the clutch kit £170 so I'm gonna see if it gets any worse as I can go days without experiencing it and like someone already said its an old car

 

[Usel]

From back in the day when the cars were quite new but it seems a new clutch doesn't always cure it:

https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4392