Flywheel spacer thing

[AnimalE30]

When i pulled it off it was between the flywheel and the end of the crank not between the bolts and the flywheel.
The info i have found on it is the typical i know this guy who has a brother who's sister's dog type of stuff or it's 50/50 whether people are running it or not.
I remember reading somewhere that you need to use it with an aluminum flywheel but didnt say anything about a stock i steel flywheel.

Real oem even shows it as a "shim" between the flywheel and the crank, not a torque plate of sorts.

I'm wondering if I need it for my set up? m50tu, m20 flywheel/pressure plate/clutch with getrag 250 - spacer yay or nay?

Sorry for bummping an old thread, didn't want to make my own.

[Jand3rson]

Sorry for bummping an old thread, didn't want to make my own.

We prefer that, thank you for having common sense. :up:

[AnimalE30]

Thought I would add this in case someone else comes across this thread:

I was unable to run this plate as a "shim" the ID is too small to fit over my m50TU's crank. I also didn't run this as a torque plate in fear of the flywheel bolts not getting enough bite.

Haven't put any real miles on it yet, but no problems so far.

[Leo_328i]

Just so everbody is clear, it is supposed to go between the crankshaft and flywheel, not between the bolt heads and flywheel.

I think its just what RealOEM says it is - a spacer. It will affect the clutch engagement point, although only slightly.

I wouldn't worry about it too much, all the newer BMWs don't have them anyway.

[AnimalE30]

Right, I stated that above. It is listed as a "shim", but I was unable to use it do the the ID of the shim being too small to slip over the m50's crank.

[Beej '86 325es]

Isn't loctite a little overkill? The OEM bolts from BMW come with the blue threadlock already on the bolt.

[whodwho]

Just so everbody is clear, it is supposed to go between the crankshaft and flywheel, not between the bolt heads and flywheel.

I think its just what RealOEM says it is - a spacer. It will affect the clutch engagement point, although only slightly.

I wouldn't worry about it too much, all the newer BMWs don't have them anyway.

I assume we are talking about #10 in this view

Then no, that exploded view clearly shows that it is under the bolt heads. You can see the bolt go thru it then thru the flywheel. I assume you haven't removed a flywheel from a M20?

And you can use blue loctite on old bolts and it is for sealing the threads.

[AndrewK]

^ Agreed. Goes between the bolt head and flywheel. NOT between flywheel and crank. Unless BMW also installed it wrong on every original flywheel I've ever seen.

I have to think it's there for a reason. Probably acts a both a washer and a way to evenly distribute the force of the bolt across the mounting face of the flywheel. I wouldn't knowingly choose not to use it.

[Wanganstyle]

the gaul ring is there to make sure clamping load is distributed evenly.

some companies don't care to add this to OEM steel flywheels flywheels (subaru ej20, toyota 2jzgte). No problems with this.


red lock tite is not scary. its good shit! the flywheel bolts are not TTY stretch items, I installed brand new ones on my current M20 but have re-used OEM fly bolts them before on S52/54 with no issues.

if the flywheel bolts are proper OEM BMW high grade/high strength there should be no fear In using red lock tite- I would rather lock tite flywheel bolts than worry about them coming loose.

some track racers even wire the flywheel bolts as a single unit to prevent chance of them coming free.

UUC flywheel kits come with new OEM BMW e30 brake caliper (genuine super high strength grade) mounting bolts to mount the fly to crankshaft and a spacer /gaul ring. the bolts are 100% re-usable, they are the bolts that allow your E30 to STOP!! nobody ever replaces the brake caliper bolts when removing/re-installing the caliper

[AnimalE30]

^ Agreed. Goes between the bolt head and flywheel. NOT between flywheel and crank. Unless BMW also installed it wrong on every original flywheel I've ever seen.

I have to think it's there for a reason. Probably acts a both a washer and a way to evenly distribute the force of the bolt across the mounting face of the flywheel. I wouldn't knowingly choose not to use it.

I guess I was looking at the real oem picture backwards the whole time lol. I could have swore that shim was between my crank and flywheel when I opened my m20 up.

Oh well, the flywheel is a huge chunk of metal, im not worried about not running it.