which clutch...m50 w/ m20 flywheel

[zav3n]

m50 w/ stock m20 pressure plate, clutch. still going strong... and i drive it hard.

[Drew325is]

Drew,
Got a link and/or sales details on that Sachs e30 325i "heavy duty" clutch kit?

I've been searching for a bit and it seems that companies are not advertising sport / heavy duty Sachs kits for e30 325i - unlike my recollection from the past.

Closest I found is Korman; they do lists individial "heavy duty" parts, but not as a kit and as usual do not have the prices on their web site. And sometimes their site is out of date anyway.

I got it several years ago while I was gathering parts for the swap...pretty sure it was from the ebay seller "gripforce-clutches".

[T.Dot_E30]

I had my S50 rebuilt with new cams etc, and when it was time to set the Vanos, it couldn't be done by the book because you need to lock the crank via a pin in the flywheel that isn't there on the M20 setup. The weight and the cost are great things, but be aware of this one. I wouldn't do it again as I always think about if the timing was set correctly when I run the thing up high in the Rev's.

There are other ways to lock the crank in place, althou probably not as easily with the stock pin, it still can be done.

[Rev Engineer]

That strap on mine swung out and proceeded to cut to the transmission from the bellhousing. I really think if I had kept driving the car, the transmission would have eventually fallen out! I had about a 5-6" long gash welded back up.

Do you think this is defective PP failure, or just a bad idea to use the e30 325i PP with a m50/s50? I decided to to take my chances again and went with a s50 spec lightweight flywheel and PP.

No. Spec Clutches. Look them up.

Rev: I actually had mine fail on a dyno. Right when the motor got to 7000 we heard a pop and a ticking. Turns out one of the drive straps and rivets let go out of the pressure plate. The rivet actually put a small hole in the transmission. I am still using the clutch disc though. I haven't heard anything about the disks being bad.

[PiercedE30]

That strap on mine swung out and proceeded to cut to the transmission from the bellhousing. I really think if I had kept driving the car, the transmission would have eventually fallen out! I had about a 5-6" long gash welded back up.

Do you think this is defective PP failure, or just a bad idea to use the e30 325i PP with a m50/s50? I decided to to take my chances again and went with a s50 spec lightweight flywheel and PP.

I honestly believe that this is just a problem with Spec pressure plates. From what I have found, people don't have problems with the disk, hence why I am still using it, but they constantly have problems with the pressure plates. I know Spec knows about the issue, but they are unwilling to take the steps to fix the problem. Hell, I replaced the Spec pressure plate with a stock E30 M3 unit since I wasn't able to get my hands on a Sachs 618 pressure plate by the time I needed to have everything back together.

[tonytony]

Don't use a Spec Clutch. The pressure plate WILL come apart on you. (first hand experience)

well that sucks cause that's what i have....... so far so good though, i've been pretty hard on it too. I guess i'll find out when it fails haha