[xPageey]

Hello Everyone,

This is my first ever post in an online community so if it is in the wrong place, i'm sorry and please could someone move the thread to the correct location.

I thought i'd share my experience with the infamous manual transmission clutch judder symptom.

I first bought my 15 plate 4 series AUC in march 2018, it had done 29k miles at the time. I was so smitten with it, being the first bmw i'd owned and a massive upgrade from my old 09 plate audi a3.

When the car ticked over about 35k miles i started to notice that after long journeys (about 2 hours or more) I would get a judder sometimes when engaging into 1st gear or slipping the clutch slightly into 2nd. I brushed it off and thought nothing of it and just revved a bit more to hide the issue.

About 2k more miles covered and it would happen after shorter journeys 40 - 60 mins. another 1k and it would sometimes happen from cold start or on damp days.

I called up my local BMW garage, explained the issue and they said it could be 2 things, either clutch plate or flywheel or both could be worn. I thought this a bit ridiculous as my old audi was on the original clutch and had done over 130k miles and was fine. They said if it was worn from driver error i would have to pay for costs as it's a wear and tear item.

After searching the internet i found this to be a pretty common issue so decided to try my luck and get it in to be fixed, i was sort of confident with this as i never ride the clutch and it was still a very young car. They called me up later in the day and said there was no sign of any issue with the clutch plate or flywheel so said the only thing it could be was the clutch release bearing. They replaced it all under warranty with no charge.

After driving it home the car felt better than it did when i first bought it, huge result!

Hope this information helps others out as apparently this issue is quite common.

[kingmonkey8]

I had this on my manual car. Could never get it move away in 1st gear without some slight slippage or judder.
I thought it was down to the dual mass flywheel. Never had this on any other car. But it can get annoying especially in start stop traffic where you are always concentrating to try to get it away cleanly but never seemed to work.
I did have the car in for some diagnostic's and told the Indy to check the clutch. Don't know if they adjusted anything but after that I noticed the car was engaging 1st gear much better.
But glad you sorted yours out and appreciate the tip.

[upsidedownfunnel]

Nice, I have this issue too but it's more of an annoyance. It totally makes sense that it'd be the throwout bearing since I only hear it when pressing the clutch. Right now it only happens for me after 30-60 minute drives. I wonder if it's a widespread enough issue to warrant a recall in the future.

[eluded]

dual mass flywheel doesn't help. Glad they fixed it

[xPageey]

I think the worst part about this sort of issue is that when it's a clutch related issue you can't really pinpoint what is actually at fault until you take the engine out, which at bmw dealer rates costs around £600-£800 and then if it's a wear and tear item you could be liable to pay for these costs even if you're in warranty. I think I was just pretty lucky it was down to manufacturer error.