540iS back after a long holiday

[Guest Simon*]

Well as some of you may or may not know I have been without my 540 for 5 long weeks until today.

Basically she was due for a WOF and a service and I was about to go overseas for a 2 week holiday so the obvious thing seemed to kill two birds with one stone and leave her with my mechanic while I was away. Must put a plug in here, and a huge thanks to Garry and the guys from Andrew Hollywood Motors of Napier.

No problem, all booked in and they were happy to pull the car into the workshop on weekends, etc to keep it safe for me. Just a few days prior to heading out I noticed that the clutch was slipping. Made a few phonecalls to investigate my options, including to Glenn to discuss UUC in the States where he sourced much of his clutch kit for his manual conversion. It's not until you start going down a path like this that you start to realise just how rare your car is. The gearbox and clutch in the 540iS is essentially the same as that in the 850CSi and not like that in the E34 M5. And when a BMW clutch specialist in the USA says "Oooooh that's a rare car, we don't carry that gear as stock" you start to worry! He did offer me a solution but the price was as you can imagine pretty high, and the freight and potential import duty would have been a crippler.

So, after discussion with my mechanic, I left the car with him, shot off overseas and asked him to price up options and email me while I was away. This he duly did, and what a good bastard he was about it too. In the end the best option was a complete new build from Autoclutch in Kingsland, Auckland. On pulling my clutch from the car he found it had been remachined once and there was no further life in it. Seeing as we were going all new I asked that they make me a custom single mass lightened flywheel while they were at it This they duly did and what a sexy piece of kit it turned out to be.

Release bearing turned out to be a minor issue on its own and caused the final delay of nearly two weeks while we waited on a genuine one from Germany. Turns out that you can't believe everything REALOEM tells you about parts after all! Thought I had that one sorted myself with one from Gavin at Euro-Italian (at a brillliant price) with correct BMW part number and all but the diameter was nowhere near large enough to do the job.

Anyway, to cut it all short, I'm excited! Got her back today with a noticeably faster windup, heaps lighter clutch pedal with shorter travel (despite the heavy duty nature of the clutch - Kevlar centre too).

New clutch

Flushed and refilled gearbox with the good oil

Reconditioned brake master cylinder, refilled and bled brakes

Full oil service

Swapped out my naughty clear indicator bulbs for amber ones

Bag of lollies and more .......

Now all I have to do is fit the new wheels I bought last month when I somehow get them back from Auckland and I'm all ready for the track day next month

Not a new pic but for those who haven't seen it before ...

[westy 614]

Epic.

There's that word "Autoclutch" again.

[Forrest 35]

Done a skid yet Simon?

[bellicose 9]

Hey Si',

Is that Gary Cammock you mention at hollywoods?

[laadeelaa 0]

Do I smell burning rubber?

Haha good for you W.

[OLLIE 26]

nice work. Was Sam riding the clutch all round Auckland last time you were up here Si?

[Guest Simon*]

Epic.

There's that word "Autoclutch" again.

Yep Big Ups!! It was a piece of art. No camera on me when I saw it

Done a skid yet Simon?

Hey Si',

Is that Gary Cammock you mention at hollywoods?

One and the same He did a big stint with BMW UK too before coming home to the Bay

Do I smell burning rubber?

Haha good for you W.

You might

W

nice work. Was Sam riding the clutch all round Auckland last time you were up here Si?

I think he must have been!

[bellicose 9]

One and the same He did a big stint with BMW UK too before coming home to the bay

Yep, i can vouch(sp?) for his knowledge and work. I've known him for 'bout 13 yrs as i'm good friends with his dad Alan. Gary comes with a HUGE mechanical/motorsport background as his dad is a world champ endurance river jet boat driver (Canada, sth America, oz and nz) then went circuit racing and rallying with his dad.

So if anyone has any bimmer issues in the bay i also recommend Gary.

Sorry Si', bit of a thread hi-jack there lol.

[Guest Simon*]

Not at all John

He has done all the work on my car since I've been living in Napier and I can't speak highly enough of him. I was so stoked about the work, the attitude and the fact that he came in on quote despite hiccups that I dropped off a box of piss for him and the guys

[BM WORLD 1266]

good work .

can they make another flywheel like yours , i might need one ,one day soon .

i also had my e28 m535i flywheel lightend to M5 weight ,what a difference in the spool up.

also newish clutch and other bits and its a much nicer feel now.

[bravo 34]

Sweet as Si. Nothing like slipping back behind the wheel after an extended break. I know that feeling well.

[Guest Simon*]

good work .

can they make another flywheel like yours , i might need one ,one day soon .

i also had my e28 m535i flywheel lightend to M5 weight ,what a difference in the spool up.

also newish clutch and other bits and its a much nicer feel now.

Yeah I don't see why not Brent. If anything they seemed to like the challenge of a custom "performance" job

[CamB 48]

Details on the custom flywheel? The M3 is desperate for a lighter flywheel.

[Creaver 55]

Good stuff. I might be after one of these clutches in the near future also . Can you please PM some prices?

Thanks in advance.

Ian.

[Yuen 16]

Sweet!

[M3 Cab 0]

I bet your missing the 316 loaner ha.

[soarer260@hotmail.com 0]

Brilliant news Simon, that sounds great.

[Sick Puppy 1]

Awesome looking car, and good to hear that Andrew Hollywood are keeping up to their usual standards- I used to go to them when I lived in Napier.

Will bear Autoclutch etc in mind when kicking off my project!