Hello guys, first legit post here.

I picked up my 04 6mt 545 a couple of weeks ago with 82,000 miles. About a week into it I began noticing a squeaky noise when depressing the clutch, particularly at lower speeds. Nothing too loud, but enough to notice it. I have not noticed any slipping while driving, but am a little concerned about this noise. Is this something I should get checked out? Is it simply the age of the vehicle?

Thanks,

Jim

 

Try to be more specific; i.e. from the pedal area or under the car. To be honest with you, your clutch has a useful life of 90-100K miles if driven hard.

 

Definitely under the car, not at the pedal. I figured as much for the life of the clutch and anyone buying a V8 is going to drive hard at least some of the time. Maybe a different story for a 4-cylinder Honda at 80k miles.

 

It's still under the 30-day Carmax warranty. I may take it back and see what they say, or get an independent shop to assess it first.

 

if you have warranty, i would get it checked out especially if you just bought the car. I have a 2007 530i with 52k and signs of slippage have been happening lately. I have heard of the clutch lasting anywhere from 30k-80k depending of the wear.

 

The are plenty of ways to check a clutches health- For slippage, put it in 4th or 5th and slowing take off from a stop, and then floor it; if the car fights you, shakes and maintains low rpm, or stalls, your in good shape. If the RPMs climb or you get partial revs, you're slipping. Do the same at moderate speed on the road, in top gear- floor it without a downshift, and look for slippage.
Look for engagement too soon and too late; too soon and your disc is toast, too late and your looking at actuation system issues.

 

Oh- and as far as an undercar squeak goes, it's most like your throwout bearing that's getting a little crispy.

 

Thanks Chris. I performed a couple of tests and I don't think the clutch is slipping at all, which is good. I will look into the throwout bearing.