This is a DIY for removal and replacement of the manual transmission clutch for the E90 with the

N52
engine. The procedure for the N54/55 is mostly the same except for the transmission mounting bolts.
This DIY is for experienced home mechanics with a decent set of quality tools. If you are a novice at car
repair, the scope of a clutch replacement is probably beyond your skill set and tool kit. The use of air
impact tools is highly recommended for some procedures. I used a two-post automotive lift to do this
work. The rear main seal requires use of special tools and sealants (only available from BMW). I ended
up not needing to replace the rear seal, but I provide the procedure I was going to use to replace it.

Notes: The proper nomenclature for in the USA “right side” and “left side” on cars is Right Side means
the passenger side of the car and left side means the driver’s side. I use this nomenclature though this
DIY. I do recommend you use the Bentley repair manual as reference with this DIY. This DIY attempts to
“fill in the gaps” where the Bentley has no information.

This procedure includes replacement of the following:

1. Clutch disk 3. Dual-mass flywheel

2. Pressure plate 4. Rear Crank Seal

Parts needed:

Descrition Qty P/N Price Extended

Clutch Kit 1 21207587368 296.95 296.95
Ball Pin 1 21511223328 3.95 3.95
Spring Clip 1 21517570284 4.95 4.95
Set of alu. s crews m anual trans m is s ion 1 23000392607 13.95 13.95
Twin Mas s Flywheel 1 21207573785 514.95 514.95
Dowel 1 11217516681 2.95 2.95
ISA Screw 6 11227520706 1.95 11.70
Shaft Seal #1 Rear Cranks haft Seal 1 11117584398 35.95 35.95
Loctite 171000 Prim er 1 16.42 16.42
Loctite 129000 Sealer 1 45.23 45.23

Subtotal $947.00
Tax
Shipping $59.95
Handling $4.95
Total $1,011.90

Special Mechanics Tools needed:

 Automotive 2-post lift (you can try this inches of extension bars to reach the
DIY with jack stands if you want) bell housing bolts)

 Air impact tools are highly  ¼-inch, 3/8-inch and ½-inch drive
recommended for some procedures universals

 Floor jack and 2x4 (to lift the engine)
 Transmission jack
 ¼-inch, 3/8-inch and ½-inch drive
extension bars (you need at least 26
 E-Torx socket set including up to E18
socket (the Torx sizes used are E-12, E-
14, and E-18)
 12-point ½-inch drive 9/16 socket (for
E18 trans bolts)

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  Torx bit socket set  Hack saw

 T-60 Torx socket for flywheel bolts  Ball Peen Hammer

 Allen socket set  Flashlights

 No. 14 Allen socket  Drop lights

 Exhaust hanger pliers  Penetrating oil

 Torque wrench  Electrical tape - used to tape the

universals (to stiffen them up) and to
 Automotive dental pick set tape the various extension bars and
sockets together
 Pry bars

Special Tools Needed to be Fabricated:

 Flywheel locking tool  Transmission guide bolts

 Seal removal and installation tools  Modification of the clutch plate

centering tool (it’s too long)
Procedure Overview:

1) Lift car (I’ve included instructions for 8) Remove Pressure Plate and clutch disk
jackstands) 9) Remove flywheel
2) Remove engine splash shield, 10) Remove/Replace Rear Crank Seal
transmission shield, and mid-center 11) Flywheel and Clutch Reassembly
shield. 12) Clutch Actuation Parts Replacement
3) Drain Engine oil 13) Transmission Installation
4) Remove the Under Panels and Various 14) Reverse Installation of Remaining Parts
Small Brackets 15) Fill engine with new oil
5) Remove Exhaust
6) Remove drive shaft
7) Remove the Transmission

Specific instructions:

1) Lift Car…
Using Jackstands: Make sure the car is sturdily placed on jackstands and level. There is a front-center jack
point (1) and a rear-center jack point (3) (the cast iron differential housing). Engage the parking brake. Lift
the car one frontend first and place jackstands under the two front lift-points locations (2) noted below. The
lift the rear end using the diff and place the other two stands at the rear lift-points.

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 *BMW image used without permission

2) Remove Engine Splash Shield. The splash shield is attached to the chassis with 16ea. 8MM-head screws.
Remove the screws and the shield slips from out of the front bump cover.

a. There are three (3) 8MM-headed screws holding the shield to the bumper cover. Four (4) screws
along the back edge of the shield. Two (2) are on the sides near the front (four total) close together
on each side near the front. The remaining five (5) are in the center of the shield.

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3) Drain the Engine Oil.
The engine needs to be drained of oil to install the rear crank seal. You add oil back in the engine once the
clutch job is complete.
a. Open up the oil filter housing, but don’t yet remove the filter (this releases the vacuum in the
housing and lets most of the oil drain out of the housing).
b. Open the oil filler cap. This allows the oil to drain smoother from the drain hole.
c. Remove the 17MM drain bolt and drain the oil into a drain pan. Re-install the drain bolt and tighten
to 18 Ft-lb. Remove the residual oil from the oil filter housing. Clean the oil filter cap and install with
new filter. Place a note on the engine to replace the oil prior to restarting the engine.

4) Remove the Under Panels and Various Small Brackets. The center and mid panels and their associated
brackets need to be removed for access to the transmission and to keep the brackets out of the way. Keep
the panels and brackets and their associated fasteners together for ease in reassembly of the parts. 8MM
and 10MM nut drivers are needed here. Make notes of which brackets attach where on the underbody.

5) Remove Exhaust. The exhaust is heavy and awkwardly weighted. So either use a helper to remove it or
strap it down to the transmission jack to remove it. The equal-balance point of the exhaust is about the
back-end of the resonator section. The nuts holding the exhaust flange are 15MM. Use penetrating oil. It is
recommended that you use an air impact gun to remove the nuts.
a. Remove the stiffening plate. 6 Torx bolts hold it to the chassis.
b. Support the exhaust with the jack. Lift the exhaust about an inch or two to take the weight off the
hangers.
c. Remove the exhaust flange nuts.
d. Remove the small access panel that is on the lip of the rear bumper cover (this allows the muffler
room to slide back and downwards).
e. Remove the three diamond-shaped orange rubber exhaust hangers from their lower mounts. Use
the exhaust hanger pliers for this work.
f. Slide the exhaust pipe back off the flange studs and down.
g. Place the exhaust out of the way of the work area. (Pic of approx. balance point)

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6) Remove the Drive Shaft. Caution! The drive shaft is a two-piece unit and is assembled and balanced as a
single part. Do not separate the drive shaft halves. Mark the drive shaft in two locations so that if it does
separate you can reassemble it and retain the factory balancing. The shaft is jointed in the center just past
the center bearing, use caution not to damage the center joint. The shaft has a slide joint in the front part
that allows for shortening the shaft for removal. Once the drive shaft is loose from the car it is awkward to
carry. The shaft is hidden by the aluminum splash shields.
a. Remove the two (2) aluminum splash shields. There are nuts and brackets to remove that are easy
to locate and remove. You’ll need both 8MM and 10MM sockets.
b. Remove the four (4) E14 Torx bolts holding the rear of the drive shaft to the differential.
c. Use a pry bar to pry the rear universal joint away from the differential input flange. Rethread on bolt
back in to hold the shaft up temporarily.
d. Remove the 3 bolts holding the guibo (rubber isolator) on the front of the shaft to the output flange
of the transmission. You don’t need to remove all 6 bolts. 3 bolts hold the guibo to the output
flange. Leave one bolt in place to let the drive shaft hang temporarily.
e. Slide the front-haft of the drive shaft backwards to release it from the transmission output flange.
f. Remove the two center bearing bolts with a 13MM socket. Note the orientation of the bearing to
the transmission tunnel (the upper halve sits up in the tunnel).
g. Remove the bolt from the diff flange at the rear of the shaft.
h. Slide the front of the shaft off the transmission and remove the drive shaft. Place it out of the way of
the work area.

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7) Remove the Transmission.
a. Unplug the reverse switch harness on the left side of the transmission.
b. Remove the slave cylinder. Two 13MM nuts hold it to the bell housing. Hang it out of the way with
some wire. DO NOT PRESS THE CLUTH PEADAL IN when the slave cylinder is out of the transmission
or you will damage the slave cylinder.
c. Unplug and remove the two O2 sensor connectors. The connectors are labeled “B” and “C”. The gray
O2 harness goes to “B”. The black harness connects to “C”.
d. Remove the bracket holding the O2 connectors. The two E12 Torx bolts are part of the ten (10) bell
housing bolts. Use a piece of scrap cardboard to mark their location and put the screws in holes on
the cardboard. These bolts are steel and are reused.
e. Remove the bracket on the right side of the transmission that holds the O2 harnesses in place. The
bracket is affixed to the side of the transmission by a 13MM bolt.
f. Remove the bracket on the left-front of the transmission where the oil sensor ground is attached. A
10MM socket does the trick.
g. Support the transmission with the transmission jack. Set the jacks plates and arms to steadily hold
the transmission and strap it down tight.
h. Remove the rear transmission mounting bracket. A 13MM socket fits the isolator studs and the four
(4) bolts holding the bracket to the chassis.
i. Remove the shift linkage from the shifter to the transmission selector shaft. Two fancy C-clips hold
the linkage in place. Note the orientation of the link, the hump part goes over the transmission
output flange.
j. Disconnect the shifter linkage bracket. Two slide pins hold it to the back of the transmission. Use a
flat screw driver to slide the clips out and up to release the pins. You can hold the bracket up and out
of the way:

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7
k. Bell Housing Bolt Removal.
Notes: The transmission is held in place by ten (10) bolts. Five (5) bolts are aluminum and are not
reused. These bolts come with the new bolt kit. Four (4) of the bolts are E18-head bolts with a
thread of M12x1.5. The fifth aluminum bolt is an E14-head with a M10x1.5 thread.

The other five bolts are steel bolts and are reused. Three (3) E12-head bolts affix the bell housing to
the aluminum rear engine back plate. Two E14-head bolts hold the top of the bell housing to the
cylinder head.
Bolt Removal Sequence
i. Remove the third E12 bolt (the first two were removed with the O2 connector bracket). The
third E12 bolt is on the left side halfway up the bell housing. Mark its location on your
cardboard template.
ii. Next remove the Aluminum E14 bolt. This bolt is at the very top of the transmission (12-
o’clock position). To gain access to this bolt you need to jack up the front of the engine using
the floor jack and 2x4. You also need to lower the transmission jack to allow the engine to tilt
back. You need to really jack the engine up in the front for it to tilt far enough back to gain
access to the top bell housing bolts. Jack it up farther than you think you should (trust me
here this took me hours to figure out). Move the reverse light harness out of the way. It clips
to the right side of the transmission. Remove the E14 aluminum bolt.
iii. Remove the two steel E14 bolts on the top of the bell housing at the 1 o’clock and 2 o’clock
positions.
iv. Remove the four (4) aluminum E18 bolts. Two are on the right side. The other two are on the
left side and hold a wire harness bracket in place. Make sure you note this so as to not forget
to reinstall the bracket upon reassembly.
l. The transmission is now ready to come out.
Notes: There is not a lot of room between the bell housing and the firewall, so there is little room to
slide the transmission back before it needs to be lowered at the same time.
i. Make sure the transmission is still sturdily mounted to the transmission jack.
ii. Slide the transmission off the engine by pulling backwards and down at the same time. DO
NOT let the transmission hang on the input shaft, so pull it out and down in one quick
motion.
m. Go have a beer. You are done for the day…

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 Leaking oil pan gasket makes a mess…

8) Clutch Removal.
a. You’ll need to lock the flywheel. You need to either make a flywheel locking tool, or find the BMW
special tool on line. I made mine out of a steel lumber bracket from the hardware store. All the
holder needs to do is contact one of the teeth on the flywheel.

9
 b. The pressure plate is held to the flywheel by six (6) 6MM-Allen head bolts (ISA bolts). Remove the 6
bolts and pull the pressure pate off the fly wheel. It located by three (3) dowels on the flywheel.
c. The clutch plate should come off with the pressure plate.

9) Flywheel Removal (note: if the flywheel is good you don’t need to remove it).
a. The flywheel is held to the crankshaft by six (6) T-60 Torx bolts. Remove the bolts.
b. The flywheel is heavy so be prepared for the weight of it once it is free of the crankshaft. It needs
manipulating to free it from the crankshaft.
c. Remove the flywheel lock (you’ll use it again when installing the new flywheel.
d. I used a flat prybar slid behind the flywheel to loosen it from the lip of the crankshaft. It takes a bit of
manipulation to work the flywheel free. Gently pry the edges of the flywheel 180 deg. apart to
loosen it from the crankshaft. Be careful because there is not much engine block behind the flywheel
on the lower half of it. There is a thin-sheet aluminum engine back plate which you can’t use as
leverage for the prybar. And remember the engine block on the N52 is magnesium, so it can crack
easily. Just take your time with it. I didn’t try it, but knocking on the flywheel at the edges with a
rubber mallet (body hammer) might help too.

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10) Rear Main Seal Removal and Replacement.
(Note: The rear main seal on my car was still good so I did not replace it. Below was my planned replacement
method) The Bentley Repair Manual goes into great detail on removing and replacing the rear main seal.
a. There are six (6) small holes in the casing of the seal covered by rubber. The holes are in between
the slots in the rubber cover. Peel the rubber away to expose them
b. Use small sheet metal screws to screw into the body of the seal.
c. Attach the screws to a gear puller and pull the seal out from the engine block using the crankshaft
end as the leverage point.
d. New Seal Installation: Clean the engine block seal lip surface prior to installation.
e. Coat the seal lip on the crankshaft side lightly with engine oil
f. Slide the seal down over the crankshaft and press it into place in the engine block by hand as far as it
will go. NOTE THE 180 deg. ORIENTATION OF THE TWO OUTER LIP SEAL INDENTATIONS. The
indentations line up with the part line of the engine block lower base plate and cylinder block. You
will seal at these two locations.
g. Use the special tool (PVC pipe reducer), seal alignment piece (comes with the seal) and a rubber body
hammer to lightly tap the new seal into place.
h. Use the primer to prime the indentations. Let dry for 1 minute.
i. Inject the Loctite sealer into the indentations. Let dry for 5 minutes then lightly coat with primer to
seal the surface.

11) Flywheel and Clutch Reassembly.

Notes: The new flywheel comes with the clutch alignment tool and two (2) new bearings in a bag. The
flywheel carries the pilot bearing rather than the end of the crankshaft as some engines do. The new
bearings in the bag are pilot bearings. One is a sealed bearing and the other is a needle bearing. The needle
bearing is the bearing used for the N52. The Bentley procedure calls for pressing the new pilot needle
bearing, however; the flywheel I received had the needle pilot bearing already pressed into the flywheel.
Look at the flywheel closely and make sure the pilot bearing is in place. If it is not then you’ll probably have
to take the new flywheel to a machine shop and have the new pilot bearing pressed into place.
a. Install the new flywheel on the rear crankshaft end. There is a dowel on the crankshaft that lines up
and locates the flywheel.
b. Install six (6) new T-60 flywheel bolts.
c. Install the flywheel lock.
d. Torque the bolts to 65 ft./lbs. Use a cross-pattern for the torquing sequence, which is tighten the
first bolt, skip 2 bolts, torque the third bolt, skip 1 bolt and so on.
e. Install the new clutch disk. The clutch disk must face the correct way! Use the included disk
alignment tool for this procedure. Note you need to cut approximately ¼ inch off of the end of the
tool because it does not fit under the new pressure plate. I used a hacksaw to cut the alignment tool;
it’s plastic and cuts easily. Insert the clutch plate alignment tool into the splined hole of the clutch
disk.

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f. The clutch disk must face the correct way! One side of the clutch disk has writing in white letters in
German “Getriebeseite”, which translates to “gear-side” i.e. “transmission side.” The side with the
writing must face away from the engine and towards the transmission.

g. Locate the pressure plate on the three (3) dowels on the flywheel. Install the six (6) new ISA Allen-
head bolts. Torque to 11 ft/lbs. The turn an additional 90 deg.

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 h. Once the pressure plate is firmly attached (torqued down) remove the spring holding plate using a
14MM Allen socket. Be careful as it will spring out of place rapidly.

i. Remove the clutch alignment tool.

j. Remove the flywheel locking tool.

Clean and New!

12) Clutch Actuation Parts Replacement (in the bell housing).
a. Clean inside the bell housing.
b. The clutch kit comes with a new release (throwout) bearing, and new clutch lever.
c. Pull the old release bearing off the bearing guide and out from the clutch lever.
d. Detach the old clutch lever from the ball pin. Just separate the holder spring and pull the lever to the
right.
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e. I replaced the ball pin, but it really doesn’t need to be replaced. It is press-fit into the bell housing
and you need vice grips to grab it and twist it out. Hammer the new one in place using a ½-inch
deepwell socket and 6” extension bar.

f. Remove the four (4) 10MM bolts holding the bearing guide to the transmission and replace it with
the new bearing guide.
g. Attach a new spring to the new ball pin. Separate the new spring and slide the new lever onto the
ball pin. Close the spring.
h. Slide the new release bearing onto the bearing guide and snap it in place into the clutch lever.
i. The transmission is now ready to be reinstalled.

Clean and New!

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13) Installing the Transmission.
a. Make two (2) guide pins out of two of the old E18 (M12) bell housing bolts. The best method is to
grind down the head to the same diameter size as the bolt (i.e. 12MM) – Note I didn’t do this, but
thought about it later... Install the guide pins into the two bell housing locations where there are
transmission-locating dowels. Screw the guide pins in just a few turns. Too deep will not allow you
to remove them easily once the transmission is in place.

b. Raise up the transmission on the jack as you move it towards the engine. Make sure the
transmission bell housing face is parallel with the back of the engine block (for alignment purposes).
c. Slide the transmission onto the two guide pins and push it into the engine block. You need to make
sure the transmission input shaft slides into the center of the clutch plate. This is a lot hard than it
sounds and it will take several tries.

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Bell Housing Bolt Installation Sequence
d. Once attached, use two of the new bell housing E18 aluminum bolts to temporarily hold the
transmission to the engine (i.e. don’t yet torque them down all the way tight – just snug them up) at
the two locations they go into. Make sure you install that left side wire mounting bracket on the
guide pin and have the bracket in place when you install the left side E18 bolt.
e. Install the new E14 aluminum bolt at the 12 o’clock position. Snug it down.
f. Install the two reused steel E14 bolts at the 1 o’clock and 2 o’clock positions. Here I found the space
too tight to use a 3/8-drive extension bar(s) and universal to start the bolt. I tried the 2 o’clock
position first and found the tools were rubbing on the firewall insulation and was risking cross-
threading the engine block. So I switched to a ¼-drive set up just to thread these two bolts in. Once
they are fully threaded you can snug them down using 3/8-drive tools.
g. Remove the two guide pins from their locations and install the two remaining new E18 aluminum
bolts. Remember to install the left side wire bracket if you have not already done so.
h. Now remove the transmission jack.
i. Install the left side E12 steel bolt. It just attaches the backing plate to the bell housing. The two
remaining steel E12 bolts hold the lower wiring bracket to the transmission and will be installed at
that step.
Bell Housing Bolt Torquing
j. Torque the E18 bolts to 73 ft/lbs – Note: These bolts are aluminum. I could not get them to 73 ft/lb
without fear of snapping the heads off. I used my clicker torque wrench but they would not trigger a
click. I switched to my bar-type torque wrench and tightened them down to around 65 ft/lbs and left
them there. 65 ft/lb is plenty tight.
k. Torque the E14 bolts to 52 ft/lbs. Again, the aluminum bolt did not trigger the click torque wrench.
The two steel bolts did. The aluminum bolts must just stretch and not trigger the click mechanism in
the torque wrench.
l. Reinstall the slave cylinder. You have to push it in slightly to compress the piston so to tread the nuts
back on the studs. Tighten it up.
m. Reroute the reverse light harness over top of the transmission to where it clips to a tab on the
transmission housing and then back down the left side and reconnect the connector.
n. Lower the front of the engine back to its normal location.
o. Install the shift rod using the two fancy C-clips. Note the correct orientation: hump goes over the
output flange.
p. Remount the shifter bracket using the two pin clips.
q. Install the rear transmission mount.
a. Loosely install the isolator nuts
b. Loosely install the four (4) chassis bolts.
c. Torque the nuts and bolts tight.

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14) Installation is the Reverse of Removal (Don’t you hate that!).
Installation sequence of the remaining ancillary parts:
a. Electrical bracket at bell housing
 Reattach the brown ground wire for the oil sensor
 Re-plug the O2 sensor cables. The gray O2 harness goes to “B”. The black harness connects to
“C”.

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b. Drive shaft. Note orientation of the center bearing

c. Heat Shields

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 d. Exhaust system: Exhaust-to-Trans bracket detail…

e. Various brackets that hold the underbody panels on

f. Stiffening plate
g. Underbody panels

15) Refill Engine Oil.

a. If you replaced the rear crank seal, remember to refill the engine with 7 quarts (6.5 liters) of engine
oil.

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