E46 Fanatics Forum banner

DIY: Perfect Clutch Stop in 30 seconds, Less then $5

222K views 439 replies 259 participants last post by  wheezealittlejuice 
#1 ·
Ok so after reading all these threads about clutch stops I decided to give it a shot... I have an 01 325xi (sedan) so I don't know how many other applications this will work PERFECTLY for but it should work on all begining E46's til mid 01 in the sedans. (the coupe may be a little different but not much and the post-mid 01's I don't know how much play you have with the magnetic switch so you should experiment a little). I ran to Lowes right by work and played around for about an hour on my lunch break until I finaly found the perfect things. You need 2 parts, no glue, and less then 30 seconds install time. Part #1 is in the drawers with all the other bolts, its called an "Elevator Bolt" 3/8" x 1 1/2" it is blackish in color (price $0.97). Part #2 is a few isles over in the adhesive bumpers for furniture, its called "Grippers" 1 1/2" Self-Stick the part # is "7384" from SoftTouch (price $3.04). The grippers package has 8 little discs in it so you can make 8 clutch stops ;)

Assembly: Take elevator bolt out of package. Take 1 disc out of package. Remove sticker covering adhesive from disc. Center disc on elevator bolt and press on.

Installation: unscrew your factory clutch stop by hand (the black thing behind your clutch pedal on the floorboard). Screw in your newly assembled one all the way (just hand tight you don't need to wrench tighten it it isnt going anywhere)

You're done. No glues, no mess, etc. This setup is the perfect height, it doesn't require any adjustment of the clutch switch for the ignition (my car doesn't have cruise so can't test that obviously). The best part about this is it looks a lot more professional then most of the homemade ones i've seen pictures of on these boards. Enjoy.

Being less then $5 and less then 30 seconds of install time (and probably less then 2 minutes of shopping time now that I told you all the part numbers) you should have NO reason to not go do this right now... I was kinda skeptical but this has been the best mod for the money anywhere.
 

Attachments

See less See more
2
#271 ·
To be the bearer of bad news... lowes hardware stores have definitely stopped stocking this product in all stores effective last week.. They weren't producing the sales #'s so it was considered unnecessary stock. :( The people who did the carriage bolt... did you buy the same exact dimensions I am assuming?
 
#274 ·
That would probably work but if I were to do that... I'd play around with the pads til you got the perfect height and maybe gorilla glue them together and onto the factory clutch stop... I believe someone posted something about the pads' adhesive failing after time when they tried it...

When I went to lowes they were all on clearance... They of course were missing the size specified but they did have the size that was 1/2" too long so I bought them out of it... if someone is real desperate I think I still have 1 or 2 more of the too long ones left if you feel like dremmeling them down to size...

The other solution if someone is real ambitious is to contact the manufacturer of the elevator bolt and find out if anyone else is distributing it or if they are willing to sell you some directly in a small bulk quantity... someone could make these for members cheap and still make a little profit... I would do it but I just dont spend the time on this board anymore since I no longer have a bimmer.... but oh well... it was good while it lasted... looks to me like over 1,000 people got $5 clutch stops instead of paying $30 or whatever some of those companies are charging nowadays... thats a saving of $25,000 that I coulda made if I started producing and selling these things lol oh well... good luck with whatever happens from here :)
 
#275 · (Edited)
Okay, I knew from this forum that Lowe's would no longer carry an elevator bolt...I checked ACE and others before I went there too, didnt have em..Anyway, while I was at Lowes I purchased the Grippers even though i couldnt find the bolt. What I did was stack 4 of the grippers on top of my stock clutch stop. The result???? AMAZING.. The best part about it is that it is flexible unlike a fixed bolt stop...The trick is pressing the clutch firmly to start the car which compresses the layers of grippers. Yet when you drive, you get to keep a clutch stop thickness which would normally disable engine start! So far so good. It feels like the pedal travel is 40% shorter..
 
#276 ·
Okay, I knew from this forum that Lowe's would no longer carry an elevator bolt...I checked ACE and others before I went there too, didnt have em..Anyway, while I was at Lowes I purchased the Grippers even though i couldnt find the bolt. What I did was stack 4 of the grippers on top of my stock clutch stop. The result???? AMAZING.. The best part about it is that it is flexible unlike a fixed bolt stop...The trick is pressing the clutch firmly to start the car which compresses the layers of grippers. Yet when you drive, you get to keep a clutch stop thickness which would not normally allow the car to start! So far so good. The pedal travel feels less than 50%.
That's cool, though, from what I've read you may have problems in the long run as the adhesive will likely weaken and they'll start to peel. Cheap fix for that, though.
 
#280 ·
Well no luck finding a 1 1/2" Elevator Bolt. So i did the next best thing. I made my own, LOL!!!!

I bought a 2" and just cut it down to 1.5" :D I also bought a 3/8 nut and screwed that in before cutting down with a saw. After cutting it I cleaned up the end with a grinder. Once thats done I took the nut and unscrewed it to clean off the treads on the elevator bolt. Clean, Cheap, and Simple... :D






(photos were taken with my cell phone sorry)
 
#281 ·
is that your bedroom? lol
 
#286 · (Edited)
<html>
<p>Credit to all the guys for a great idea, I thought I'd add this for those of
us in the UK who don't have access to the US stores and suppliers mentioned in
the thread. (For "elevator bolt" think "levelling feet", the sort of thing you'd find
on the bottom of a washing machine or computer rack, not an actual bolt from
a "lift" or "elevator", my first quite confusing thought. These aren't generally
available in high street hardware stores).</p>
<p>Firstly we don't have the problem of a switch that requires us to depress the
clutch to start the car, so that's one less consideration when doing this mod.</p>
<p>Go to Robert Dyas for those little "fix and fasten" packs of  hardware.
I couldn't get exact parts so you need to do a little preparation, but the end
result is perfect. Took less than an hour on a rainy Bank Holiday Monday. Cost
about £4.</p>
<p>I got 1x pack (contains 2) M10 x 50 Hex head bolts with nuts (you'll need to
cut a bolt down to size with a hacksaw).</p>
<p>1x pack M10 steel washers (helps keep the rubber pad on tight)</p>
<p>1x Heavy duty crutch pad 20mm (They almost got the name of this right, lol.
It's actually intended to go on the bottom of a crutch or walking stick, you'll
need to cut this down with a craft knife.)</p>
<p><img border="0" src="http://forum.e46fanatics.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=272552&stc=1&d=1211817387" width="600" height="340"></p>
<p>Cut 20mm off end of crutch pad.</p>
<p>Cut 27mm off bolt (the top of crutch pad is quite thick, you have to cut a
lot off the bolt to compensate for the extra length).</p>
<p>Put 1 washer on bolt and secure with nut, to give head extra width to fit
tightly into crutch pad (there's 2 washers on the bolt in pic above,
I just used 1 when I put it together).</p>
<p>Leave extra nut on while you cut bolt to ensure thread is ok after cutting.
Remove extra nut, check bolt threads easily into nut or smooth off till it does.</p>
<p>Tighten nut and bolt with washer in between, pop crutch pad on top (it's a
snug fit).</p>
<p><img border="0" src="http://forum.e46fanatics.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=272553&stc=1&d=1211817387" width="600" height="512"></p>
<p>Go swap them over.</p>
<p>Old: (It was hand tight and just unscrews).</p>
<p><img border="0" src="http://forum.e46fanatics.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=272554&stc=1&d=1211817387" width="600" height="481"></p>
<p>Old and new:</p>
<p><img border="0" src="http://forum.e46fanatics.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=272555&stc=1&d=1211817387" width="600" height="463"></p>
<p>New fitted.</p>
<p><img border="0" src="http://forum.e46fanatics.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=272556&stc=1&d=1211817387" width="600" height="489"></p>
<p>You now have less excess clutch travel. Test clutch biting point is ok, and
happy driving. Thanks to everyone who contributed to the thread for a great idea.</p></html>
 

Attachments

#287 ·
i wanted to take my first post to say thank you for this. I had a lot of trouble finding an elevator bolt, but once i did, and upon cutting it to size (they only had 1" and 2", no 1.5" it worked PERFECTLY on my '01 325xi. Car starts up fine, and clutch engages within 1/8" of raising it from the stopper. So much nicer. THANK YOU!

-Ricky
 
#288 · (Edited)
Right so I've driven the car with the clutch stop fitted. The clutch stop is a GREAT mod. Well done OP for the idea.

Trouble is it's highlighted 2 more problems. I've just realised how horribly notchy my gearbox is, and how difficult it is to get into gear, especially first, say in comparison to a new car with a light clutch.

Secondly, I now realise what an absolute pain the CDV is. I must have been subconciously compensating for these faults before, using a long slow clutch stroke to try and achieve a smoother gearchange. Now with the short travel of the clutch pedal, short, quick gear changes should be easy to do.

It really isn't possible to do a quick gearchange in my car, the lever is notchy and (comparatively) hard to put into gear, and when you do the CDV ensures the clutch doesn't engage quickly and smoothly. It's like you change gear and can get your foot quickly back on the gas, then wait for the hesitation to finish while the CDV thinks about slowly letting your clutch engage.

I know in real time this may be a fraction of a second, but the hesitation is there and it's real, not imagined.

On the agenda now I think should be a CDV delete (bleeding clutch fluid during the process may also reap additional benefits) and possibly even a change of gearbox fluid, depending on advice / fedback from BMW main dealers about replacement manual gearbox oil.
 
#294 ·
man, that's ridiculous. It was only a matter of time before someone tried to take this sweet idea and make a profit from it rather than share it within the BMW community. I highly doubt their claim of "over 1000 sold!" is true. Most everyone that would even try this "modification" would have to care enough about their BMW and driving it to be a real fanatic. And real fanatics already know about this, where to get it and how cheap it really is. That's the EXACT elevator bolt and gripper pads too. Shame!
 
#302 ·
I put back in the OEM clutch stop the other day when I took my car in to the dealer (it's CPOd and I didn't want to hear any of their b.s. about voiding the warranty on my clutch :blah:)

Anyways, I don't know how I drove my car with the OEM clutch stop. It felt awful; felt like I had to push in the clutch 3 times as far.
 
#303 ·
so besides doing the clutch stop... why do people do the CDV? what is a CDV and how does one DELETE it?
 
#304 ·
so i just went to two different Lowe's in san diego.... ALL out of elevator bolts! looks like im not getting one for awhile. ill try else where like Home Depot. any other suggestions? I put the pads on the stock on but after 4 adhesive pads i still didnt see a difference. i guess the bolt IS needed because youll only need one or two pads.... the clutch better engage within an .5 inch or so or there really isnt a point for me, i never really touch that stock clutch stop when shifting.
 
#307 ·
which site carries an "elevator bolt"? haha
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top