E46 News: Clutchmasters FX100 Clutch and JB Racing Flywheel Review

See, remember when I told u that the Flywheel was the best mod to do? (Minus the chatter)

Huy you were indeed correct LOVE driving my car now. Get back in other E46's and feel out of place

Do you still get that really gay pedal feel like on the stock clutch? or is the engagement always the same compared to the SACs unit?

Originally Posted by SL Blak Soldier

Do you still get that really gay pedal feel like on the stock clutch? or is the engagement always the same compared to the SACs unit?

Clutch engagement feels close to stock, but more crisp. I wanted close to stock though, for better DD drive-ability. If you are looking for more aggressive, Clutchmasters and Bimmerworld have units that fit the bill, thats for sure. This is the closest to OEM that they produce.

The pedal feel is MUCH improved over stock, its nice and weighty, but you will adjust to it after a week or so.

Great Review! Very helpful!

The clutch on my 02 325xi just started slipping barely in 5th, definitely time to have it replaced, not to mentioned I burned it real good getting unstuck in the snow a few weeks ago.

After getting the $2,200 quote (880 labor, 1,320 parts ) from my local bmw shop I was a little sticker shocked, and came here looking for some aftermarket / performance alternatives and here was this review!

$880.00 labor for the clutch install seems fairly steep to me (8 hours). However that is from the specialty BMW mechanic that I usually take my car too. I will have to shop around for some better pricing. The 400$ simsima paid seems more appropriate. Anyone know a good shop in Portland Oregon?

def. check in your regional forum for decent shops in Oregon. good luck!

Originally Posted by tylerpdx

$880.00 labor for the clutch install seems fairly steep to me (8 hours). However that is from the specialty BMW mechanic that I usually take my car too. I will have to shop around for some better pricing. The 400$ simsima paid seems more appropriate. Anyone know a good shop in Portland Oregon?

When comparing pricing, be sure to factor in whether or not the shops warranty parts and labor and whether you're willing to pay to have the job done again should any problems arise.

Excellent thread Sinsima! ... Whats ironic for me is that this thread was on the main page when i logged in, and I'm actually having a JB lightweight flywheel installed in my car tommorow!, along with a sachs oem clutch. So after reading this thread, im only more confident that it will be a great setup for my e46.

Originally Posted by Custom3

Great review!
i wonder if this would be a better option then UUC flywheel and the M5 clutch

I spoke with TC Kline on this matter, who I believe produce or at least vendor the JB flywheel, which is ultimately an exact replica of the Turner Motorsport lightened flywheel. And basically, what Steve at TC Kline said was that its an excellent setup for a lot less money over the UUC flywheel.. He also went into saying that the M5 cluthces in the 3 series, down the road have/can lead to issues, due to the fact that its not an original set up.

Originally Posted by 330i ZHP

jb racing flywheel and clutchmasters stage iii clutch....engagement great, grip good, but DAMN the trans rattles and when its cold the clutch (kevlar) makes a screaching noise when slipping the clutch (first gear or reverse on a hill) or downshifting (mostly into third) from 6th or 5th

otherwise happy with rpm drops (and I have the other duplicate engine/trans to compare) and the grip

Do you know anything about the level of "rattling" with the JB flywheel and an OEM clutch, as opposed to say, a stage 3 clutch?? Is there less rattling with an oem clutch and lightened flywheel, vs. an aftermarket and ltwflywheel?... Or are they all the same more or less?

Thanks for the info

Originally Posted by Billy Drama

I spoke with TC Kline on this matter, who I believe produce or at least vendor the JB flywheel, which is ultimately an exact replica of the Turner Motorsport lightened flywheel. And basically, what Steve at TC Kline said was that its an excellent setup for a lot less money over the UUC flywheel.. He also went into saying that the M5 cluthces in the 3 series, down the road have/can lead to issues, due to the fact that its not an original set up.

Originally Posted by Billy Drama

I spoke with TC Kline on this matter, who I believe produce or at least vendor the JB flywheel, which is ultimately an exact replica of the Turner Motorsport lightened flywheel. And basically, what Steve at TC Kline said was that its an excellent setup for a lot less money over the UUC flywheel.. He also went into saying that the M5 cluthces in the 3 series, down the road have/can lead to issues, due to the fact that its not an original set up.

Weird because I spoke with someone at TC Kline before buying my UUC setup and he didn't say anything like that about the M5 clutch, he told me that he knew quite a few cars with the set up and urged me to follow through with it, he said whenever you replace a stock component with a non stock component there is a risk but that the M5 was at least an OEM component and will last better than a lot of the other options for clutch replacement. If its something to worry over then stick with stock. But, when you get an upgraded flywheel, why the hell would you go and take the fun away by not getting a new clutch too!

Originally Posted by Billy Drama

Do you know anything about the level of "rattling" with the JB flywheel and an OEM clutch, as opposed to say, a stage 3 clutch?? Is there less rattling with an oem clutch and lightened flywheel, vs. an aftermarket and ltwflywheel?... Or are they all the same more or less?

if you just replace your clutch with another normal OEM Sachs clutch and you have the lightweight flywheel you're gonna be kicking yourself in the ass because the OEM E46 clutch isn't sprung hub and is gonna allow a LOT more rattle to be heard. The good thing about the Sprung Hub design is it literally has springs around the center that absorb the rattle (combined with the right Redline Tranny fluid you can have very little rattle). Now if you go with a stage 3 setup, rattle isn't something you worry about because youre probably on the racetrack or running crazy power and your engine would probably drown it out.
Also the fact that you have a 10 pound flywheel is gonna provide for rattle, period. The main reason I got the UUC setup was due to the option of aluminum (8.5 lbs i think) and steel moderate lightweight (16.9lbs). I got the steel because I don't track and since it is heavier it doesn't rattle nearly as much. Despite being 16.9 (stock is 25) my setup is still a lot lighter.....I actually raced the exact stock version of my car the other night (first time a 325i has raced me since my clutch flywheel upgrade) and I put close to a car and a half on him by the time i was out of 2nd gear. acceleration is so much quicker with the lightweight set up so whatever kind it is you'll have a lot more fun with your car.

Also when the AC is on the rattle is louder, at red lights I like to turn off AC otherwise you can hear it reverberate between the cars on either side. with the AC off its audible but easy to live with.

I see you live in the central coast, I live in SB, if you wanna feel/hear what its like to have the lightweight flywheel you can PM me

Originally Posted by rcryder

if you just replace your clutch with another normal OEM Sachs clutch and you have the lightweight flywheel you're gonna be kicking yourself in the ass because the OEM E46 clutch isn't sprung hub and is gonna allow a LOT more rattle to be heard. The good thing about the Sprung Hub design is it literally has springs around the center that absorb the rattle (combined with the right Redline Tranny fluid you can have very little rattle). Now if you go with a stage 3 setup, rattle isn't something you worry about because youre probably on the racetrack or running crazy power and your engine would probably drown it out.
Also the fact that you have a 10 pound flywheel is gonna provide for rattle, period. The main reason I got the UUC setup was due to the option of aluminum (8.5 lbs i think) and steel moderate lightweight (16.9lbs). I got the steel because I don't track and since it is heavier it doesn't rattle nearly as much. Despite being 16.9 (stock is 25) my setup is still a lot lighter.....I actually raced the exact stock version of my car the other night (first time a 325i has raced me since my clutch flywheel upgrade) and I put close to a car and a half on him by the time i was out of 2nd gear. acceleration is so much quicker with the lightweight set up so whatever kind it is you'll have a lot more fun with your car.

Also when the AC is on the rattle is louder, at red lights I like to turn off AC otherwise you can hear it reverberate between the cars on either side. with the AC off its audible but easy to live with.

I see you live in the central coast, I live in SB, if you wanna feel/hear what its like to have the lightweight flywheel you can PM me

Hey thanks for all the useful info! Thats really good to know about the difference between the sprung hub set-up and oem. It was over a week ago when I went in for the original estimate, but if i remember correctly, he did say he'd be putting in a sachs sprung hub clutch, which i guess if is sachs could still be considered oem.

Originally Posted by rcryder

Weird because I spoke with someone at TC Kline before buying my UUC setup and he didn't say anything like that about the M5 clutch, he told me that he knew quite a few cars with the set up and urged me to follow through with it, he said whenever you replace a stock component with a non stock component there is a risk but that the M5 was at least an OEM component and will last better than a lot of the other options for clutch replacement. If its something to worry over then stick with stock. But, when you get an upgraded flywheel, why the hell would you go and take the fun away by not getting a new clutch too!

Yeah thats strange, I guess we spoke with different people. The guy I spoke with didn't seem to highly regard it.

Originally Posted by Billy Drama

Hey thanks for all the useful info! Thats really good to know about the difference between the sprung hub set-up and oem. It was over a week ago when I went in for the original estimate, but if i remember correctly, he did say he'd be putting in a sachs sprung hub clutch, which i guess if is sachs could still be considered oem.

Oh ok yeah thats the same clamping force as the stock unit just with springs to dampen the noise. The one I have is a sachs but is made for the M5 so it has greater clamping force than the stock and has the springs. I believe both are organic though.

I'm wondering if it's time to do this job on my 328i. I have 151k on my stock clutch, but it still happily pulls to redline rather easily. However, I can tell (when I pay attention) that she doesn't pull as hard as she used to. Since I drive rather under 3500 rpm mostly, i hardly notice.

Any tests i can do that will indicate my clutch is nearing the end of its life?

That doesn't sound like you have a bad clutch.

My engagement was not grippy and it slipped a few times in gear, so i went ahead and did clutch and flywheel at the same time.

Originally Posted by simsima325

That doesn't sound like you have a bad clutch.

My engagement was not grippy and it slipped a few times in gear, so i went ahead and did clutch and flywheel at the same time.

when you say it slipped in gear do you mean yours was doing that thing where youre in gear and you accelerate and at certain rpms the tach needle jumps up real quick then drops back down, gear catches and then it starts to accelerate...thats what mine was doing before i got it fixed and i have two friends that had the same problem with their e46.

^ Ya, thats what a clutch slipping feels like.