1997 528 E39 - Help!!!

Hello All.

I have a bit of a problem with my manual 528 which has covered 128,000 miles. At idle with the clutch pedal out there is a loud clonking noise coming from underneath my car. When I press the clutch in, the noise stops and then comes back again when you release the clutch pedal (1 out of 10 times the noise doesn't come back).

The car has been to two different BMW specialists, one says it's the clutch that needs replacing and the other reckons I need a new gearbox.

I'd rather not have to replace both if I dont have to and would be very grateful if anyone could offer any advice on this. Thanks.

my experience tells me the release bearing would be whirring or whineing before it started clunking??  release bearings do only make noise when the clutch is out and goes away when clutch is depressed (pressure on it) you might have a smashed bearing which causes the fingers to slip on it thus causing the noise!!  would be my first port of call!!  if the box is changing fine with no crunching/slipping/jumping out of gear and drives as norm but just a release noise, i say it's the bearing too!!  but then again, i've had people for years try to describe a problem and then try to interpret it!!  can go off on tangents until you see/hear it in the flesh.  but it's a good contender for the problem!! and not expensive either! (especially not if you're happy dropping the box yourself)

Thanks for the response. There are no whirring noises and it changes gear just fine without jumping out of gear or anything like that. The car has been making this noise for a few months and it hasn't got better or worse (but it's doing my head in now). I too was pretty certain it was the release bearing but the 2nd specialist said the clutch was fine and it was the gearbox.(BM Tec in Manchester) But he also added that he had never had to change a manual gearbox on a E39 before which confused me even more!!!

Not sure if the following is related but when taking up the power in 1st, 2nd and not so much 3rd (coasting then accelerating suddenly or changing between the gears) there is sometimes a clunk and when the car has been driven for a while - 1/2 hour or so the clutch pedal can feel a little rough.

I'll check the prop shaft and joints. It only seems to make the noise when it is in gear but it does not do it when accelerating hard.

I've also just been diggin through the old bills and found one for a clutch in October 2002 (90,000 miles) but it is only for £158. The part number used was BM21.21.1.223.602. Would this have been a full clutch including the release bearing or just a clutch?

The other thing I found was an invoice for stripping, cleaning and inspecting the gearbox in November 2002. The result was no fault found. Mmmm.

Looks like the part BM21.21.1.223.602 is for a full clutch assembly.

See link below (really handy website with diagrams and everything)

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=DD52&mospi d=47544&prod=19970500&btnr=21_0140&hg=21&fg= 05