E46 Clutch Issues | Help Me Please

So I've been working on swapping my '99 323i sedan from an auto to a manual. 

I bought a rusty 2000 328ci (coupe) as a parts car. (The wheelbase is the same for both coupe and sedan.)

The "finished" product here has my 323 shell, but the engine, trans, driveshaft, and diff all from the 328. So far so good, everything bolts up fine and my buddy was able to flash the 328 engine tune onto the ecu and it runs just fine. 

The problem is the clutch. It won't disengage. When you press the clutch pedal with the car in gear, the wheels don't stop when you hit the brakes, the engine bogs down. When in neutral and running it doesn't want to go into gear, presumably because the clutch is still fully engaged. 

As to the clutch itself: I started off with a kit off eBay with a Fidenza lightweight single mass flywheel and clutch kit. I did not realize at the time, but it shipped with a self adjusting clutch. I installed it anyway. When that was installed I bled the brand new clutch hydraulics and the pedal got really hard until there was a noise and it turns out it sent the slave cylinder pushrod into the bell housing. 

So I pulled the trans, and found that the self adjusting clutch didn't seem to have sprung out like I expected it to. Fine. Since it's all apart again, I'll order a "normal" clutch. So I ordered in a Valeo clutch disk and pressure plate, put everything back together and the clutch still won't disengage. (New slave cylinder as well.)

That was all about a month ago and I just haven't touched it again until today. Today I tried another bleed on the clutch, but it got very firm again afterwards, so I didn't force it. I had thought that there was a chance that the clutch disk was installed backwards, so I pulled the trans back out again, just to verify. It was not backwards, there's 100% only one way it can be installed. 

So now I'm here. I'm stuck because honestly I have no idea what's wrong with it. I am considering buying another complete clutch kit from a "reputable" shop vs. eBay, but I'm really not sure that would make a difference. 

Final notes, I'm not sure how far out the clutch pressure plate fingers should be. I know that they pull in towards the engine as you tighten it down, but how far should they go? I measured today and the fingers are about 11mm from the hub of the clutch disk. 

My bleeding process:

It has been a mix of two person pump&hold as well as a Motive Pressure Bleeder. 

That looks awfully close to the disc.

I hate aftermarket flywheels. Does that car come with a factory dual mass flywheel?

I have a brand new S52, e36 M3 clutch kit. Flywheel and all on the shelf. Not sure its the same, but if you need me to take any pics or measurements, let me know. 

In reply to Slippery (Forum Supporter) :

Factory was a Dual Mass flywheel, yes. Unfortunately the two parts cars I took apart before starting this project has flywheels that we're quite worn. And naturally I didn't want to buy a new dual mass flywheel. 

I kinda doubt it would fit, but I'll see what I can lookup. Thanks for the offer!

Ok, I got some input from my friend Blair. He asked about the Fidanza part number and when you look it up it says it needs a 330 clutch. So I'm going to check with Fidanza directly tomorrow and see what my options are. 

I dont think the 330i 6 speed clutch kits are interchangeable with the 5 speed kits......

In reply to Olemiss540 :

I do know that 5 speed and 6 speed kits are different, though I'm glad you brought that to the front of my mind before I likely order a new clutch tomorrow. 
 

Not all 330 models came with the 6 speed though. 

I wish I still had my spare 5 speed clutch kit I would ship it to you to try out before laying cash on the line....

So I wasn't able to get ahold of Fidanza yesterday , so I'm going to outline a bit more here just in case anyone else has input. 
 

So the flywheel is a Fidanza #195461. 
 

It you look up that flywheel it has a note that says "E46 must use 330 clutch" 

Here's a picture of the eBay kit. As you can see it has a self adjusting clutch pressure plate, but the clutch disk has a normal sprung hub. I didn't know this at the time but all the other SAC kits have a solid hub clutch disk. So it seems that the eBay kit was of incompatible parts. 
 

Of course when I bought the second clutch I didn't know that it needed to be a 330 clutch. 
 

So I need to order a new clutch but I don't want a self adjusting clutch, I'd prefer a standard style clutch. I just want to make sure I get one that's comparable, so I'm waiting till I can talk to Fidanza. 

This is what a factory/Sachs S52 clutch looks like. 

I know its not the same car, but I would be surprised if its much different than the one from a 330. 






 

I wonder if the sprung disc is too thick and its getting squished in there. 

The sprung hub has nothing to do with a self-adjusting clutch.  Solid hub discs are common for super agro race clutches where a soft engagement is irrelevant and for cars with DMFWs where the flywheel play takes care of the softening 

In reply to Byrneon27 :

Makes total sense. Since he has a lightweight flywheel, he needs the sprung hub disc. 

Well, that car is running now.

To summarize what worked, I have a lightweight aluminum flywheel (Fidanza #195461). When you look it up there is a note that it requires a 330 clutch. 

I put in a SACHS K7072101 clutch last week, and it works. It is a standard style pressure plate, and a solid clutch disk. I would've preferred a sprung hub clutch, but I didn't want to risk it not fitting properly.

Driving it around, it's really not bad with the solid disk clutch, I already have solid engine and trans mounts so there's already plenty of vibration. 

Glad you figured it out. 

That sure looks to me like the pressure plate that didn't work is for a flywheel with a taller step on the outside edge.

That was my first thought as well, but the pressure plate being designed only to accommodate an unsprung hub clutch disc also makes sense, and turns out was the case here.

If you can live with it (not that hard imo, and gets easier with cylinder count) an unsprung hub is a pretty decent upgrade for an enthusiast driver because it removes the main failure point from the clutch disc (the springs and the parts that retain them) and also reduces the spinning weight that the synchros have to drag up or down when you're shifting aggressively. 

In reply to Vigo (Forum Supporter) :

So far the unsprung clutch disk doesn't seem that bad. More noticeable is the extra noise/vibrations from the poly engine and trans mounts I installed.