BMW 525 Clutch

Does anyone know if it is possible to put a “clutch disk” in backwards and still operate the vehicle for some time?

No, certainly not with standard clutches, the driven plate damper spring mounting plate would just sit against the flywheel and I doubt you would be able to fit the pressure plate. Even if you could it just wouldn’t work at all.

The one reservation I might have is for a Sachs performance kit, they don’t have damper springs, but the drive splines offsets are different and I believe they will only fit one way. I’ve never personally tried fitting one backwards, I usually read and comply with the wording “FLYWHEEL SIDE ONLY” on the driven plate.

Excellent thank you - that is a big help! Weird eh!
Anyone else?

What exactly is the problem with the new clutch ?

  • and what year 525 ?

My friend is from Thailand - very good conscientious mechanic has his own shop - but does not speak English well. He fixed a guys clutch - the guy admits to “I drive the car hard…” boy racer type - why he has a 5 spd vs auto trans. Also trans on this car had a bad bearing. He got a lawyer and they claim my friend put the clutch plate in backwards. Everyone I talked to says what you say - can’t be done - at least without knowing right away!

So are they saying the clutch was removed and was found installed backwards ?

Or is this just supposition on their part ?

  • and what actually happened for the clutch to attract all this attention ? Did it just fail ?