# BMW 525 Clutch

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/bmw-525-clutch/37016>\
**Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\
**Tags:** clutches, bmw, 525\
**Created:** [September 22, 2009, 11:56pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/bmw-525-clutch/37016 "2009-09-22T23:56:50Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Farmdog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8baadc/32.png) [@Farmdog](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Farmdog)\
**Post date:** [September 22, 2009, 11:56pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/bmw-525-clutch/37016/1 "2009-09-22T23:56:50Z")

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

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**Author:** ![Scudder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Scudder](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Scudder)\
**Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 1:38am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/bmw-525-clutch/37016/2 "2009-09-23T01:38:58Z")

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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.

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**Author:** ![Farmdog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8baadc/32.png) [@Farmdog](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Farmdog)\
**Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 3:25pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/bmw-525-clutch/37016/3 "2009-09-23T15:25:37Z")

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

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**Author:** ![Scudder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Scudder](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Scudder)\
**Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 3:59pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/bmw-525-clutch/37016/4 "2009-09-23T15:59:13Z")

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What exactly is the problem with the new clutch ?

- and what year 525 ?

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**Author:** ![Farmdog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8baadc/32.png) [@Farmdog](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Farmdog)\
**Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 6:11pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/bmw-525-clutch/37016/5 "2009-09-23T18:11:56Z")

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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!

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**Author:** ![Scudder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Scudder](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Scudder)\
**Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 6:21pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/bmw-525-clutch/37016/6 "2009-09-23T18:21:50Z")

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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 ?