When I bought my 2006 118d from Copart (see Our Cars, p88-89), I knew straight away that the DMF didn’t have long to live. Not just the growl as the clutch pedal was depressed, but a pretty horrendous rattle at idle that was awful when cold and slightly less so when warmed up. Towards the end, there was also clutch judder (again improving when warmed up) and whilst it was OK on the move, a distinct vibration under load in sixth gear on the motorway said that all was not well. When a flywheel finally lets go, it will probably destroy the gearbox as well so it’s worth renewing it.
Clutch changes are similar on all BMW’s with both this engine (M47 diesel) with 1, 3 and 5-Series cars being all but identical. A 525d or 530d is much the same and the later 2007 onwards N47’s are even easier as the starter motor is near the bottom of the bellhousing making access easier. The four- and six-cylinder petrols aren’t much different either and we’ll give a few pointers along the way.
The pedal on this 118d was still quite light and bites where it should but there is no point in replacing the flywheel and keeping the existing clutch unless you really are on
