Beware of Floor Matts! Burned the Clutch

jdink · 02-10-2008, 12:51 PM

So last night I was out and about in Seattle. Before I headed out I had taken my OEM BMW Floor Matts out (the ones with velcro) in order to vacume them.

Anyways, here I'm cruising around in 5th gear and and the exit I want is coming up and a car is next to me in the right lane. I press in the clutch, rev the engine a little and down shift to 4th gear in order to pass him quicker. Well.... i let go of the clutch and floor it and the CLUTCH GETS STUCK ON THE TOP OF THE FLOORMATT!!!!!! Before I know it my car smells like $hit and the needle is at redline. I feel horrible for doing this to my week old car!

My question is, how bad is this for my car? Obviously, I never ment to have this happen, or want this to ever happen again, but will this one instance have a big impact on the life of my clutch? I burned it pretty bad if the smell was any indicator of how bad it was...

Beware of your floormatt!

XPO186 · 02-10-2008, 02:16 PM

So you didn't replace the mat correctly? What I want to know is how you got all the way up to 5th w/out the clutch getting tied up earlier...

Clutches are very robust and are a wear/tear item (meant and expected to wear out eventually). Also I'm sure you stomped on the clutch and were off the gas as soon as you noticed you weren't going anywhere...

I say don't worry about it and don't beat yourself up too much. You're just paranoid because it's a brand new car.

jdink · 02-10-2008, 03:05 PM

The floormatt looked like it was in place, but i think just when (like you said) i pressed the clutch all the way to the floor (probably because i was doing it quickly when i was downshifting) it just caught the top edge of the matt and pulled it up and the flex from the matt didnt let the clutch come all the way up.

Also, after talking with Mantis i drove it around today and i think i just "glazed" it. The smell was there for a bit but now its gone and its driving fine... first feels a little different but that may just me being paranoid

wj4 · 02-10-2008, 03:41 PM

If it was only once, don't worry about it.

I've never had this happened to me though. I remove my mats when I was the car as well. In the 1 year of owning it, it's worked fine.

DrewKo · 02-10-2008, 04:24 PM

No problem man...also, if the clutch wears too quickly, you can always get another one.

02-10-2008, 12:51 PM	#1
jdink Major 52 Rep 1,332 Posts Drives: '08 E90 335i 6MT Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Portland, OR iTrader: (0)	Beware of Floor Matts! Burned the Clutch So last night I was out and about in Seattle. Before I headed out I had taken my OEM BMW Floor Matts out (the ones with velcro) in order to vacume them. Anyways, here I'm cruising around in 5th gear and and the exit I want is coming up and a car is next to me in the right lane. I press in the clutch, rev the engine a little and down shift to 4th gear in order to pass him quicker. Well.... i let go of the clutch and floor it and the CLUTCH GETS STUCK ON THE TOP OF THE FLOORMATT!!!!!! Before I know it my car smells like $hit and the needle is at redline. I feel horrible for doing this to my week old car! My question is, how bad is this for my car? Obviously, I never ment to have this happen, or want this to ever happen again, but will this one instance have a big impact on the life of my clutch? I burned it pretty bad if the smell was any indicator of how bad it was... Beware of your floormatt! __________________
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02-10-2008, 02:16 PM	#2
XPO186 Colonel 128 Rep 2,740 Posts Drives: E92 335i Join Date: May 2007 Location: Albany, NY iTrader: (19)	So you didn't replace the mat correctly? What I want to know is how you got all the way up to 5th w/out the clutch getting tied up earlier... Clutches are very robust and are a wear/tear item (meant and expected to wear out eventually). Also I'm sure you stomped on the clutch and were off the gas as soon as you noticed you weren't going anywhere... I say don't worry about it and don't beat yourself up too much. You're just paranoid because it's a brand new car. __________________
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02-10-2008, 03:05 PM	#3
jdink Major 52 Rep 1,332 Posts Drives: '08 E90 335i 6MT Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Portland, OR iTrader: (0)	The floormatt looked like it was in place, but i think just when (like you said) i pressed the clutch all the way to the floor (probably because i was doing it quickly when i was downshifting) it just caught the top edge of the matt and pulled it up and the flex from the matt didnt let the clutch come all the way up. Also, after talking with Mantis i drove it around today and i think i just "glazed" it. The smell was there for a bit but now its gone and its driving fine... first feels a little different but that may just me being paranoid __________________
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02-10-2008, 03:41 PM	#4
wj4 Major General 335 Rep 7,719 Posts Drives: E90 manual 335i Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Burbank, CA iTrader: (8)	If it was only once, don't worry about it. I've never had this happened to me though. I remove my mats when I was the car as well. In the 1 year of owning it, it's worked fine.
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02-10-2008, 04:24 PM	#5
DrewKo Lieutenant Colonel 44 Rep 1,568 Posts Drives: 335i Montego Blue Saddle Brown Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Atlanta, GA iTrader: (4) Garage List 2007 335i [0.00]	No problem man...also, if the clutch wears too quickly, you can always get another one.
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