Good vibrations? I think not....

[bazman]

Hello again, here is another query i have that I am hoping you can help me answer. I have quite a bad judder/vibration as I pull away, which if I am sat in traffic for any period of time seems to get worse, its like when you learn to drive and can't pull away properly(kangaroo petrol). So I am thinking, clutch is on its way out, but today, I noticed as I pulled away several times in traffic, a clonking coming from the back end somewhere. My question is, is it the clutch or/and is my diff on its way out? (in your opinions). If this is the case, how expensive is it to repair/replace these? Might be wise to get rid now I am thinking??? By the way, its a 1989 316i E30.

Thanks in advance.

Baz.

[Brianmoooore]

E30 diff failures are very rare, so it's very unlikely that's your problem. Even if it is, because they are so reliable, they can be bought second hand very cheaply.
First places to look for your trouble are the guibo (rubber drive coupling doughnut on the back of the gearbox), the mounting for the universal joint in the middle of the propshaft, and possibly the gearbox mounting rubbers.

[Andy_magic]

When you sit at the lights, are you sitting with your foot on the clutch, it could be oil contamination on the clutch itself, caused by a leaking rear crankshaft oil seal.

[Cloggy Saint]

My clutch is the same if i've been sitting in traffic for a while. I know others have mentioned it too, it's a pretty common problem.

[bazman]

Thanks all, at least I got somewhere to start looking.

[Simon]

This is a very common BMW problem, not just E30 related, (the jerking not the clonking) BMW solved the problem on later cars by uprating the clutch line to a braided item, but I would think that changing the clutch fluid may help, as it doesn't happen to all BMW's.