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BMWs - They all do that, Sir...??? - Mondaywoe
Sorry to be a bit vague on this one, but it's something I've found so amusing and intriguing for the past day or two that I felt I had to get to the bottom of it!

The mother of a friend apparently was sitting in traffic the other day in a fairly new BMW (May 2004) Sorry, as I say, I don't know which model - just that it's a beamer.

Apparently smoke started to come from the car - I think from the clutch area - so the lady immediately called for assistance and the thing was taken to the BMW dealership.

They 'checked it over' and announced that 'they all do that in traffic' and sent the lady merrily on her way. Obviously, she was not best pleased because the car had not been cheap and also because that was the second time it had broken down since May!

Anyway, does this make any sense to anyone here? Is this a known phenomenon on any or all BMW models? Or (as I suspect) has the lady been fobbed off?

Assuming the smoke was coming from the clutch I suppose it's not inconceivable that the lady had been sitting with foot on pedal allowing the clutch to slip continuously. Even then, I would have thought that smoke would have been unlikely on a car of that quality(?) and age.

Answers on a postcard!

Glad I went for that nice reliable, quality built, Citroen...........

Ho ho ho!

Graeme
BMWs - They all do that, Sir...??? - NARU
I've seen an increasing trend for people to hold their car still on slight inclines using the clutch. Two today alone. Goodness knows what would happen if their foot slipped or they got nudged from the rear!
BMWs - They all do that, Sir...??? - Aprilia
Its an odd story. To get the clutch smoking it must have been held slipping for a long time.

The friction lining on a BMW will have similar properties to that on any other car and so will still smoke if overheated. Most BMW clutches I've seen come from F&S, same as supply many other vehicle manufacturers.
BMWs - They all do that, Sir...??? - Pugugly {P}
None of mine ever did it.