Hello all-- question for y'all. I have a silver 2006 S with factory LSD, chrono with nav, and aero kit, with about 93k on the clock. I am feeling like the clutch is going to need to be replaced sooner rather than later, as I am getting a squeal/bark when I first use it in the morning, and I have what I think is the throw-out bearing noise (rattle that goes away when clutch is depressed). I also have a 17% pulley, M7 intake, colder plugs on it, along with one ball mod. Car has been well cared for and the mods were added around 70k on the clock. No ECU tune.

Should I go ahead and pay to get the clutch replaced, supercharger serviced, etc, or look at possible buying a hyper blue 2005 JCW with aero kit, JCW exhaust, brakes, chrono pack, and 106k miles on the chassis. Kicker is it had the clutch recently redone and also has a new JCW engine within the past 4k. However no factory LSD... It also has new shocks/struts and mounts, bushings (my car is on original). What do you all think would be a reasonable asking price for this car? Interior is leather and good condition and exterior paint is probably 8 out of 10.

 

That wup-wup-wup noise is likely the dual mass flywheel and may not be the throwout bearing at all. But like you say with 93K quite possibly time to change out the clutch anyway. The consensus budget upgrade is a Valeo single mass available from just about every vendor on here but others will weigh in with their favorite options of course.

That said with the limited slip diff, blower pulley and the other mods you've done you may already be ahead of a factory JCW less the cylinder head work and ECU (?) tune.

How about doing the clutch job yourself - do the suspension bushing / ball joint replacement / rebuild and supercharger / water pump services "while you're in there" and then use the money you saved to buy the JCW as a stable mate? Because the ultimate spare part in your garage is always another R53...

 

I just put a 250$ lightweight flywheel and stage 1x fx ebay clutch in my car AND I LOOOOOVE IT.
fix it and continue keeping it. Jcw are overpriced, underperforming cars imo for their price,unless ITS AN AERO or GP... a few cheap, simple bolts makes an S faster than a jcw..
Plus selling your car with a slipping clutch , your going to take a hit on it..
you should look around in your area for private mechanics or something..the clutch job is pretty easy on these cars but shops are dumb and think because bmw/Chrysler made these that theyll be hard to work on and need a bunch of special tools.. ALL OF WHICH IS B.S..these are the easiest cars I've owned to work on..

 

Thanks guys, super helpful advice. I would try to tackle the job if I had the time, but with work and a toddler its not in the cards. I think i'll stick with what I have and perhaps add the larger injectors and a tune. I think at that point it will be running like a JCW anyways, with a LSD to boot. I'm in CA, and with the new laws the tune will have to be flashed back to stock for smog, or I may get another ECU to swap in or something.

 

+1
Also
this, except maybe the indy shops that specialize in MINIs and not just BMW or Euros in general. You have to be very careful. I paid >$3K for my clutch job and and alignment at a time I didn't know any better. It was a 'British' shop; that's how naive I was. They d**k*d up the steering when they attempted the alignment job so bad it had a good 1/2" of play in the wheel when they handed me the keys with a straight face. 4.5*s on Yelp too. Railed them hard there after making them fix their f-up and never went back. Thankfully at least the clutch has been fine since, about 28K on it and holding but I drive like the old man I am and never track it so there's that...

And needless to say, the Stealership is never an option. Satan's Service Bay. Bring Money by the Wheelbarrow.