Hello

I thought I would add a few comments to the conversion clutch kit. I converted from a dual mass flywheel to the single mass flywheel , the kit is made by Valeo.

I have owned mY 2004 MCS since new, it's my daily driver and at 274000 km the clutch just started to slip in gear 5 and 6, nothing serious but it was reminding me that it's clutch time. I did my home work and I am amazed at the amount of time guys/gals put into the u tube videos etc on our cars. After many hours of research plus talking to a VW mechanic who regularly converts customer cars to SM I was not convinced it was a perfect conversion but a good option at a huge cost savings. I did the job myself last week (dec27-2015) , I do all my own work , airline pilot by day and a mini enthusiast on off days. It took me about twice as long as a professional , mostly because bolts were rusted and my mechanical skills are not polished. The videos on u tube were very helpful.
I have about 500 km on the new clutch and notice that the engagement of the clutch does not seem to be as smooth, it pulsates a tiny amount. Not a huge amount and certainly very drivable. Also the pedal is softer to push and does not have the firm feeling I liked with the DMF.I think for most people it is fine but it bugs me and if I could turn back the clock , I would spend the extra and put in a new dual mass flywheel kit. The dual mass flywheel is heavier and seems to dampen the initial clutch ingagement a small amount. I looked everywhere and could not find a simple post with just the basic observation after the conversion , I hope this post will help those that are super particular, the rest go with the SMF , the savings is huge
Cheers
Phil

 

I have a stock set up in my car and I put the SMF in my friends car. My observations are that I prefer the Valeo kit over the stock DMF. I like the easier pedal. I did not notice any extra vibration at all however, I have take all my clutch/pressure plate assemblies to the machine shop and have the flywheel balanced and then the flywheel/pp combo balanced. It's amazing how unbalanced (even OEM) these parts can be. It does make a huge difference.

 

I have the kit as well, my pedal is easier, I think engaging is easier. but it runs so much smoother and doesn't have neutral chatter.

 

I also prefer the Valeo over stock. If the price was the same, I would still chose the Valeo. It does take a while to get used to it, like you said, it feels very different. That doesn't mean it's bad, it actually makes the car easier to drive in my opinion. I can't think of any advantage in having the pedal be harder to push in.

 

I like what an earlier poster said , get it balanced , I have 3 British cars and I always have everything balanced , what was I thinking , great suggestion for next time
No vibration when the car is moving, I just find the dead stop take off is not as smooth, it reminds me of one of my British cars ( replaced with super light aluminum flywheel ) takes a few more rpm to get it moving smoothly

Great replays , thank you

 

Great idea , next time for sure

 

The clutch pedal feel in the Valeo kit is a little different, and takes some getting used to, but it works well. It has been an economical alternative to replacing both the clutch and flywheel. Dual-mass flywheel prices are now coming down so the delta is only about $100 nowadays. If it were my car, I'd spend the extra money to have the stock setup: it just feels better.

 

Thank you for the reply , all good posts hopefully the thread will help others decide what best fits there situation , nice to see all posts are factual.

Phil