BMW E9x M3 has a clutch pressure limit in stock TCU of ~15.5bar, which must be increased to withstand higher torque transfer.
Available DCT clutch upgrades
Description |
No of plates |
Part no/product link |
Max engine torque at 15.5bar clutch pressure |
Max engine torque at 17.5bar clutch pressure |
Price (without VAT) |
Note |
Stock clutch pack M3 with stock M3 firmware (600Nm) |
11 |
|
880 Nm/650 ft-lbf |
1000 Nm/740 ft-lbf |
|
The "GTS" firmware increases the clutch pressure with 0.2-0.5bar |
Dodson Motorsport - Sportmans plus (950Nm) |
20 |
1200 Nm / 885 ft-lbs |
1400Nm |
~4300USD |
Did not slip at 1400Nm. We have seeing issues with clutch relearn and these clutches. |
|
Dodson Motorsport - PROMAX (not released yet) |
|
- |
- |
|
When Dodson release it, we will try it. |
|
South Side performance (SSP) - SPEC-R (1220Nm) clutch package |
16 |
930 Nm / 685 ft-lbf |
1250 Nm / 920 ft-lbf |
~2590USD |
|
|
South Side performance (SSP) - SPEC-R (1220Nm) transmission package |
16 |
930 Nm / 685 ft-lbf |
1250 Nm / 920 ft-lbf |
~4700USD |
||
South Side performance (SSP) - SPEC-X (1350Nm) transmission package |
18 |
Soon |
Soon |
~5300USD |
We are still waiting on this one... |
Note: We have developed a custom firmware to be flashed to the DCT TCU to gain a higher clutch pressure, only available if you send an TCU to our location in Sweden.
Note: Always do a DCT clutch relearn after a clutch upgrade!
Common aftermarket clutch kits upgrades
Dodson Sportmans plus (950Nm) DMS-8002 clutch kit.
SSP SPEC-R BMWSPECRPKG clutch kit.
Both of the above DCT clutch manufacturers are very good clutch kits, nothing bad to say about them, the both work!
Note: All DCT clutches suffer from the same problem though, high torque application and clutch slip, in a matter of seconds you can destroy the whole clutch package, make sure to not exceed its limit. We have added a safety protection in our MTune DCT Settings.
Heavy duty billet basket cases
Do you really need it?
You will sleep better if you have as much car parts as there is...:)
Producer |
Note |
Made of heat treated billet steel, little thicker than OEM baskets. |
|
Made of forged steel, nice machined quality. |
Both SSP and Dodson offer these "heavy duty billet" baskets.
Dynocharts with different clutch kits tested for Max clutch performance
Note: we refer to engine torque (in Nm), est = estimated engine power/torque levels.
Stock clutches (M3 E9x)
Dynochart of a safe torque curve with stock clutches and increase clutch pressure (17.5bar) with special TCU firmware.
SSP curves
South Side performance (SSP) - SPEC-R clutch package, BMW900 with stock clutch pressure at 15.5bar.
South Side performance (SSP) - SPEC-R clutch package, BMW900 with uprated clutch pressure to 17.5bar.
Dodson curves
At 1230Nm (with 15.5bar clutch pressure) with the Dodson Sportman plus (DMS-8002) started to slip, the clutch is specified to handle 950Nm.
We passed 1400Nm (with 17.2bar clutch pressure) with the Dodson Sportman plus (DMS-8002) did not yet slip, but we at this point stopped pushing the torque levels.
