Clutch goes to the floor on its own.

[Manolito]

'97 328i 320k mi 5 sp

Wow, two problems in the same day but they don't seem related.

Occasionally, when I press the clutch, it slams to the floor and does not disengage. Sometimes I was able to pull the the clutch pedal back up and it would work normally a few times. Other times, the pedal was slammed tightly to the floor and all my strength could not pull it back up until I turned off the engine. Then the pedal would stay stuck to the floor, but I could pull it back up with some effort.

I have experienced failing clutch master cylinders before, and this is nothing like those experiences. Something is pulling the fluid from that system and pulling the pedal tight to the floor.

I replaced the master and slave cylinders on this car about two years ago due to excessive pressure required to press the pedal. All e36s have relatively stiff clutches, but this one is unusually stiff. New cylinders did not help.

BTW, brake fluid level is still normal, right on the full line.