The shifter in the BMW has become finicky... in a weird way. Sometimes, when I pull it out of 5th into Neutral, the knob doesn't want to move to center. The springs or whatever hold it to the right.
The car does come out of gear, and I can put it in any gear just fine, but it's generally irritating and can be tough to find 3rd (when going from freeway to surface streets), since I'm used to 3rd being strait ahead.
I can give the shifter a couple of slaps and it will pop back to where it should be.
Any thoughts on the cause? I'm guessing there's just a bushing or something that needs to be replaced.
pigeon
Reader
1/6/09 3:59 p.m.
In reply to Salanis:
Stolen from Roadfly, but I knew it independently:
"In short, there is a fifth gear pin which is supposed to move freely (back-n-forth) inside a bushing located in the transmission. This pin is spring-loaded, which returns your shift lever to center. What happens (and usually when the tranny is cold) is when the shift lever is moved to the right of the gate, the pin goes into the bushing and becomes lodged, making the shift lever stay right instead of returning center. BMW released a bushing repair-kit (#23-11-7-542-726) intending to fix this issue. FYI, members from the thread on Bimmerforums have had success with the repair-kit, resolving this "5th-gear-sticky" issue. BTW, when the shift lever finally returns center, that "click" sound you hear is the pin finally dislodging itself in the bushing (returning into its original position).
The catch for R&R of the bushing repair-kit: You are required to drop the transmission. The bushing/pin location is on the side of the tranny and you'll need all the room possible to remove the old bushing from (which is usually seized inside) the tranny."
The Getrag trans used in the E46 was I believe the same trans used in your M Coupe as well. I had this issue with my E46 328i when the tranny was cold, I just lived with it waiting for the clutch to need replacing. The original clutch still held strong with 172k miles on it when I sold it...
Scott
E36 M3.
I don't want to have to drop the tranny to replace an inconvenience. I can live with it, but I'm looking to sell the car in a few months. This is on my list of minor annoyances that will decrease resale value a lot more than they'll cost to fix.
Edit: Looks like this problem is one that frequently occurs when the weather is cold, and disappears when it's warm. So, it might not occur if I sell the car in the spring/summer.
