M3 Manual Transmission Hard Shifting Problem

[m3f_ccaarmerciill]

Check the bushing to the left (where the pointy thing is pushing out). That was bad on my car, and made the selector rod touch the driveshaft a tiny bit. Would be hard to put into 1st gear at a stop sometimes, unless I went into 2nd, then back into first. That was the initial problem, then it finally totally failed, so that the entire mechanism would slide back (that pointy thing would slide all the way through that bushing), so I couldn't even engage 2nd or 4th gear. Literally could barely pull it into nuetral from the front 3 gears before I bottomed out on the back of the shifter gate. After I fixed this, I haven't had a problem going into any gear since... fingers crossed.



Check your driveshaft as someone else said for marks from your selector rod. Mine is all scraped up...

[m3f_halius]

Alright guys, I know this thread has been dead for a while but I thought I would provide an update on my status.



To date I've had the following work done:



1. Replaced the clutch and resurfaced the flywheel.

2. Replaced and bled the slave cylinder

3. Changed transmission fluid

4. Replaced the transmission mounts and shifter linkage

5. Lastly, I just had the master cylinder replaced



Unfortunately, it seems like each of these steps has "helped" the problem but not completely solved it. The master cylinder was probably the best and I am no longer experiencing the problem of getting stuck in gear at a red light.



Here is what I am still experiencing: If the car sits for a while and I start it in gear, it is difficult to pull it out of first gear. I usually have to kill the car, put it in neutral, and then restart.



Also, while driving it is usually pretty easy to shift up through the gears but much more difficult to down shift. If I double clutch the I can usually change gears without any problems.



So what's left? One mechanic said that when my other mechanic resurfaced the flywheel, they may have made it too thin. The only other thing I can think of is that I need a new transmission or at least synchronizer work.



What do you guys think?

[m3f_AgentHubcap]

From here:



http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...13&hg=25&fg=05



You only need parts 2,4,7,8,10,14. Nothing more. Weight your selector rod while you're in there with some soldier too. This will help reduce the needed effort for throw since the added weight works with you....



http://www.understeer.com/cheapwsr.shtml

Anyone have a part number for #10?

[m3f_runindawg]

BMW's original design used yellow nylon washers(part #10 in the RealOEM link you provided). At some point, they changed the design a little and eliminated the yellow washers(and shortened the pin lengths accordingly).

You should be able to plug in an earlier build date on RealOEM and the part number should be included. This diagram is from a build date that was after the change so the part number isn't listed(even though the washer is on the diagram; this is a fairly common occurrence).

[m3f_AgentHubcap]

I checked with my build date and they were not listed. Does that mean I don't need them?

[m3f_JPoland]

You might not need them. However, they are super cheap so if you're placing an order, might want to get them anyway.

[m3f_pauliannella]

Alright guys, I know this thread has been dead for a while but I thought I would provide an update on my status.



To date I've had the following work done:



1. Replaced the clutch and resurfaced the flywheel.

2. Replaced and bled the slave cylinder

3. Changed transmission fluid

4. Replaced the transmission mounts and shifter linkage

5. Lastly, I just had the master cylinder replaced



Unfortunately, it seems like each of these steps has "helped" the problem but not completely solved it. The master cylinder was probably the best and I am no longer experiencing the problem of getting stuck in gear at a red light.



Here is what I am still experiencing: If the car sits for a while and I start it in gear, it is difficult to pull it out of first gear. I usually have to kill the car, put it in neutral, and then restart.



Also, while driving it is usually pretty easy to shift up through the gears but much more difficult to down shift. If I double clutch the I can usually change gears without any problems.



So what's left? One mechanic said that when my other mechanic resurfaced the flywheel, they may have made it too thin. The only other thing I can think of is that I need a new transmission or at least synchronizer work.



What do you guys think?

based on my limited experience, the other inexpensive things you can check are:



motor mounts

rubber clutch hose - replace with braided line

detent springs (these gate the shifter and may misalign the shifter if they are stuffed)



other than that it could well be the box but from what i understand the 5 speeds very rarely go bad