6-speed detent pins repair

[Chanman1029]

No balls or sleeves for all 3 detents? How did it keep the engaged gears (R; 1/2; 3/4) from popping out if no detents?

I’m not educated on the mechanics of a transmission enough to answer that question, but here is what the inside of mine looked like.

[sapote]

Pic shows it is the updated sleeve and no more ball. either keep them or replace with new sleeves.
These detents are for R; 1/2; 3/4. One more gear detent on the left side for 5th/6th.

[Chanman1029]

Pic shows it is the updated sleeve and no more ball. either keep them or replace with new sleeves.
These detents are for R; 1/2; 3/4. One more gear detent on the left side for 5th/6th.

I have to disagree, there’s no visible sleeve. The sleeve design has a lip that would be easily visible from the top hole. The pin that I pulled out is also consistent in shape with the original kit. The kit with the updated sleeve and pin, has a different shape.

https://www.ecstuning.com/BMW-E46-M3-S54_3.2L/Drivetrain/Manual_Transmission/Rebuild_Components/

check this link out, if you look closely at pictures of both of the first items on that page, and then look at my photos again, you’ll see the difference I’m talking about.

[sapote]

I have to disagree, there’s no visible sleeve. The sleeve design has a lip that would be easily visible from the top hole.

I understand now. We're talking about a different kind of sleeves, not the thin cylinders (sleeves) that are pressed into the holes to work as the bearing surface.
The original design used ball and spring:
The ball would beat up the hole as the shift rod moved fore/aft, to the point that the ball can jam in the hole and more difficult to shift. The updated long sleeve provides larger bearing surface when sliding up/down in the hole and causes less wear in the hole, a better design.


The new updated with sleeve with round end (or pin if you like, but everyone calls it a sleeve):

[Chanman1029]

The new updated with sleeve with round end (or pin if you like, but everyone calls it a sleeve):

So then maybe I should just buy the kit that has the identical parts in it. My pins dont really look worn, but I guess it cant hurt to change them, along with the compression springs

[sapote]

Someone asked me with this question, and I post the ans to benefit other members in case having the same issue.
" I ordered a kit from ecs and I made a mistake of removing the 2 pins in holes 2 and 4, now the cover won’t sit flush and I can’t find much info on how to fix it anywhere. I can still go through/feel all the gears while the cover is under tension, but I don’t know how to get everything realigned. I have another SMG transmission with the same problem that I don’t mind taking apart. Do you have any advice?"

Under these large pins should be a ball in each hole. They are not detent but serve as the inter-lock to prevent multiple gears engaged at the same time.
The answer: use a magnet to pull the ball out, then look down the hole and make sure there is no part of the horizontal small pin (going through the shift rods at 90* angle) is protruding out of the rod. If it is, then use a small screwdriver to coach the small pin back inside the shift rod. If the small pin is outside the rod, it will not allow the said ball to be bottomed, then the larger pin will not clear the cover when installed on top of the ball.