Car stuck in First Gear

[Spinfusion8]

Hey Guys!

I have a 89 5spd 325i. I have never had any problems with my transmission until last weekend. I was pulling out of church onto a local highway and went to shift into second gear and I simply couldnt. I pulled into a parking lot on the side of the road and shut the car off. The shifter went into neutral position but it doesnt shift into any other gear whether it is on or off. Even though the shifter is in neutral position the car is stuck in first gear. The clutch feels normal so I have a feeling it has something to do with the linkage. I plan on tinkering with it some more this weekend.

Just let me know if you have any ideas what this could be...

[crappycoco]

If you can go from neutral to first and back with no problem, i doubt its the linkage.

[Spinfusion8]

If you can go from neutral to first and back with no problem, i doubt its the linkage.

Nope I cant get the shifter back into first.

[spdracrm3]

hopefully it is just linkage,

but if not what has most likely occured is a support piece inside the transmission has come loose and this allows the shifter rod to pop out leaving the first shift rod engaged and the shifter in the neutral gates of the remaining shift rods (this is what happened to the IX i purchased for cheap after previous owner was having tires install at a firestone shop )and the only way to fix it is to split the case apart to move shift rod back into place and reattatch shift linkage (a quick way to check if this has happened is to see if you can remove the allen bolt on top of the transmission which is supposed to be holding the linkage to the case )see attatched pic

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showparts?id=1113-USA---E30-BMW-325i&diagId=23_0154

bolt number #25 which holds part #1 to top of case

so while you are under there looking at the linkage and if you cant see anything wrong check this bolt if its loose or can be removed your going to have to split the tranny case to fix it. this is a common issue with hi mileage trans and the sloppy shifter/hard to get into gears is another common issue indicating this condition unfortunately

[Spinfusion8]

hopefully it is just linkage,

but if not what has most likely occured is a support piece inside the transmission has come loose and this allows the shifter rod to pop out leaving the first shift rod engaged and the shifter in the neutral gates of the remaining shift rods (this is what happened to the IX i purchased for cheap after previous owner was having tires install at a firestone shop )and the only way to fix it is to split the case apart to move shift rod back into place and reattatch shift linkage (a quick way to check if this has happened is to see if you can remove the allen bolt on top of the transmission which is supposed to be holding the linkage to the case )see attatched pic

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showparts?id=1113-USA---E30-BMW-325i&diagId=23_0154

bolt number #25 which holds part #1 to top of case

so while you are under there looking at the linkage and if you cant see anything wrong check this bolt if its loose or can be removed your going to have to split the tranny case to fix it. this is a common issue with hi mileage trans and the sloppy shifter/hard to get into gears is another common issue indicating this condition unfortunately

thank you for the help! I will be sure to update you.