Downshifting?

[luvin my 325es]

I do not agree. Every car shifts a little different so there is a learning period. Any small grinds, mis-shifts cause unnessasary wear on the tranny, down-shifting also puts extra strain on motor mounts, driveline bearings, bushings etc. All of these parts including clutch and tranny are more $ and more work. Brakes are one of the easiest and cheapest repairs, besides you can not stop without using the brakes so why wear everything else out to?
Popping out of gear is a common result of speed shifting/rev-matching.
It is also a good way to get rearended.
My clutch stop IMO best bang for buck mod.
$.33 carriage bolt
$.18 nut
$.08 lockwasher
From ace hardware, took less than 5 min. to install.

[MikeE30325i]

I do not agree. Every car shifts a little different so there is a learning period. Any small grinds, mis-shifts cause unnessasary wear on the tranny, down-shifting also puts extra strain on motor mounts, driveline bearings, bushings etc. All of these parts including clutch and tranny are more $ and more work. Brakes are one of the easiest and cheapest repairs, besides you can not stop without using the brakes so why wear everything else out to?
Popping out of gear is a common result of speed shifting/rev-matching.
It is also a good way to get rearended.
My clutch stop IMO best bang for buck mod.
$.33 carriage bolt
$.18 nut
$.08 lockwasher
From ace hardware, took less than 5 min. to install.

well apparently from the other posters, you can save the brakes and such if you just downshift correctly if you dont do it right though then the damage comes in, but if you are good then there should be virtually no wear on any engin/tranny related parts. plus you save brakes. using the brakes from rolling at 10 mph to 0 is a lot less usage then if you slow down from 45 mph to 0

[delphini]

even with the autobox.

[luvin my 325es]

I guess if your that good, never miss a shift, then I say go for it.
But for the average daily driver practicing enough to get that good
might cost a tranny, guibo, motor mounts etc.
IMO I would rather do 2 complete brake jobs than replace a tranny, etc.

[808BMW]

Why is it that so many of you cant downshift properly, or can't revmatch?

I can understand that not everyone can go totally clutchless, but downshifting and revmatching are pretty basic driving. I was doing these things about a week after I learned to drive, everyone is making like its a big deal or something.

How often do you guys miss shifts? I do it maybe once every 6months to a year, and thats if I'm distracted and its just kind of a "Doh!" moment.

[bmwm3n528]

How often do you guys miss shifts? I do it maybe once every 6months to a year, and thats if I'm distracted and its just kind of a "Doh!" moment.

I find that to be more than a "Doh" moment, that's a OMG STFU $*%)%) moment.

[vivalegreg]

any idea what size nuts and washers and bolts u need to make these clutch stops??

[misterlance]

People who are afraid to downshift should get automatics to do it for them. Automatics downshift too you know.

I'll post pictures of my ORIGiNAL 270,000 mile clutch I pulled out, That has 10 years of accounted downshifting on it. Tranny still good. Guibos are fricken rubber and will go bad no matter what.

[Propwash]

Clutch stops are a waste of time. What happens when you NEED to push the clutch in all the way? And why cant you just modulate the throw with your FOOT! Do you really need to stop the pedal? I think they're a waste of time to install on anything other that a full out race car with a hydro clutch that will be damaged or prematurly (sp?) worn if the clutch is disengauged all the way.

[nando]

Clutch stops are a waste of time. What happens when you NEED to push the clutch in all the way? And why cant you just modulate the throw with your FOOT! Do you really need to stop the pedal? I think they're a waste of time to install on anything other that a full out race car with a hydro clutch that will be damaged or prematurly (sp?) worn if the clutch is disengauged all the way.

huh? why would I ever need to press the clutch all the way to the floor? that's like 2" of travel that's completely uneccesary. and it's not like I spent a lot of money on it (under $5).

[Propwash]

Have you ever had a slave cylinder go or anything like that? Where you have to pump for all your worth and smash the pedal to the floor to get into gear?

[nando]

Have you ever had a slave cylinder go or anything like that? Where you have to pump for all your worth and smash the pedal to the floor to get into gear?

uh, no, everything on my car is new, and if it went bad I'd replace it, I wouldn't screw around trying to pump the pedal. and even IF I was forced to do so, I could unscrew the clutch stop in about 5 seconds!

[luvin my 325es]

any idea what size nuts and washers and bolts u need to make these clutch stops??

I unscrewed the old one and used it to match up the new bolt.
I think it was 3/8 x 2in. long carriage bolt, 17mm nut and lock washer to fit.
I put a pad made for the feet of furniture on the head of the carriage
bolt to eliminate the metal to metal clicking sound. Very cheap and easy.

I feel like rev-match down shifting in the long run will cause more problems than it will prevent. flexing the guibo and other rubber parts in the opposite direction they are used to flexing will wear them out quicker.
Think about it: If you are trying to tear any type of material it is much easier if you loosen it up by bending it back and forth in opposite directions, not by continually putting preesure on it in one direction.
But just IMO and I am no mechanic.

[Propwash]

uh, no, everything on my car is new, and if it went bad I'd replace it, I wouldn't screw around trying to pump the pedal. and even IF I was forced to do so, I could unscrew the clutch stop in about 5 seconds!

Wow, EVERYTHING is new....props, but for everying else living in the real world that have failures and mechanical break downs because they hav'nt got around to replacing EVERYTHING on their cars, some day you will lose a slave cylinder suddenly, and at that point you will need to pump the clutch to get some pressure.
I'm just asking, why bother when you can regulate the pedal with your foot?

[Gleb]

When BMW or any company makes a car with a manual tranny, they take into account 90% of people out there that don't know how to drive, so longer clutch pedal travel is needed. For everyone else clutch stop is a very good idea (I got mine from UUC, but yes, you can make one for just a few bucks).

Rev matching and heel and toeing while downshifting is 100% better and safer than not.

When driving around town I rarely use 4th gear, If you keep your eyes up, you will anticipate stops, lights, traffic etc... If I think that I have to slow down/stop for any of the above reasons, this is what I do:

If just slowing down, I always downshift with a rev match to be in proper gear if I suddenly need to accelerate.

If coming to a full stop, I heel and toe downshift through every gear down to 2nd, when I am slow enough in 2nd gear while braking, I will guide the shifter toward 1st without engaging, once your car slows down to almost walking pace, the shifter will pop into 1st almost by itself. Unless it's a vvveeerrryyy long stop, I will keep my foot in, yes it will cause some very minor wear on the throw out bearing, but I am always in control.
I have an excellent video on the subject, but have no idea how to post it, if someone wants to PM me with their email, I will be happy to share, maybe one of you guys can post it here.