Hard Shifting into 2nd

[Mike36]

Bump from the dead. I started noticing this after my 5 speed swap.

[Wanganstyle]

As it says. Shifting into second isn't actually hard, but it's not smooth and totally makes spirited take-offs less fun, also annoying for general driving purposes.



I'm wondering, do I simply need a new bushing kit or is the old stick slowly taking a shit? Any ways to tell?

Synchronizers are wear items.

Bmw still has new parts avail.

Picture of the Guts of a zf 5 speed; you can see the heat marks on the synchronizer wear surfaces as it must equalize speeds.




This particular box would not go into 1st. The male spline part is production welded to the gear, it fractured in a couple places and the weld broke clean off. Guide tube, Syncro all ruined.

[Tom Galloway]

New hose to slave cylinder helped me

Before my 30 year old rubber clutch hose was replaced the shifting was slow.

[S.J.1981]

Synchronizers are wear items.

Bmw still has new parts avail.

Picture of the Guts of a zf 5 speed; you can see the heat marks on the synchronizer wear surfaces as it must equalize speeds.




This particular box would not go into 1st. The male spline part is production welded to the gear, it fractured in a couple places and the weld broke clean off. Guide tube, Syncro all ruined.

This is indeed true, syncros are a wear item.

Issue is, once you open up the gearbox, you may as well replace all the bearings. Those are not cheap, i calculated €1,337 just for the bearings. Then, replace all syncros is another €890 as well. So, we are just over €2K for just the parts, assuming nothing else is grinded, broken or needs replacing. Also required are a lot of big pulling tools, and some would need to be grinded down to fit between the gears.

My local dealer offers €3.8K for a replacement transmission, taking in your old on (basically a rebuild) and you get a 2 year BMW warranty.

So...what would you do?

[Wanganstyle]

This is indeed true, syncros are a wear item.

Issue is, once you open up the gearbox, you may as well replace all the bearings. Those are not cheap, i calculated €1,337 just for the bearings. Then, replace all syncros is another €890 as well. So, we are just over €2K for just the parts, assuming nothing else is grinded, broken or needs replacing. Also required are a lot of big pulling tools, and some would need to be grinded down to fit between the gears.

My local dealer offers €3.8K for a replacement transmission, taking in your old on (basically a rebuild) and you get a 2 year BMW warranty.

So...what would you do?

I build everything from scratch locally for shops. This is the motorsports world way of doing it if you have the ability/tools/budget/shopspace etc and demand for actual racing product.

Actual racing product = car is trailer only, racing in a competitive series wheel 2 wheel = Not r3vtard spec


These gearboxes were damaged in racing, replacement new parts purchased and then all components being surface coating treated to remove friction to be optimal for endurance racing. This is not cheap or easy but its good

BMW sells remanufactured oem transmissions - price is less than doing one up from scratch yourself.

[earthwormjim]

This is indeed true, syncros are a wear item.

Issue is, once you open up the gearbox, you may as well replace all the bearings. Those are not cheap, i calculated €1,337 just for the bearings. Then, replace all syncros is another €890 as well. So, we are just over €2K for just the parts, assuming nothing else is grinded, broken or needs replacing. Also required are a lot of big pulling tools, and some would need to be grinded down to fit between the gears.

My local dealer offers €3.8K for a replacement transmission, taking in your old on (basically a rebuild) and you get a 2 year BMW warranty.

So...what would you do?

I would try out different fluid weights and/or MoS2 additive to see if that revives the transmission for a while. It's much easier and cheaper to change fluids than it is to change transmissions.

Worked on my E36 M3's ZF transmission. 3rd gear would grind with every up shift. After trying MoS2, and driving for about 500 miles, it stopped grinding, and has been fine for 15,000 miles.

[Mark89]

Reviving an old thread. I’m having this problem in first and second gears. Would this kit help?

https://www.turnermotorsport.com/p-555723-shifter-rebuild-upgrade-kit-e30-325ees-091986-325iis-up-to-091989/?gclid=Cj0KCQiAk7TuBRDQARIsAMRrfUboKIzI10zFcwmNLymznCsRibPoCsEYmyCO0tbsByYkigiJiY-GgFkaApebEALw_wcB

[Aleman]

Change the trans fluid and inspect your rubber trans mounts. I replaced my trans mounts, and my 2nd gear crunch went away.

[jbontke]

I build everything from scratch locally for shops. This is the motorsports world way of doing it if you have the ability/tools/budget/shopspace etc and demand for actual racing product.

Actual racing product = car is trailer only, racing in a competitive series wheel 2 wheel = Not r3vtard spec


These gearboxes were damaged in racing, replacement new parts purchased and then all components being surface coating treated to remove friction to be optimal for endurance racing. This is not cheap or easy but its good

BMW sells remanufactured oem transmissions - price is less than doing one up from scratch yourself.

Where do I find BMW remanufactured oem transmissions? Call my closest BMW parts dept?

[efficient]

would the detent pins on the side of trans cause hard shifting? like the springs?

[Vincenze]

Where do I find BMW remanufactured oem transmissions? Call my closest BMW parts dept?

It's available from any BMW dealer.

Google the part number 23001221205
It's about $3,500 plus the $200 core charge.

[jbontke]

It's available from any BMW dealer.

Google the part number 23001221205
It's about $3,500 plus the $200 core charge.

Wow! $3,500 is about 2k more than I was thinking. I'll stay with rebuilding the trans myself.

[Vincenze]

Wow! $3,500 is about 2k more than I was thinking. I'll stay with rebuilding the trans myself.

Do you have experience of rebuilding transmissions?

This shop offers full rebuilds from $2,000.

https://www.r3vlimited.com/board/forum/regional-forums/gatherings-regional-discussion/california/9955078-getrag-g260-refresh-services-socal

$3,500 for a factory rebuild doesn't sound bad.

[jbontke]

Yes, I have some experience (a few T-5's and a T56), I just do it slower and have less time. Sometimes it's worth it to pay someone than use my time (depending on the overall cost).