BMW M3 E46 Help Please - Shifter Question 6 MT

alpinebimmer

alpinebimmer

Legacy Member
Hey everyone,

I recently purchased an E46 M3, it's my first M3 so I am not sure if I am being paranoid but I am concerned about the shifter, its a 6 MT, when going from 1 to 2 it's a bit hard, sometimes I can even hear grinding, I'm not sure if I have to be really precise with the shifter diagram or could there be an issue with shifter? I bought this from a bmw dealership used department so I was assuming that the car wouldn't really have any issues at least not major.

Also, I didn't drive the car a lot since I've only had it a week, however, when going into reverse, when you pull the shifter left and then up, when going left it's kind of hard, but it goes, and I believe that the first few times I placed it into left and if I released it, it would stay in position, but recently I put it left, take my hand off, and it pops back out into neutral.

I'm not really concerned since it's not popping out of reverse, it pops out just when I do step 1 of reverse. Hope I didn't lose anyone. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!
 
From my experience with manual BMW's (E46 328i, E90 325i and now E46 M3) some times when the car is not warmed up, the shift between 1st and 2nd gear can be a bit harder. If it still does it after a while or driving around maybe have it checked out.

What color is your car?
Mine is Carbon black with amber lights all around, wave hi if you see me around in Brossard! lol
 
Thanks for the replies guys, Visor, sweet, we should meet up! Mine is silver with red interior, 19" rims, fully stock..for now! I haven't driven it long periods, could be possible that it's not warmed up, I don't abuse it and haven't really been aggressive yet since I am not fully accustomed to it yet. Also if I really concentrate and try to follow the shifter map it's a lot smoother. I think it's probably just me!
 
I remember 1-2 shifts being particularly harsh when the car was cold and it was a lot worse when the outside temperature was cold. It did almost feel like it was grinding sometimes, really harsh shifts.

As for the knob popping back into neutral when you do step 1 of putting it into reverse (i.e. pull the shifter completely towards the left without pushing up and engaging reverse) all 3 manual bmw's I've owned (including e46 m3) did the same thing, unless you push up to engage reverse (next to first gear) the lever will pop back into neutral. However, it should definitely not pop out of reverse and into neutral if you take your hand off the knob after engaging the reverse gear.

Enjoy the car, my e46 m3 was the best driving experience I've ever had bar none!
 
hello I have the same problem and it is a known problem with BMW e46 m3 on me I have a 2005 and have concluded that it was the syncro that are damaged I changed my transmission next Tuesday because I ' have an extended warranty fortunately
 
Thanks for all the replies, "jpgagnon" please don't scare me I just got the car, and there is no warranty, I hope it is alright! I've done some reading online, seems to be common, and when I try to place the gears precise into their place, seems to work a lot better, the car has 65000km on it its 2004, was inspected by bmw and seems to have no major problems, couple of minor things but were repaired.
 
my m3 has 52000km but if you just buy the garage you have a bmw 3 months garentie normally you should check. I do not want to scare you just to share my situation loll
 
Never wait with an M3, go get it checked out.

Since you don't know exactly what's been done with your car previously:

DIY Transmission Fluid Change
http://m3.madrussian.net/diy_rp_tranny_fluid.shtml

I replaced my transmission mounts and shift accuracy is much, much better. You should really start budgeting now for bushings and mounts. Pretty much everything was shot on my 2001. I'll be done with my refresh soon and it already feels like a whole new car.
 
jpgagnon said:
hello I have the same problem and it is a known problem with BMW e46 m3 on me I have a 2005 and have concluded that it was the syncro that are damaged I changed my transmission next Tuesday because I ' have an extended warranty fortunately
Click to expand...

No synchros for reverse
 
red_teg96 said:
I remember 1-2 shifts being particularly harsh when the car was cold and it was a lot worse when the outside temperature was cold. It did almost feel like it was grinding sometimes, really harsh shifts.
Click to expand...
Hell yeah, it's pretty intense in winter on start up, but once again when the car warms up it's fine!

Silver with Imola Red interior is a pretty sweet combo and low km's too, congrats! *tu*
 
I don't own an M3, but I thought this was going to be a tranny problem when I got my car in December...

I did realize that when the car warmed up, it got much better. It doesn't help that I've been driving much newer cars the past few years, so going to an E46, I can feel the small details that I'd want to get fixed right away. :(
 
Also have a 2004 M3 conv with 6 speed MT with 74K Silver/Imola red. Beautiful car with 245/35 and 275/30 on 19 inch Beyern wheels. This is my 4th BMW (after 1982,1985,1987 admittedly not recent)
They all shifted the same from first to second. Transmission oil has to be warm and pause between 1-2 shift with firm mouvement to second
should make it much better. Let us know!
 
Thank you everyone for the replies, yes bmbob this is what I am doing now, it makes it a lot better, I did give BMW a call back though, admitting my worry about the situation, I believe next week they will be taking a look just to make sure they didn't miss on anything, however, they claimed that the inspection report was top notch, I think he told me that before they sold me the car, there was some oil leaking from differential but they solved that problem. And yes I think when the car fully warms up it is better, I am planning to drive this car in winter too, that's going to be bad!
 
^^Don't forget that "officially" the tranny oil is good for life according to BMW, it might have never been replaced. I'd push for the dealer to change the tranny oil if the problem persists...with the weather we've been having you should't really experience harsh shifting as I stated above, I only had the issue when it was really cold outside (late fall/early spring). Never had the issue when the temperature was above 20 C that's for sure.
 
my e46 m3 has 250 000KM , im not having any problems with the shifter. Shifts smooth in any gears. You should have it checked by a professional !
 
appreciating the feedbacks, I will have it checked out just in case, besides I am thinking of doing an oil change, and I will also look into the tranny oil change, is there any oils that you guys recommend more than others?

Thanks
 
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