Soft clutch and "resistance" shifting to 2nd gear

[hkricer]

Hi guys, finally I brought an E92 It has been a blast driving it so far.

My car was just delivered few days ago, it was a 2012 E92 MT with 6k KM on it. The first thing I notice driving the car is that the clutch is very soft and engagement point is almost near the top. Is this normal? It shift very smoothly but there seem to be some "resistance" going from 1st to 2nd, or downshifting from 3rd to 2nd.

Also last time the oil change is at 2000 KM back in April 2012, I asked for an oil change before deliver but they insist it is good for 1 year.

[exmowner]

Congratz on the new car! The second gear resistance is a common issue with this car. Once you know its there you adjust the shift for it.

PS: change the oil i drop mine every 5000kms

[1MtoM3]

Originally Posted by hkricer

Hi guys, finally I brought an E92 It has been a blast driving it so far.

My car was just delivered few days ago, it was a 2012 E92 MT with 6k KM on it. The first thing I notice driving the car is that the clutch is very soft and engagement point is almost near the top. Is this normal? It shift very smoothly but there seem to be some "resistance" going from 1st to 2nd, or downshifting from 3rd to 2nd.

Also last time the oil change is at 2000 KM back in April 2012, I asked for an oil change before deliver but they insist it is good for 1 year.

The 1-2 upshift is worst when revs are high but speed is slow , let's say your mind is wandering and you're reving 4k-6k just cause you're in the clouds or on the phone. But if you nail it with good speed and/or shift under 3.5k, it seems to be fine . At least mine does it this way, much like my E46 actually !!

Congrats on the ride !!!!

Is that a french accent I denote ???

[HighandDry]

Yes, the clutch is very soft with a high point of engagement.

My shift into 2nd is a little notchy, but not bad.

In terms of oil, I change every 7500 miles or at 1 year, so I think you're good there.

[serranot]

Normal.

[ms372]

as everyone has mentioned above ! its normal

[llis]

Timely thread. In the past two days I've put 230 miles on my car, and I've been embarrassed how rough my shifts to 2nd have been. This clutch is nothing like my E36 M3! (Or any of the other three manuals I've had.)

[Prince_of_Persia]

Congrats on your purchase.
I suggest changing your shift knob to the new M5 one. It is shorter and heavier and makes changing gear way more smooth and fun.

[US///M3]

1st to 2nd in the E9X M3 MT is the worst of any MT I've owned.

[Trip3's]

Congrats! Go to the "engine/transmission" section and search "6mt". There are a few mods you can do: eBay clutch stop, spring removal, and F10 shift knob. As far as engaging 2nd, I pull it from 1st to neutral and then push it in with my fingers instead of pulling it into 2nd which you would do with any other MT. I think the MT is the only weak spot on this car.

[thekurgan]

There's nothing wrong with the Getrag gearbox in this M3 or any other previous M3. Treating the M3 like a drag car is the real failure here. Search 1-2 shift for just about any BMW and you'll see complaints, even with the ZF gearboxes.

[MKE_M3]

M3's respond very well to smooth inputs in every aspect, especially shifting. There are a lot of complaints about the tranny and clutch, but I personally really like how BMW configures them, Not like a race car, but very easy and comfortable to operate in a smooth fashion.

I think these differences make the car a better road car, and don't really effect it on a road course once you're used to it. I NEVER miss a shift and my left calf doesn't get worn out in horrible traffic (like driving back to Milwaukee from the Chicago Auto Show at 5:30 pm last night).

[hkricer]

Originally Posted by 1MtoM3

The 1-2 upshift is worst when revs are high but speed is slow , let's say your mind is wandering and you're reving 4k-6k just cause you're in the clouds or on the phone. But if you nail it with good speed and/or shift under 3.5k, it seems to be fine . At least mine does it this way, much like my E46 actually !!

Congrats on the ride !!!!

Is that a french accent I denote ???

I'm from Hong Kong. Good to know it's all normal. It's been rainy here in Vancouver so I haven't gotten a chance to take some picture.

[US///M3]

Originally Posted by thekurgan

There's nothing wrong with the Getrag gearbox in this M3 or any other previous M3. Treating the M3 like a drag car is the real failure here. Search 1-2 shift for just about any BMW and you'll see complaints, even with the ZF gearboxes.

1st to 2nd shift at high rpm is not treating your M3 like a drag car.

[thekurgan]

Originally Posted by US///M3

1st to 2nd shift at high rpm is not treating your M3 like a drag car.

If you're slamming 1->2 like a WWII Russian tank, it is.

The expectation of a honda civic-like 1->2 is unrealistic.

[Trip3's]

Originally Posted by thekurgan

If you're slamming 1->2 like a WWII Russian tank, it is.

The expectation of a honda civic-like 1->2 is unrealistic.

I wish that was the only time it happened!!!!(the notchiness).There's nothing wrong with light clutch pressure, but it has no feel and doesn't engage until your foot is off the pedal and the fact I have to "finesse" it into 2nd is very disappointing on an otherwise spectacular car.

[thekurgan]

Originally Posted by Trip3's

I wish that was the only time it happened!!!!There's nothing wrong with light clutch pressure, but it has no feel and doesn't engage until your foot is off the pedal and the fact I have to "finesse" it into 2nd is very disappointing on an otherwise spectacular car.

I've driven other cars with two clutch plates, and it feels similar. I got used to the E9x m3 right away and could be that the pre '10 models have a different return spring (from what I've read here). This clutch feels like my previous E36M/E46M and E86M (really shitty tranny in this vehicle BTW). I wouldn't say I finesse into 2nd, but I do pause between gates briefly and I don't have any issues.

Most of the complaints I see about grinding or bad 1->2 shifting is because people are shifting like this trust fund kid:

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...064&highlight=

[goldminer]

My car had this 2nd gear notchy feeling as well but now that I am past 20,000 km it is improving.

I also found that how I shifted affected it. When I pulled the stick back I used to keep a bit of pressure to the left to keep the self centering action of the gear box from popping the stick over to the 3-4 gate. I don't do that any more. I just put my hand over the top of the shift knob and pull straight back. This helped.

[Sam@Bimmerpost]

If you pause slightly before engaging 2nd it will give the synchros a second to match the speed. This will get rid of the notchiness. It's all about technique. My clutch also engages high and my 2nd gear is also notchy in the exact same way as your car, but a deft hand will make it butter smooth. Give it a slight pause.

[M3PO]

My car was notchy going into 2nd, would clunk going into 1st if I was still rolling, and didn't like going into 1st and reverse when cold.

I changed the brake fluid to SRF a while back so I decided I should do the clutch as well. Bleeding the clutch solved about 80% of the issues. It's much nicer now. This was at 58K miles. That said, this trans leaves a lot to be desired.

[atopa2002]

I test drove 6mt m3 ,it's not much different from the bmw manual of old,the only difference is the light clutchpedal. I drive a MT z3 for 12 yrs now and bmw MT have always been notch and engagement pt is always high,you get use to it,shift it like you mean it and give it a bit of rev to smoothen things.

Go to those old bmw forums and this has been a complaint for years,changing my z3 trans fluid to royal purple which is more slippery than what was in there and getting a short shifter helped a lot.

By the way will be joining you privilege few soon,picking my ED M3 6mt in April.

[jphughan]

Originally Posted by llis

Timely thread. In the past two days I've put 230 miles on my car, and I've been embarrassed how rough my shifts to 2nd have been. This clutch is nothing like my E36 M3! (Or any of the other three manuals I've had.)

If you've only had it for 230 miles, you can look forward to 2nd gear becoming MUCH better around the 2200-mile mark, if memory serves. Still not like a Porsche, but far better than what you're probably putting up with now if your experience was anything like mine.

OP, since you're already past that mark, yes both the clutch and 2nd gear gate behavior you're seeing are normal. If you try to upshift into 2nd above about 4500 RPM, expect to encounter some synchro resistance, and do NOT try to overcome it by slamming it into gear. It's just something you have to wait for; means the car isn't the best drag racer (at least in 6MT form), but that's not really what the M3 is about.

Yes, the clutch is very different from previous M3s (I've driven the E46 and E36) and even the E9x non-M 6MTs. In fact all of those cars feel identical to each other; the E9x M3 seems to be the only deviation from BMW's norm, which if I had to guess might have been at least partly the result of BMW trying to make the M3 a more viable DD?

I don't mind the soft clutch or high/vague engagement point; once your muscle memory kicks in, it doesn't really matter. Although if I drive pretty much any other MT car for 10 miles or more (which almost always have a heavier clutch) and then jump back in the M3, I end up practically pushing my clutch pedal through the floor for a bit since my foot got used to using a lot more force.

Congrats on the M3, OP. You're in for some great times.