Couldn't shift into any gear.

betacris · 05-30-2019, 10:38 AM

So I had a weird issue this morning. Car was fine yesterday sat all night. Went to leave for work this morning and pushed clutch in and car started fine. I could not get the stick into reverse or any other gear for that matter. It was like the gate was not opening for me to push in the stick. If i pushed firmly against it the car would move slowly. I turned off the car and while off I could get into all gears and reverse just fine. Started it back up and still could not get the stick engaged.
Finally I started the car in gear and the car lurched forward. Thankfully I had the ebrake on and it slowed it enough for me to react and hit the brake. After this everything worked as normal. Made it to work just fine no issues. Going to check fluids again later. But pedal and everything seemed normal.

Anyone ever experience something like this?

Car has 57K miles, trans fluid replaced within the past year.

DavidZ · 05-30-2019, 08:53 PM

Sounds like although your clutch pedal is depressed all the way, the clutch itself has not disengaged. Could be air in the clutch hydraulics or issue with clutch master or slave cylinder.

amrazM · 05-30-2019, 10:36 PM

Clutch

SAMM3Y · 05-30-2019, 10:44 PM

Sounds like clutch is gone buddy, out of interest what year is your car, any mods? I have an 08 with 82k miles, I've already got a new clutch for PM.

betacris · 05-30-2019, 11:15 PM

Well, everything worked as normal the rest of the day today. Ran a few errands after work. Started and shifted just fine. Weird. I have an autosolutions shift kit coming so I will check out both master and slave at install if all acts normal until then i guess.

Mvy · 05-31-2019, 04:46 AM

This is the same thing that happened to me when I needed a new clutch. I was close to the same mileage.

betacris · 05-31-2019, 08:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mvy

This is the same thing that happened to me when I needed a new clutch. I was close to the same mileage.

Not really what I want to hear lol. I am hoping it's something smaller like the slave cylinder but I guess we'll find out. Going to check it out this weekend see if there's any leaks, etc.

Shiza · 05-31-2019, 09:18 AM

57k seems like very low mileage to be needing a new clutch. I'd check your master/slave and clutch lines first. I'm on my factory clutch with 164k miles for reference.

betacris · 05-31-2019, 10:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shiza

57k seems like very low mileage to be needing a new clutch. I'd check your master/slave and clutch likes fist. I'm on my factory clutch with 164k miles for reference.

That's what I was thinking. Supercharger has only been on for about 10k miles and those miles have been over a 2year period, never tracked or anything. I guess the car is 10 years old, might be age related... Master and salve cylinders are cheap enough, i'll start there for now.

SAMM3Y · 05-31-2019, 11:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mvy

This is the same thing that happened to me when I needed a new clutch. I was close to the same mileage.

MVY you're supercharged too right? What kind of clutch did you put in it?

betacris · 05-31-2019, 11:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SAMM3Y

MVY you're supercharged too right? What kind of clutch did you put in it?

I'd be curious too in case i have to go that route.

SAMM3Y · 05-31-2019, 11:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by betacris

Quote:

Originally Posted by SAMM3Y

MVY you're supercharged too right? What kind of clutch did you put in it?

I'd be curious too in case i have to go that route.

I have a SPEC clutch to put on my car for supercharger... it's a heavy sob though with a steel flywheel

DavidZ · 05-31-2019, 01:33 PM

Don't listen to these guys saying your clutch is done... yet. You might just need to top off your brake fluid. The fluid pickup for the clutch is near the very top of the brake fluid reservoir.

Mvy · 05-31-2019, 07:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SAMM3Y

MVY you're supercharged too right? What kind of clutch did you put in it?

I went stock. I think it was a Luk clutch and a BMW flywheel. In the 2008 you had to upgrade to the 09 flywheel which made it even more expensive. OP is lucky hes an 09 as he wont have that extra cost.

Mvy · 05-31-2019, 07:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shiza

57k seems like very low mileage to be needing a new clutch. I'd check your master/slave and clutch lines first. I'm on my factory clutch with 164k miles for reference.

True, but how many owners on this car before the OP? On mine I had 2 owners and one of them must have learned how to drive stick on the damn thing ;-).

mtx450 · 06-03-2019, 02:30 PM

Any updates here? This problem is IDENTICAL to what happened to me yesterday. Thank god I was home so my car is stuck in my driveway! ;-)

This problem feels like a hydraulic issue. Most cars would have the clutch pedal sink to the floor but I believe due to the springs we have on the pedals, that's why it's returning back to normal (that's my theory at least). I won't have time to check this until tomorrow so I'll try and bleed first and see if that resolves it. Hopefully it's as simple as that!

mtx450 · 06-03-2019, 04:02 PM

Thought I would add this, check this out. Very weird!

https://www.m3post.com/forums/showth...9#post24654629

betacris · 06-03-2019, 06:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mtx450

Any updates here? This problem is IDENTICAL to what happened to me yesterday. Thank god I was home so my car is stuck in my driveway! ;-)

This problem feels like a hydraulic issue. Most cars would have the clutch pedal sink to the floor but I believe due to the springs we have on the pedals, that's why it's returning back to normal (that's my theory at least). I won't have time to check this until tomorrow so I'll try and bleed first and see if that resolves it. Hopefully it's as simple as that!

I bled the clutch. Didnt see anything but i could have missed it cus its a bitch to get to. Like you say it seems to be a hydraulic issue, its been fine since. As someone above said, even though the pedal is depressed all the way, the clutch itself has not disengaged. Which is why when i started it that one time it lurched forward. I think it might have just been an air bubble. I have a slave cylinder on order in case it happens again i'll have the part on hand or i might just swap it on a weekend soon.

mtx450 · 06-04-2019, 06:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by betacris

I bled the clutch. Didnt see anything but i could have missed it cus its a bitch to get to. Like you say it seems to be a hydraulic issue, its been fine since. As someone above said, even though the pedal is depressed all the way, the clutch itself has not disengaged. Which is why when i started it that one time it lurched forward. I think it might have just been an air bubble. I have a slave cylinder on order in case it happens again i'll have the part on hand or i might just swap it on a weekend soon.

Thanks for the reply. The only thing that I did (before this happened) was wash the car and engine bay. I moved it back into the garage afterwards and it was fine. I then went to move it a few hours later and that’s when the problem started.

I tried to push it while in gear (clutch down) and no dice. I thought that might be enough to free it up but apparently not.

betacris · 06-04-2019, 10:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mtx450

Thanks for the reply. The only thing that I did (before this happened) was wash the car and engine bay. I moved it back into the garage afterwards and it was fine. I then went to move it a few hours later and that’s when the problem started.

I tried to push it while in gear (clutch down) and no dice. I thought that might be enough to free it up but apparently not.

Yea I had to turn the car off, put it in gear, then that's when i tried turning it back on and it lurched. I think the whole motion was enough to clear whatever the issue was, bubble or otherwise. I think in that post you linked someone did something similar where they put it in gear while the car was off and pushed on the car to rock it a bit back and forth

mtx450 · 06-12-2019, 02:36 PM

Just an update here. I closed my eyes and started the car in gear with the clutch down. Relatively no drama, and everything was back to normal. The car shook ever so slightly and then all was well in the world. Very odd but I can only attribute this to water getting onto the clutch/flywheel somehow and it slightly rusting it together (similar to brake pads and rotors when you wash your car).

betacris · 06-26-2019, 11:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mtx450

Just an update here. I closed my eyes and started the car in gear with the clutch down. Relatively no drama, and everything was back to normal. The car shook ever so slightly and then all was well in the world. Very odd but I can only attribute this to water getting onto the clutch/flywheel somehow and it slightly rusting it together (similar to brake pads and rotors when you wash your car).

Interesting theory. Thanks for the update!

05-30-2019, 10:38 AM	#1
betacris Private First Class 13 Rep 114 Posts Drives: 2009 e92 M3 Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: . iTrader: (1)	Couldn't shift into any gear. So I had a weird issue this morning. Car was fine yesterday sat all night. Went to leave for work this morning and pushed clutch in and car started fine. I could not get the stick into reverse or any other gear for that matter. It was like the gate was not opening for me to push in the stick. If i pushed firmly against it the car would move slowly. I turned off the car and while off I could get into all gears and reverse just fine. Started it back up and still could not get the stick engaged. Finally I started the car in gear and the car lurched forward. Thankfully I had the ebrake on and it slowed it enough for me to react and hit the brake. After this everything worked as normal. Made it to work just fine no issues. Going to check fluids again later. But pedal and everything seemed normal. Anyone ever experience something like this? Car has 57K miles, trans fluid replaced within the past year.
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05-30-2019, 08:53 PM	#2
DavidZ Lieutenant 83 Rep 399 Posts Drives: '11.5 E90 M3 6MT Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Kensington, MD iTrader: (1)	Sounds like although your clutch pedal is depressed all the way, the clutch itself has not disengaged. Could be air in the clutch hydraulics or issue with clutch master or slave cylinder. __________________ -David
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05-30-2019, 10:36 PM	#3
amrazM mTekMods 2143 Rep 2,902 Posts Drives: like a granny. Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Manhatan iTrader: (1)	Clutch
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05-30-2019, 10:44 PM	#4
SAMM3Y Colonel 3085 Rep 2,747 Posts Drives: 2008 m3 Join Date: Feb 2018 Location: NorCal iTrader: (2)	Sounds like clutch is gone buddy, out of interest what year is your car, any mods? I have an 08 with 82k miles, I've already got a new clutch for PM. __________________ 9ers
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05-30-2019, 11:15 PM	#5
betacris Private First Class 13 Rep 114 Posts Drives: 2009 e92 M3 Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: . iTrader: (1)	Well, everything worked as normal the rest of the day today. Ran a few errands after work. Started and shifted just fine. Weird. I have an autosolutions shift kit coming so I will check out both master and slave at install if all acts normal until then i guess.
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05-31-2019, 04:46 AM	#6
Mvy Captain 541 Rep 979 Posts Drives: 2008 E93 M3 Join Date: Nov 2014 Location: GA Peach iTrader: (0)	This is the same thing that happened to me when I needed a new clutch. I was close to the same mileage. __________________ Harrop Supercharger, BPM Tune, K/W Coil over kit, Stoptek BBK, Magnaflow exhaust, ear to ear grin everytime I drive...
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05-31-2019, 09:18 AM	#8
Shiza Captain 1195 Rep 994 Posts Drives: M3, X5, Ram 2500, Wrangler Join Date: Sep 2015 Location: US iTrader: (1)	57k seems like very low mileage to be needing a new clutch. I'd check your master/slave and clutch lines first. I'm on my factory clutch with 164k miles for reference. Last edited by Shiza; 05-31-2019 at 10:38 AM..
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05-31-2019, 01:33 PM	#13
DavidZ Lieutenant 83 Rep 399 Posts Drives: '11.5 E90 M3 6MT Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Kensington, MD iTrader: (1)	Don't listen to these guys saying your clutch is done... yet. You might just need to top off your brake fluid. The fluid pickup for the clutch is near the very top of the brake fluid reservoir. __________________ -David
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06-03-2019, 02:30 PM	#16
mtx450 Lieutenant 169 Rep 548 Posts Drives: 2011 E90 M3 ZCP Join Date: Jan 2016 Location: Long Island, NY iTrader: (0) Garage List 2011 BMW M3 [0.00]	Any updates here? This problem is IDENTICAL to what happened to me yesterday. Thank god I was home so my car is stuck in my driveway! ;-) This problem feels like a hydraulic issue. Most cars would have the clutch pedal sink to the floor but I believe due to the springs we have on the pedals, that's why it's returning back to normal (that's my theory at least). I won't have time to check this until tomorrow so I'll try and bleed first and see if that resolves it. Hopefully it's as simple as that!
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06-03-2019, 04:02 PM	#17
mtx450 Lieutenant 169 Rep 548 Posts Drives: 2011 E90 M3 ZCP Join Date: Jan 2016 Location: Long Island, NY iTrader: (0) Garage List 2011 BMW M3 [0.00]	Thought I would add this, check this out. Very weird! https://www.m3post.com/forums/showth...9#post24654629
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06-12-2019, 02:36 PM	#21
mtx450 Lieutenant 169 Rep 548 Posts Drives: 2011 E90 M3 ZCP Join Date: Jan 2016 Location: Long Island, NY iTrader: (0) Garage List 2011 BMW M3 [0.00]	Just an update here. I closed my eyes and started the car in gear with the clutch down. Relatively no drama, and everything was back to normal. The car shook ever so slightly and then all was well in the world. Very odd but I can only attribute this to water getting onto the clutch/flywheel somehow and it slightly rusting it together (similar to brake pads and rotors when you wash your car).
	Appreciate 0 Quote