Clutch...is it on it's way out??

[Taryn]

Hi guys, if I may hijack the thread for a quiestion of similiar nature?

I'm Tarryn. New to the world of bmw's. I own an E46 2001 320d beasti with 175k on the clocks. Have had the misfortune of many things going wrong from the word go of getting her..but soldier forward. My disaster week started off with my gears being cranky and stiff mostly 3d gear and reverse. Spoke to a friends hubbi and he said to grease up the linkage of which he thought is to blame. Did so and still no improvement. Off to friends garage, he says the clutch pressure plate needs to be replaced..I'm petrified driving the car now as don't want to stand somewhere and it pops and won't go into any gear. What do u boffins think? Am waiting for a quote from them too for costs etc..

 

[Sankekur]

If the clutch shudders and slips, then it is in need of replacing. Do the gears get smoother after driving the car for a while, as some e46 gearboxes have a tendency to be a bit stiff when they are cold. Has the gearbox oil ever been changed? That might also need changing.

 

[Philip Foglar]

You should try the E90 gearboxes, they are notchy when cold, but that's a whole other story. I would think, if this was caused by the clutch somehow, it wouldn't only affect 3rd gear and reverse, but any gear being selected. Could have something to do with linkages I would think especially if the gear leaver "feels" sloppy.

 

[Sankekur]

I was only mentioning e46's, since that is what my experience is with

I doubt whether the linkages, even if they are totally ungreased, would make the shift feel that much stiffer, like philip said, the problem the you would usually get with shift linkages is that they wear out, making the shifting action feel sloppy.

But then again I can't really say, cause with the shortness of the short shifter on my car, my gear changes are almost like toggling a switch, and really stiff and notchy, just the way I like it

 

[Taryn]

Sankekur yes the gears do get less stiff when driving a bit, like a warm up. The clutch doesn't shudder at all or slip. Nothing there. The guys at the garage opened the gearbox oil to checl and its full. Don't know about the changing tho, how often would one need to do this and would it possibly be a reason if its dirty?

Phillips that sounds hectic on the E90 I'd probably crack lol..I'm a real girl and panic no sloppy feeling so far..hmm just stiff n cranky..

I'm almost certain I heard the gearbox today..umm how to describe the noise..its like grinding of teeth in a horror movie lol..guess it can't make much sense..

 

[WyKiD]

I was only mentioning e46's, since that is what my experience is with

I doubt whether the linkages, even if they are totally ungreased, would make the shift feel that much stiffer, like philip said, the problem the you would usually get with shift linkages is that they wear out, making the shifting action feel sloppy.

But then again I can't really say, cause with the shortness of the short shifter on my car, my gear changes are almost like toggling a switch, and really stiff and notchy, just the way I like it

:mmm::mmm::mmm:

sorry boet just had to,

 

[Philip Foglar]

It's not too bad, got use to it, and once the car is warm it is fine - for what the car does this is a small thing to look over. Have just entered the world of owning an E46 which is my Wife's car, so still learning all the E46 specific tricks and known issues. I'd say try and get the car to a BMW specialist to get another opinion - hopefully nothing major. Also out of interest, check the "stickied" thread in the 3 Series sub forum - the one that deals with "things to know when buying a 3 Series..."

 

[Sankekur]

WyKid, you are a sick, sick puppy, but you drive a really good looking car so you are forgiven


As far as gearbox oil goes, just checking whether it is full is not good enough, and I know BMW says that its lifetime oil, which is kinda true in a way, since the gearbox will only last as long as the oil , like a lot of BMWs I would assume that the gearbox oil has never been changed, so it would probably be a very good idea to do it. (I have read about it a couple of times where guys saying that the gearboxes and the shifting action feels a lot smoother after an oil change)

 

[WyKiD]

WyKid, you are a sick, sick puppy, but you drive a really good looking car so you are forgiven

I merely highlighted what you said and I am the sick one....

Ok, mini-hijack over back to assisting needy BMW's

 

[Sankekur]

Well stop strategically bolding my posts to make them sound weird


And now back to the regularly scheduled thread

 

[Taryn]

Lol u guys r funny

Ok so hubbi and I are arguing over him saying the gears get stiffer as the car warms up and I say they get better as the car warms up! Tut tut shoot me now!! Although if they are stiffer when warm it makes sense what techi said today of everything expanding and not grabbing as it should on pressure plate teeth.. (If that's right) lol

Have had to pay my bum off on this car til now..just annoyed that I must spend another couple grand again!

 

[Sankekur]

Tell your hubbi that there are people on the internet that says he is wrong

In all seriousness (this is of course as far as I know) Gearbox oil usually tends to be a really think oil and it will tend to resist the moment of parts in the gearbox, thus making stuff feel stiffer, but as it get hotter it will get thinner and resist the movement of parts less making things feel smoother. Same as with engine oil, you usually drain it when it is hot because it makes it easier to get it out.

I am not to sure about the grabbing on the pressure plate as there is not a lot of grabbing going on there, just pushing.

Personally I would first go for a gearbox oil change and also just having the gearbox removed and the clutch assembly inspected, the gearbox oil change should not be that expensive, and getting the clutch checked out will at give you certainty about the condition.

It really suck when you have to spend a lot of money on fixing a car, but thing of it this way at least you know the things are fixed now, and just remember if you feel like getting rid of the car that you will then probably have to settle for some horrid eco-box.

 

[Philip Foglar]

Somehow doesn't make sense to me. Normally a gearbox is at its best once up to temp. If the clutch is not grabbing properly you will have noticeable clutch slip, especially being that you have a diesel with lots of torque. Do gear changes into the problem gears improve if you do a much slower change?

 

[Taryn]

It does seem happier with a slow gear change yebo..me I take it casual its just the darn garage makes it sound like the cats gonna blow hehe..so I'm full on chick panic!

Gearbox oil change sounds good to me..am not sure what quote I'm gonna get either tomorrow..the garage guys wife drives same bm as me..ill ask to check out her gearbox and see what diff there is.. (Just realised that sounds all wrong...her cars gbox I mean)

Tx for help guys

 

[Philip Foglar]

LOL, well hope they manage to figure it out for you.

 

[moranor@axis]

always start with the cheapest thing it could be 1st... yes it could be a waste of money but least you wasting little money instead of alot and to more you fix on an old car the better because then there are less old parts on it to break...

 

[lucian]

Can anybody tell me how much oil goes into an E46 manual box? I want to buy, but just want to get enough.

 

[moranor@axis]

1L for the 5 speed and 1.7 for the 6

 

[lucian]

1L for the 5 speed and 1.7 for the 6

Thanks for the info. The guy at SOS oil in CPT also says 1L. Just sound so low to me, but what the heck, gonna cost less than what I thought.

FYI
This from another thread:
Reply from Liqui Moly :
The gear oil your BMW (320i e46 2000model) requires is the 75W80 GL3+ the product code is 4427. The gear oil are packaged in 1ltrs.

Our Liqui Moly distrutors in Cape Town are SOS oil. Their details are as follows:

Contact person: Fawaaz Phillips
Contact number: 021 448 5564
Phisical address: 309 - 311 Lower Main rd
Observatory
Cape Town

So SOS oil in Observatory quotes me R170.09/liter and they say I will only need 1 liter.

 

[Taryn]

Hi guys...

Sorry to have roared off..pc got onto the bmw challenge and also decided to have a 'clutch' moment..

So gears went totally south last week, got it into repair dudes today for 'clutch pressure plate' .. But he said he'd look at gearbox before anything..low and behold I get a phone. Call 1 hour later to say ..ur linkage has bombed out and hence u gonna need a new gearbox..apparently bit n bobs had fallin in gearbox! SOOO...guess what bill I'm getting tomorrow!? R5000..yip! Argh! Recon one being popped in by lunchtime tomorrow..

Wonder if using a strip pole on sandton drive could earn me any tips lol