[wrickem]

No grinding here.

1-2 shifts are always a little notchy when BMW's are cold. It's been that way as long as I can remember on every BMW I've had. It gets smoother when they warm up.

[szeleung]

I'll have to admit the grinding is becoming increasing annoying. I'm due for a check up in a couple of weeks, so I'm going to mention it again to my service manager along with a dozen other issues. I had him check it out before, but he said someone who has the same car drove it and did not notice any grinding issue. Man, I love my beamer but do wish that there are less of these minor issues. Anyway, I will post the assessment when I get back from service.

[Xi021]

ya the second gear thing is annoying. it does get better as the car warms up though. does anyone else notice that the car will "bounce" back and forth 9very slightly) twice when coming off the clutch and actually getting into second? its only second that it does that in. its like the clutch is taking two times to engage! but that doesn't seem to make a whole lot of sense....

[335xidave]

I've only got 4700 miles on mine, but the shifting is just fine, no problems at all. I was thinking about a shorter shifter tho. but I don't race it, so whats the point?

[LZM Ray]

LOL i can proudly agree with the notchyness of the 6mt now. (i jus got my car. and second gear is definitely the weirdest gear).
I'm new to stick shift and i think its annoying. getting pretty use to 6mt now. but the grinding / notchy feeling and jerkiness CAN be minimized but not completely eliminated. ill live with it AS LONG as it doesn't hurt my car.

[krote345]

Glad I'm not the only one with the 'issue'. I've been driving manual cars for over 10 years and grind this one when going into second probably twice a week. It only happens right after I start driving when the car is cold. Oh well. Life goes on.

[BavarianBullet]

Originally Posted by krote345

Glad I'm not the only one with the 'issue'. I've been driving manual cars for over 10 years and grind this one when going into second probably twice a week. It only happens right after I start driving when the car is cold. Oh well. Life goes on.

Two things I can say:
1) The stock shifters suck. The UUC EVO is quite expensive but did help me. I need some warm days to really tell if fixed it completely because I put it this Jan. It gives more leverage at stock shift effort.
2) the 1-2 shift into second is the worst for me. 2-3 is easy and the shifter practically falls into 4th on the 3-4. I can literally shift into 4th with 2 fingers. Why couldn't 2nd be close to that? Grrr.

I wish I could take apart a 335XI 6MT and look inside and play with the linkage a bit. I'd love to know why it's so notchy and fix the friggin thing. My suspicion is that the reverse fork/rail might be causing some issue slowing the shift into 2nd.

FWIW I do find that if I very carefully align my arm/elbow so that I pull 1-2 directly straight back without pulling to the left or right much, the shift is often easier.

[BavarianBullet]

Originally Posted by Xi021

ya the second gear thing is annoying. it does get better as the car warms up though. does anyone else notice that the car will "bounce" back and forth 9very slightly) twice when coming off the clutch and actually getting into second? its only second that it does that in. its like the clutch is taking two times to engage! but that doesn't seem to make a whole lot of sense....

Did you remove the CDV? I would assume yes but I don't really recall any bouncing on mine with no CDV.

[Xi021]

i just got the part and am having a friend install it. i hear that the mod takes care of the bouncing between 1st and 2nd. i really can't wait to get it done.... ps. i totally recommend using this site to buy from: <http://store.zeckhausen.com/catalog/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=cdv&x=0&y=0> the customer service is great and the shipping is really fast! i got mine a day and half later

[AWD Addict]

No grinding here after 12 months and 15k miles.

Cupholders are great. I guess there's no accounting for taste.

[jpsimon]

no grinding here

[BavarianBullet]

Originally Posted by Xi021

i just got the part and am having a friend install it. i hear that the mod takes care of the bouncing between 1st and 2nd. i really can't wait to get it done.... ps. i totally recommend using this site to buy from: <http://store.zeckhausen.com/catalog/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=cdv&x=0&y=0> the customer service is great and the shipping is really fast! i got mine a day and half later

Ah ha. Yup, you won't believe how much better the car will shift- like a normal 6MT!

BTW, you can just pull out the CDV- you don't have to put a modified one in, but it seems like around 50% or more of people tend to do that.

You will enjoy this mod a lot.

[SickNick]

I dont get any grinding in 09 x drive. Maybe you guys are not shifting right, you can do it fast but you need to be gentle you cant just grab it with a fist and shove it in. Use you palm with a half open hand and just guide it into place, when you get use to this you'll start doing it quickly, and your car will thank you

[BavarianBullet]

Originally Posted by SickNick

I dont get any grinding in 09 x drive. Maybe you guys are not shifting right, you can do it fast but you need to be gentle you cant just grab it with a fist and shove it in. Use you palm with a half open hand and just guide it into place, when you get use to this you'll start doing it quickly, and your car will thank you

I've driven enough MT cars to know what works and what doesn't and the 335XI of mine just gets bitchy going from 1-2. The other gears are very nice as long as the trans fluid is relatively warmed up. I wish 2nd was that smooth.

I noticed you have a 328. I don't know if it uses the same trans but is your reverse all the way to the left up next to 1st gear?

[SickNick]

Yea its all the way up to the left of 1. BMW makes the 6MT for both cars, the 328 AT is a GM transmission. Anyways, second is a little tougher to get in, but nothing close to grinding. Not sure what it is, I am pretty sure what we are actually feeling that we call "notchiness" is the synchromesh pushing onto the gears from the selectors. For one thing first and second are extremely short on BMWs and when shifting at that speed specifically from 1-2 which are smaller gears, we feel the notching more than we would in other cars, the larger the gear(smaller the number on the selector) the more sensitive you have to be with any car i have noticed, but even more sensitive on any BMW 6mt i have driven. I would assume the CDV might have something to do with it as it delays the clutch engaging and disengaging.