[srd5948]

Originally Posted by BMWfan07

This morning I tried to back out of my driveway but could not get the shifter to go into the reverse position on my 335i with 6MT. I tried several times, but it just wont go. I can get it into every other gear, but not reverse. Anybody ever heard of this and have any ideas what the hell is going on??

It's the weekend and I have to work tomorrow, I just have one car. I am really dreading calling the closest dealership in the morning because it's an hour away and they wont give you a free loaner car unless you bought the car from them, which I did not.

Have they found the reason for this issue?
I have the same issue, with my 2011 E90 6MT, no sign of anything bad or wear, just suddenly experienced this issue. Right now the car is at dealership.

[trixdout]

Originally Posted by MyFten

Well, yes there is more, Pretty much All of the hardware (bell housing fasteners ) had to be changed, because BMW is using light alloy ( aluminum ) bolts. That was not the biggest dollar item, but torquing them was a biatch, since we had to use long extensions to get it mated. So we used torque values and common sense. We tried to line everything to the exact spots as it was from factory, simply to make sure that driveshaft would line up exactly ( like factory ).
Four nuts that held the exhaust at the downpipe, did not survive, so new ones had to be reinstalled, again not a big deal just a bit of more labor.
What else, oh yeah
Bleeding the clutch slave cylinder... ( we had to do it... long story )
must say not the best design I have seen.
Once you do it it is all easy, but I think that the whole idea behind it, is just silly. Whoever approved this design should be one doing the bleeding of BMW clutches for the rest his afterlife eternity ( just a thought ) totally over engineered.
I'm sure that I have missed something.
I'm eager to read finally how is this write up going to end up....
Is he getting a new tranny or.....?

I experienced that bleeding of the clutch salve cylinder. lawl. I did not feel it correctly going in. I pressed the pedal gently and felt like I hit a wall. Well I pressed harder. Still the same feeling. This time around I let go of the pedal and pressed like I normally do under driving..... Whelp, it went to the floor then. After a few minutes pacing the car, I noticed a leak under the car. LUCKILY for me, none of the fluid hit the clutch disc. Oh would I have been screwed. After racing from one dealer to the next, I finally found a dealer with the clutch slave cylinder and replace it and made sure it was seated in the dimple of the pivot fork.

[Firewired1]

I'm having this issue right now. Car wont go into reverse. Lever kinda goes into reverse but it feels off. If i release the clutch with the lever in reverse, it grinds like a MF. All forward gears work fine. Clutch grabs.

Tranny is pooched ?

[mpls_M3]

Im having a grinding issue with second. Anything more than Moderate throttle in first gear shifting into second will result in a bad grind. Only way it goes into 2nd is if I baby first gear. Already replaced the transmission once under warranty but now I'm out of warranty....this transmission sucks

[Firewired1]

Found a RWD transmission locally. Can I bolt transfer case to RWD transmission ?

[malandrino74]

I'm having the same issue - 2011 6MT xDrive Sedan...I've been able to get it in by revving slightly and pushing it in but it grinds like a MF.

I only have 120K km and I don't drive my car hard at all, it just happened one morning when I tried reversing out of my driveway. I also e-mail BMW and they basically said $hit happens and your out of warranty..

I will never purchase another BMW.....I also don't plan on fixing this and carefully pick my parking spots or push if I have too. This will add to the great BMW driving experience!

[memphis1220]

I figured I would post this to help out anybody else who may encounter this problem. A few weeks ago I lost reverse gear on my 2013 E92 335i 6MT. Reversed out of the driveway no problem but once I got to work i could not engage reverse to park up. No problems during the journey, leading up to the failure and no problems with any other gears even post failure. It was physically blocked from full engaging. It would just trigger the reverse parking sensors but nothing beyond that. Selecting other gears first, pushing the car a few feet forward, engine off, etc, nothing worked.

The car was out of warranty and almost 5.5 years old with just over 60k miles. I called around a few garages and transmission specialists in the UK and received quotes from £1,200 + VAT to repair it but I was informed this was a guide price only and would depend on what was found after a a tear down. I was also told that they may have problems sourcing parts which could force me down the route of finding a used transmission or buying a refurb. This was a ZF GS6-45BZ box.

I took it to the BMW garage I bought it from and they confirmed it was an internal failure in the transmission. They immediately said that this should not have happened especially given the age and mileage and approached BMW UK on my behalf for goodwill towards a replacement. Fortunately they granted this and picked up the tab for the parts cost which left me with the labour cost (£480) and seeing as though I made a contribution it also came with a two year parts and labour warranty. The dealer explained that they put forward the case and BMW make a decision based on a number of factors, including, age, mileage, service history and where it was purchased. Mine was just under 5.5 years old, 60k miles, full BMW service history up to around 50k miles and then it has been serviced by myself after that (8-10k oil change intervals instead of variable circa 15-20k) and I purchased it at the dealer I took it to.

Obviously it would have been best had it not failed in the first place but overall a good result considering the other options. For anybody else out of warranty all is not lost. Consider taking it to a BMW garage and explore the possibility of getting goodwill from BMW. I was ready to put forward my case directly but I didn't need to and they accepted that it shouldn't have failed. I imagine the chance of BMW accepting goodwill after say 6-7 years old and approaching 100k miles is low.

[Cooneyb2]

I know this thread was quite a while back, but does anyone have any further info on a shop in FL working on the vanishing reverse issue?

Thanks in advance,

Brian