Chronic M3 Transmission Problem?

[Lars K. Staack]

Last June, Will Seay reported problems with his 98 Z3 (as shown
below). Many 98-99 M3 owners are reporting the same problem on
another BBS:

http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=48002&highlight=Tran%2A+spring+clutch

The problem is that the 5th gear detent sticks when it's cold.
Meaning there is no gate between 3rd and 5th. The problem disappears
for most owners when the transmission is warmed up. However, some
have reported that the problem gets steadily worse until they loose
the detent all the time. This problem seems to only affect M3's
manufactured between late 97 and early 99. Many owners don't realize
that thier transmission is affected until they shift into 5th when
it's cold. Then they have to "feel" their way into 3rd until the
transmission is warmed up. This problem has not been reported by
anyone with a Euro Transmission.

I believe that this BBS has more experienced BMW mechanics than any
other site I have visited. Can anyone explain what is happening?

Owners bringing their M3's to the dealer have had to have their
transmission replaced. Warantees have been honored, and at least 1
owner out of warantee has split the cost with BMWNA. BMWNA has not
yet acknowledged a problem. However, it seems to me that the
transmission has a congenital flaw. 42 owners with the problem are
documented at this site:
http://www.brazeauracing.com/tech/transmissions.htm

Owners receiving new transmissions report that they have a
significantly stiffer 5th gear detent now. Hmm...., maybe BMW knows
about it after all? Anybody have any thoughts or ideas?

"In the last year or so my '98 Z3 has developed a problem with the
shifter.
When the temperature is below about 40 deg F, when I take the
transmission
out of 5th gear, the shifter doesn't center. The shifter should be
spring-loaded to the center two gears (3 and 4). Instead of seeking
the
center when I pull the transmission out of 5th, the shifter hangs to
the
right side (below 5th). When I manually center the shifter there is a
heavy
viscous feel to the shifter and it will stay in any position between
far-right and center. Needless to say, this makes shiifting down from
5th
(especially shifting from 5th to 3rd, which I do frequently)
difficult. And
a fast shift is impossible. When the transmission warms up some, the
viscous feel goes away, but the shifter still won't center without
coaxing.
After pulling the transmission out of 5th, it feels like the shifter
is in a
detent and it won't center unless you put enough pressure on it to
move it
past the detent. After the transmission warms up completely the
shifter
works normally. Remove the transmission from 5th and the shifter will
immediately center.

My dealer (at great expense) looked at the transmission and also
changed the
fluid. The old fluid looked OK, had no metal filings in it, and
showed no
evidence of breaking down. The dealer looked at the shifter and
couldn't
find anything wrong. I can't reproduce the problem without cold
weather.
The dealer also checked with BMW, and BMW says that they haven't ever
seen
this problem before.

If you have experienced anything like this with a BMW transmission, or
if
you can suggest what it might take to fix it. I would like to hear
from
you.

- Thanks...
______________________________
Will Seay
ws...@sprynet.com"

[Lars K. Staack]

Any mechanics out there that have opened an E36 M3 transmission?
Maybe you know what the problem can be.

lkst...@hotmail.com (Lars K. Staack) wrote in message news:<9a6d887f.02111...@posting.google.com>...