BMW Manual

[GolfR12]

Are the gear changes generally a bit stiff in manual BMW’s?

Test drove a 56 Reg 320d Manual and it felt fairly stiff upshifting and downshifting in gears 1-3. Changes were slightly smoother in the higher gears. Also, a bit of a push sticking it into reverse.

Car had 70k on the clock and was in good nick apart from that.

[krisdelta]

I've found all my BMW's a little "sticky" in that department (1st in my M3 was a bugger in the cold) - there are some replacement fully synthetic oils that can really help it I believe.

[GolfR12]

Do you mean engine or gearbox oil?

Didn’t want to take a risk on the car in case there was an issue with the gearbox linkage or something else drivetrain related.

[krisdelta]

Replacement gearbox oil. If it was significantly "sticky" compared to other BMW's you've driven then leave it, if it was largely the same I wouldn't be too surprised and budget to replace the gearbox oil.

[GolfR12]

Haven’t driven many BMW’s with a manual gearbox to compare it with. Will see if I can get a test drive of another one at some point

[SidewaysSi]

Get the CDV delete and maybe a UUC quick change.

[GolfR12]

The Clutch was fully engaged when changing gears so not sure if a CDV delete would help with the gears sticking.

[MajorMantra]

If my 06 plate 325i is anything to go by, then yes. If I'm perfectly honest, it's not the best gearbox. This car replaced a tatty Mk1 Focus and it's better in every single respect except this one...

[Lowtimer]

I did about 110K in an facelift E91 320D manual and it loosened up a bit eventually but it's not the slickest change. Chances are a change of the gearbox oil and possibly a bit of selector adjustment will help. If it doesn't jump out of gear or refuse to accept a gear at a sensible speed for that gear, and if there are no nasty noises, I'd regard it as probably ok.

[SebringMan]

GolfR12 said:

The Clutch was fully engaged when changing gears so not sure if a CDV delete would help with the gears sticking.

Welcome to BMW gearchanges . The CDV does help but they were never the nicest of changes despite what the manual lovers tell you.

[mon the fish]

Plus a heavier gearknob - BMW do one, called ZHP and it made the change in our Z4 a lot nicer

[Mike335i]

They are not the greatest boxes, but with a bit of time to get used to them they are OK. I found that using a firm action made it feel better, nothing aggressive, but use a little more muscle in the lower gears.

A weighted knob, as mentioned above, should help it slot into the gear a little better and do some of the work for you.

The Cdv delete should improve the clutch feel, as would a BMS clutch stop as these reduce the dead space. Won't really affect the gear change action though.

If you couple all of these with a gearbox oil change it should be a pretty good gearshift, but it won't ever be a truly great one.

Having said all that, I still greatly prefer mine to the prospect of an automatic e90.

[cerb4.5lee]

I didn't like the Manual gearboxes in my Z4M and E92 M3, they didn't like being rushed which I think is a big shame and they didn't feel that nice to use, strangely the manual in my 520d was much better to use and I actually liked the gearbox in that(although it was a poor combination with that engine).

You can see why Auto's/DCT rule nowadays in Bmw's...because they made such a pigs ear of their manual gearboxes sadly.