E46 330 gearbox issue?

[Original Poster]

Hi chaps,

My 2003 E46 330ci Sport developed a problem on Saturday night, marvelous.

Basically it is very hard to get into gear, when the engine is off or the ignition is on without the engine it goes into all gears fine however once the engine is running it really is hard to get into gear, particularly 1st and reverse, reverse actually crunches going in.

Any ideas? A couple of mates with limited knowledge have suggested gear selector however I cannot see how it can be that if it goes into gear fine when the engine isn't running?!

Any help please?

[anonymous-user]

Pretty much classic "clutch drag" symptons there, i.e. the clutch is not fully releasing, so the input shaft is still turning, so when stationary and trying to select 1st or reverse (especially rev which has on single cone syncro) it crunches.

usually 3 causes:

1) clutch driven plate damper springs have failed and fallen out into clutch, jamming drive plate to driven plate
2) clutch release bearing has collapsed, and is not able to push clutch far enough to fully disengage
3) hydraulic system has failed / needs bleeding


Does the clutch pedal feel normal?? can you feel the normal "overcenter" point before the pedal hits the floor??

[Original Poster]

very interesting you say that actually, about 2-3 weeks prior to this happening my clutch has started feeling slightly different.

The only way to describe it is it feels almost sticky when pushed down as far as it will go, it continues to feel "sticky" for about 1/3 of the way up, after that it is normal.


Is it fair to assume this is going to be an expensive fix?

[TonyRPH]

If I'm not mistaken, you car has a hydraulic clutch.

A similar thing happened on my 525i Sport a few months back, and the slave cylinder was leaking.

Have you checked your clutch fluid levels?

[Original Poster]

No I haven't to be honest and I am a complete idiot with things like that, which bottle in the engine bay holds the clutch fluid?