My experience. (archive)

I have been told that Reverse is not synchronized. If this is the case, worn synchros don't sound right. Mine does have worn synchros in first, though, so when I shift into first after pushing the clutch in, I either wait a few seconds or pull it back toward second and let those synchros stop the layshaft. When I'm moving the worn synchros don't matter because I double-clutch.

Anyway, mine was hard to get into R too. It also would make a grinding noise if I tried to shift into R too soon after pushing the clutch in. I replaced the carrier bushings, got the UUC evo-street short shifter and repaced the linkage joint with the little foam piece. Now my lever doesn't vibrate and it's easier to get R and all other gears since it's more precise. The grinding is still there but I guess that's just the lack of synchros on R. I use the 2nd gear synchros for that too if I'm too impatient to wait for everything to stop.

Good luck.

-Jon

I have a 1988 M3 and my manual tranmission has suddenly started becoming increasingly difficult to get into reverse. I have taken the car to my local BMW dealership in North Carolina and they investigated and told me that my "synchros were worn out and that they would need to ship my transmission back to the factory to be rebuilt". The price tag for this was in the $4200 - $5000 price range. Does this sound reasonable? Do you think something else could be causing my problem?

Allen Williams

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