Z4m - Graunching 2nd gear on fast changes?

I had this from time to time when I first bought the car. The CDV delete made an almost imperceptible difference to the first - second shift whilst VT Competition engine mounts solved the problem.

Recently, I’ve had very occasional second - third denial with 8k rpm upshifts (but never downshifts). Coincident to this developing, infrequently when I select first gear with the car stationary, the car rolls forward slightly, so I suspect my clutch doesn’t completely disengage every time. A lack of time and that the car drives normally 99% of the time (including two recent track days) means that I’ve not started investigating it yet.
 
Thanks for all the responses chaps - I think to be honest aside from an oil change I'm going to just adjust how I drive - it's a rare thing that one needs to go 'full rambo' in 1st and 2nd, I think I'm actually just trying to force things through too quickly.

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On a side now i've just received this bad boy - it'll be a few weeks until I can fit it due to various commitments on weekends but I'll report back in due course! First impressions though - it's a lovely piece of engineering!
 
The other factor which hasn't been suggested is: do you make sure that you depress the clutch hard enough so that the clutch pedal hits the clutch stop so that you get full disengagement?

I had this problem and found that the VT engine mounts and new gearbox fluid solved did the trick.
 
Hiya, I had exactly this problem. Mine's an early Z4MR (June 2006) .. Owned from 2007 .. I noticed this exact issue quite early on and thought initially I was doing something wrong (And OMG, it felt wrong bouncing out of 2nd!) ... But, sadly it seemed (IIRC) to be an issue with the early Z4Ms .. 1st - 2nd at 7,900rpm the original dog teeth struggled causing that graunch and 2nd gear denial...

At the time, I checked it into a local dealer. Gearbox changed under warranty and the problem was solved...

The problem only ever happened in 1st, to 2nd near the redline. Back in circa 2008 after the gearbox change, I did multiple tests at temperature and it appeared to be fine. Being a tad older now, I don't tend to go anywhere near the redline in first. I tend to save it for the subsequent gears :) ....

Just wanted to throw that in, as that was my own personal experience with seemingly the exact same issue.... :(
 
I am glad I have come across this thread, as I now know it's not just my M that can be a right pig going from 1st to 2nd.

If you were to "double clutch" , wouldn't this help make the change much smoother? I've seen a fair few videos on YouTube, showing people using this shift method, pretty damm quick. The only reason I know about doing this method, is thanks to Vin Diesel in the Fast and the Furious, telling Brian that his granny shifting method, just showed how over his head the race was.
 
Thanks for the additional comments guys-

Exdos genuinely I'm not actually sure - the revs build pretty quick in 1st, I can't recall now if I'm certain the clutch is fully depressed. I'm not sure I want to check it out now again :lol:

Felix - double declutching is required on gearboxes with no sunchros, it serves no real purpose in a car with sunchros. Plus my issue is only present when I'm trying to shift very quickly, if I slow it down there is no crunch - double declutching is definitely going to work out slower than just doing a normal shift 1st to 2nd!

Also genuinely the vin diesel quote from f&f makes me laugh so hard. Double declutching *up* the gearbox?! In a drag race?! Naaaah.

Its second only to *WARNING DANGER TO MANIFOLD* followed by the passenger floor falling out in terms of hilarious inaccuracies that film :lol:
 
You're probably letting the revs drop too much when hitting 2nd gear, however quickly you think you are changing gear.

Keep a little throttle on to match the revs and it smoothes the change out and it'll select sweetly. Just yanking the lever back and dumping the clutch doesn't work.

As above, new oil transforms the box. Put good stuff in there and change it regulary. Have fun. :driving:
 
Update - fitted my new shifter today - all issues gone :)

Interestingly in the course of making it as straightforward as possible prior to the install todya, I took apart as much as I could beforehand so have done a few miles with the shift boot and rubber bung off, so I could see the oem shift linkage. There was a lot of forward/aft play indicating worn bushes on both ends of the oem setup. Now it's changed of course there are no bushes left, so zero play. Shift is incredibly precise and throw shortened without being too much. It's certainly pretty 'racecar' and I wouldn't recommend for everyone but oh my god its perfect for what I want - absolutely epic!

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Ed Doe said:
Evening chaps,

Quick question - I've had my M for a few months and on the odd occasion have had cause to use full throttle in first and 2nd gear, with a fast change between. In this scenario I have found that shifting to 2nd it seemingly doesn't fully engage the gear, but rather just graunches, and then after a second or so goes in.
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Don’t take this in a patronising manner, but are you sure you are clutching in all the way?
 
Ed Doe said:
Update - fitted my new shifter today - all issues gone :)

Interestingly in the course of making it as straightforward as possible prior to the install todya, I took apart as much as I could beforehand so have done a few miles with the shift boot and rubber bung off, so I could see the oem shift linkage. There was a lot of forward/aft play indicating worn bushes on both ends of the oem setup. Now it's changed of course there are no bushes left, so zero play. Shift is incredibly precise and throw shortened without being too much. It's certainly pretty 'racecar' and I wouldn't recommend for everyone but oh my god its perfect for what I want - absolutely epic!

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That looks awesome. How much work was involved in fitting it? Is it possible entirely from within the cabin or does it require a lift and dropping the exhaust?
 
R60BBA said:
Don’t take this in a patronising manner, but are you sure you are clutching in all the way?
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:lol: not at all - definitely clutch all in. The issue is the oem shifter yoke bushes I think - it was allowing too much slop so the shifter was going half into 2nd and then getting denied as I pulled the clutch up if that makes sense?

Either way the new shifter is just mega - totally resolved the issue to my mind :)
 
BMWZ4MC said:
That looks awesome. How much work was involved in fitting it? Is it possible entirely from within the cabin or does it require a lift and dropping the exhaust?
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Not that bad to be honest - 3hours or so in total at a fairly casual pace - I did have the use of a lift but I know guys have fitted these to m3s using ramps on a driveway.

I dropped the exhaust rather than split the post cat flanges - you only need to remove the cat sections, and associated heat shields above it to get access. Removing the oem shifter yoke is fiddly but possible without removing the propshaft. The hardware for the new shifter is all above the transmission tunnel so all you need to do is hook up the old shift linkage to the new shifter from below. You do need to drill 3 holes in the transmission tunnel and will need a helper to spanner the fixings from below while you tighten from above.

This guide on zpost is really helpful - ignore the 'reassembly' part as its for a different style of short shifter, but the disassembly guide I found very useful when going about mine yesterday - https://www.zpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=485693
 
That’s not too bad, I was expecting it to be much more involved. The how to on zpost is very useful thanks :thumbsup:
Can you post or send me a link to where you bought the kit please. I think I’d quite like that for mine :)
 
No worries - glad it was helpful!

You will need to mount the shifter back to front compared to how you normally see shifters like this fitted - the centring-spring fouls on the front of the transmission tunnel plastic - it doesn't affect how the shifter operates at all though - I copied this from an American chap who's had his fitted a few years.

Purchased from Pete @ PS Designs - https://www.psdesignsglobal.com/_shop/e36---m3/rtd-bmw-short-shifter-mini-300mm/

The price on the website doesn't include postage or import duties - I think that was around £60 on top, but contact him beforehand to check beforehand.
 
Excellent, thanks, I’ll send him an email. Hopefully he can ship it directly to Aus. I’ve added this thread to my list of modifications to make :D
 
BMWZ4MC said:
Excellent, thanks, I’ll send him an email. Hopefully he can ship it directly to Aus. I’ve added this thread to my list of modifications to make :D
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:lol: my list keeps growing too

If you're in oz you might be better off contacting rtdmotorsport direct to investigate who is their local distributor for you? I figured you were in the UK - ps designs are the UK based distributor - I'm sure they'll be able to sort something out for shipping to oz if you're really stuck though!

One thing to note - the communication from rtd was a bit pants - but in the end they delivered in a couple of weeks :)
 
Beedub said:
oh..... i want one!!
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I thought you were considering selling yours this year?! :lol:

I mean don't - and get one of these, it'll give you another reason to keep it :evil:
 
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