6MT clutch engagement inconsistency

[M3hf80]

Hello fellow F8X owners,

I purchased a used one owner 2016 F82 3 months ago and it had about 9k miles at the time. I've put 2.5k miles on the car in the past 3 months and I'm starting to notice this issue more and more in my everyday driving.

I've read up on how the clutch engages weird and differently while the car is cold but I live in California where it's never really "Cold" and this happens even when the car is warmed up after 20-30min of driving.

The issue is that the clutch catch point is a lot higher and feels a bit more stiff than normal during random times of my everyday drive and it causes these clunky and super jerky shifts where it feels like I'm dumping the clutch but the reality is it's just catching differently, but then it goes away immediately after I come to a dead stop and go back to 1st gear.....

Currently not seeing anybody with this issue so just want to see if this is something serious or if it's normal? Maybe something similar?

Please chime in guys, thanks a lot!

[G4BR13L]

And you experiencing this in all driving modes? Could be normal, if there is someone in your area that has the F8x with the 6MT you could meet up for a ‘2nd opinion’. Or have a friend drive it and ask their opinion. The clutch is heavy and you might not be used to it.

If the car has about 13k miles I doubt that there is something wrong with the clutch but then again it depends on how it was driven. Do you notice this only with the lower gears or with all 6 gears? Try to find a pattern or try to repriduce it like shifting from 6th to 5th @ 3000 RPM then at @ 2000 RPM, shift from 5th to 6th, ...

To be honest it could just be you as the driver, dunno how you drive but try for example to accelerate only after fully releasing the clutch instead of trying to dose between the clutch pedal and acceleration pedal. It also depends at what RPM you shift, maybe without realising it you shift differently when the engine is cold and once on temp you maybe still shift at too low RPM (?)

The clunkiness you feel could also be related to the driveshaft (lash).

[M3hf80]

Originally Posted by PureModelsOnly

I felt the clutch could be a little tempermental and was getting frequent shuddering when the car was new. I almost regretted getting the MT but now after a little over a year and 16k miles I feel like the clutch has been pretty consistent and its behavior hasn't really surprised me in recent memory. Are you sure what you're feeling isn't the different rev hang behavior between the different modes? It took me a while to realize the rev hang was a lot longer in Sport mode compared to the other modes and it felt like I was letting out the clutch too soon all the time in Sport mode.

my car is now at 12k miles, shouldn't be in the breaking in period anymore. Plus, when I first got the car, I experienced this issue like once or twice a week but it's literally happening every time I drive the car now even very short distances.

However, I do always drive in Sport/Sport/Sport, Can you elaborate a little on this rev hang? It does feel like I always dump the clutch too early but the engage point on the clutch is different when this "Rev hang" situation pops up. The car would shift and engage very smooth then out of nowhere it just feels like I'm dumping the clutch lol.

Thanks a lot for the help!

[M3hf80]

Originally Posted by G4BR13L

And you experiencing this in all driving modes? Could be normal, if there is someone in your area that has the F8x with the 6MT you could meet up for a ‘2nd opinion’. Or have a friend drive it and ask their opinion. The clutch is heavy and you might not be used to it.

If the car has about 13k miles I doubt that there is something wrong with the clutch but then again it depends on how it was driven. Do you notice this only with the lower gears or with all 6 gears? Try to find a pattern or try to repriduce it like shifting from 6th to 5th @ 3000 RPM then at @ 2000 RPM, shift from 5th to 6th, ...

To be honest it could just be you as the driver, dunno how you drive but try for example to accelerate only after fully releasing the clutch instead of trying to dose between the clutch pedal and acceleration pedal. It also depends at what RPM you shift, maybe without realising it you shift differently when the engine is cold and once on temp you maybe still shift at too low RPM (?)

The clunkiness you feel could also be related to the driveshaft (lash).

Thanks for the reply! I will see if anyone around me is having this issue but it's extremely random....

Will happen randomly throughout the day. It just feels like my clutch engagement point is different all of a sudden and then the second I come to a dead stop, the car is smooth again.

BTW, where do you guys shift? When I first got the car I shifted between 2-3k rpm but now I've been following the recommendation on my dash so I shift around 1.5k lol

[SakhirM4]

Originally Posted by M3hf80

Thanks for the reply! I will see if anyone around me is having this issue but it's extremely random....

Will happen randomly throughout the day. It just feels like my clutch engagement point is different all of a sudden and then the second I come to a dead stop, the car is smooth again.

BTW, where do you guys shift? When I first got the car I shifted between 2-3k rpm but now I've been following the recommendation on my dash so I shift around 1.5k lol

How in the world do you shift at 1.5k?? I routinely shift at 3-4k and if I am really accelerating, I shift at around 7k. How can you even push the gas pedal and shift at 1.5k??

[Humdizzle]

Originally Posted by M3hf80

BTW, where do you guys shift? When I first got the car I shifted between 2-3k rpm but now I've been following the recommendation on my dash so I shift around 1.5k lol

dont believe everything bmw tells you. like the oil change intervals. you want to shift into the next gear without lugging the engine.

and as for your manual jerkiness issue have someone else with a 6 speed car drive yours to see

[phorbes]

If you rev to 4K and drop the clutch, it's always consistent

Problem solved

[Jojipoji]

Mt here and don’t feel any of that.

[ByeFelicia]

Originally Posted by M3hf80

However, I do always drive in Sport/Sport/Sport

For a 2016, in sport mode it will auto rev match for you.... so you really don't need to do anything but let off the clutch smoothly. No throttle blips or anything. Sport Plus is the only mode where it won't assist with auto rev match. Maybe thats where your issue is coming from.

[ntg44]

Originally Posted by M3hf80

However, I do always drive in Sport/Sport/Sport, Can you elaborate a little on this rev hang? It does feel like I always dump the clutch too early but the engage point on the clutch is different when this "Rev hang" situation pops up. The car would shift and engage very smooth then out of nowhere it just feels like I'm dumping the clutch lol.

Thanks a lot for the help!

It took a while for me to get used to my M3 compared to my previous manual cars due to the longer rev hang and the rev matching. I don't use any throttle when shifting gears, usually just time the shift right after learning the car, but with the M3 I just hold the clutch pedal in an extra second and let the car settle the revs and then I'm able to basically pop the clutch pedal into the next gear with no jerk. In the beginning I would let out the clutch too early, and the car would lurch forward since the engine RPMs were too high for the next gear, similar to the clutch dumping feeling you're describing.

I'm not sure if what I'm describing is what you're experiencing, but I could definitely see someone who doesn't realize the revs match on upshifts having a difficult time with them - it's not intuitive unless you know it's happening. Then it's just up to adjusting technique.

Not sure if this helped or not, but that's the closest thing I experienced to what you're describing as inconsistent (until I knew what was going on).

[zorrro]

Originally Posted by ByeFelicia

For a 2016, in sport mode it will auto rev match for you.... so you really don't need to do anything but let off the clutch smoothly. No throttle blips or anything. Sport Plus is the only mode where it won't assist with auto rev match. Maybe thats where your issue is coming from.

+1 and could explain why it only happens sometimes. Rev-match "gives up" on you and won't blip throttle if you engage the clutch for more than a few seconds.

So if you push in and hold clutch for several seconds, then release it without manually rev-matching, it will feel like you dumped the clutch.

[M3hf80]

Originally Posted by zorrro

+1 and could explain why it only happens sometimes. Rev-match "gives up" on you and won't blip throttle if you engage the clutch for more than a few seconds.

So if you push in and hold clutch for several seconds, then release it without manually rev-matching, it will feel like you dumped the clutch.

I think this is why! I don't normally realize this but to summarize my point. When the car is in sport it shifts like it's in Sport+, happens sometimes in traffic more now that I think about it. Funny no one ever brought this up!

[c4ss]

Install a clutch stop. It takes a lot of the play out of the clutch from my experience.

[aerostar]

Yes, FYI the rev hang is awful for shifting in general.

The problem is, let's say you're shifting from 3 to 4. Once you enter the gate for 4 the car will calculate the revs for 4th as soon as you hit into the gate. The problem is if you start to slow down a little bit now the wheel speed won't match the engine speed and you start getting a clunky shift.

[Steveg.]

Originally Posted by SakhirM4

How in the world do you shift at 1.5k?? I routinely shift at 3-4k and if I am really accelerating, I shift at around 7k. How can you even push the gas pedal and shift at 1.5k??

I put a deposit on a new 2019 M4 manual and when I went to test drive it, I noticed a terrible jerk when shifting from 1-2. A BMW factory rep was at dealer and he confirmed the 1-2 shift issue is the rev matching feature that makes the car "buck" between 1-2 shifts. To shift smoothly he suggested I start off in 1st and shift into 2nd gear in the 5-10 MPH range. Since the car has a long 2nd gear, full throttle would start in second gear and would accelerate nicely due to wide torque band. Not exactly my idea of spirited driving using a manual trans in an M4.

I ended up with a DCT on M4CS.

[G4BR13L]

If you build a performance car it is expected from the lower gears. Same problem by the way with the DCT. With a manual I would shift from 1 - 2 around 3000 RPM, shift will drop about 1000 RPM and then shift from 2 to 3 around the redline. Max torque is between 1850 RPM and 5500 RPM.

[einscot]

Originally Posted by Steveg.

I put a deposit on a new 2019 M4 manual and when I went to test drive it, I noticed a terrible jerk when shifting from 1-2. A BMW factory rep was at dealer and he confirmed the 1-2 shift issue is the rev matching feature that makes the car "buck" between 1-2 shifts. To shift smoothly he suggested I start off in 1st and shift into 2nd gear in the 5-10 MPH range. Since the car has a long 2nd gear, full throttle would start in second gear and would accelerate nicely due to wide torque band. Not exactly my idea of spirited driving using a manual trans in an M4.

I ended up with a DCT on M4CS.

ha. that factory rep was full of shit

[M3hf80]

Originally Posted by c4ss

Install a clutch stop. It takes a lot of the play out of the clutch from my experience.

Done some research on the clutch stop, not sure if that's what I want. I like the way the car drives currently, just these occasional unexpected erky jerks are starting to bother me a bit more.

[M3hf80]

Originally Posted by PureModelsOnly

Do a double declutch back in to 4th and the engine will rev back up to match the speed. Or go back to 3rd.

I dont think it's the rev hang because I'm literally driving like how I drive everyday and clutch's catch point just gets higher out of nowhere, so kind of like I'm shifting in sport + mode but I'm not in sport plus if that makes sense.

Oh well, I'll sit on it for now and keep my foot off the clutch.

[RobbyMack]

FWIW OP this sounds like my 6MT and particularly when it's cold. I'm also in CA (drive primarily in sport mode) and the car lives in my garage but it can be rather chilly most mornings between nov-March. I've learned to 1 deal with it 2 shift a bit more deliberately which basically allows you to dump the clutch when the rev match hits. The other option is to rev it out to about 5k and then Shift but while cold the damn rear of the car makes such an awful racket I can't bring myself to do that to my neighbors.

[M3hf80]

Originally Posted by RobbyMack

FWIW OP this sounds like my 6MT and particularly when it's cold. I'm also in CA (drive primarily in sport mode) and the car lives in my garage but it can be rather chilly most mornings between nov-March. I've learned to 1 deal with it 2 shift a bit more deliberately which basically allows you to dump the clutch when the rev match hits. The other option is to rev it out to about 5k and then Shift but while cold the damn rear of the car makes such an awful racket I can't bring myself to do that to my neighbors.

Update,

I had just came back from a nice long local drive to run some errands. I find that the car did not rev match when in sport or efficient mode after sitting in a drive thru (Maybe too much 1st gear?) and then I had switched the car into efficient mode which did not rev match either. Is this some type of soft ware issue? Or is this common after a long local drive? I'm actually starting to like the car without the rev match lol but I don't think this is normal.

[///M///]

Originally Posted by M3hf80

Hello fellow F8X owners,

I purchased a used one owner 2016 F82 3 months ago and it had about 9k miles at the time. I've put 2.5k miles on the car in the past 3 months and I'm starting to notice this issue more and more in my everyday driving.

I've read up on how the clutch engages weird and differently while the car is cold but I live in California where it's never really "Cold" and this happens even when the car is warmed up after 20-30min of driving.

The issue is that the clutch catch point is a lot higher and feels a bit more stiff than normal during random times of my everyday drive and it causes these clunky and super jerky shifts where it feels like I'm dumping the clutch but the reality is it's just catching differently, but then it goes away immediately after I come to a dead stop and go back to 1st gear.....

Currently not seeing anybody with this issue so just want to see if this is something serious or if it's normal? Maybe something similar?

Please chime in guys, thanks a lot!

Originally Posted by M3hf80

Update,

I had just came back from a nice long local drive to run some errands. I find that the car did not rev match when in sport or efficient mode after sitting in a drive thru (Maybe too much 1st gear?) and then I had switched the car into efficient mode which did not rev match either. Is this some type of soft ware issue? Or is this common after a long local drive? I'm actually starting to like the car without the rev match lol but I don't think this is normal.

OP, I have had none of the behaviors you have described. None at all. If it is a 2016, it's obviously still under factory warranty so just take it to the dealer. No point playing the guessing game here.