first gear won't engage?

[kolosy]

i had this on my f30, and after ~7k miles it's now happening on my f80. regardless of engine temp, i'm sometimes (30-50% of the time?) unable to engage first gear on the first attempt. It gets half-way there, and feels like it's hitting something. The only way to get it to engage when this happens is to pop it back into neutral, release the clutch and try again.

Any ideas? Just bmw transmission idiosyncrasy, or actual issue?

[wsccsw13]

Originally Posted by kolosy

i had this on my f30, and after ~7k miles it's now happening on my f80. regardless of engine temp, i'm sometimes (30-50% of the time?) unable to engage first gear on the first attempt. It gets half-way there, and feels like it's hitting something. The only way to get it to engage when this happens is to pop it back into neutral, release the clutch and try again.

Any ideas? Just bmw transmission idiosyncrasy, or actual issue?

Normal behavior for this car/transmission. Happens occasionally.

[NYG]

I know I'm not much help but I occasionally, though not too often have my DCT fail to engage a lower gear on kick down... so I wouldn't be surprised if this is normal as wsccsw13 stated.

The Ultimate Driving Machine.

[CanAutM3]

Engine temps have no incidence on the transmission.

What you describe can happen on any manual transmission when the car is not moving. It's a question of the first gear dog splines not being able to align. Releasing the clutch, or sometimes just moving the shifter in and out of another gear is enough to move the dogs so they can align in first gear.

[kolosy]

Originally Posted by CanAutM3

Engine temps have no incidence on the transmission.

What you describe can happen on any manual transmission when the car is not moving. It's a question of the first gear dog splines not being able to align. Releasing the clutch, or sometimes just moving the shifter in and out of another gear is enough to move the dogs so they can align in first gear.

makes sense, but odd that it didn't happen at all for the first 7k miles and now happens very regularly..

[CanAutM3]

Originally Posted by kolosy

makes sense, but odd that it didn't happen at all for the first 7k miles and now happens very regularly..

Synchros starting to wear down...

[Aaaaaaaaa]

Do you routinely engage first when the car is still moving? I find it can be difficult/notchy when doing so. I always to try to come to a complete stop and double clutch into 1st.

[kolosy]

Originally Posted by NUTScapes

Do you routinely engage first when the car is still moving? I find it can be difficult/notchy when doing so. I always to try to come to a complete stop and double clutch into 1st.

no, not really.

[kolosy]

Originally Posted by CanAutM3

Synchros starting to wear down...

seems a little early for that, no?

[Blancofire]

I'm having this same issue that just started this week! Not all the time but enough where it concerns me. I have 59k on my 15 F82 and haven't had any issues until now. If it is the synchro, is this something that can be fixed with a new clutch? Any idea if there is a possibility to fix issue without a new clutch? Cost of so?? Love this fucking car but any hiccup and I tend to freak so maybe I'm just being over zealous.

[ByeFelicia]

Ive been here...
They had to replace my transmission under warranty.

[kolosy]

Originally Posted by ByeFelicia

Ive been here...
They had to replace my transmission under warranty.

What was the issue?

[ByeFelicia]

No definite answer. I am second owner and could hypothesize it was usage on his behalf.

Mine was swapped with a refurbed trans from BMW with no questions asked.

[agentrnge]

Originally Posted by ByeFelicia

No definite answer. I am second owner and could hypothesize it was usage on his behalf.

Mine was swapped with a refurbed trans from BMW with no questions asked.

About what age / miles did you need the replacement?

[ByeFelicia]

agentrnge

2016 Model.

Got it with 28K April 2018. Swapped Feb 2019 at 35K

[gatorfast]

Had this happen to me last night on my way home from work. Shortly after I got in the car I was stopped at a red light. When it turned green I went to go put it in 1st and it would not go in. After a few times of returning it to neutral and attempting to put it in gear it finally went in. I have had this happen a handful of times throughout my 3 years of ownership but dont find it to be a big deal nor anything unusual for a manual transmission.

[fivemegabytes]

Originally Posted by CanAutM3

Engine temps have no incidence on the transmission.

What you describe can happen on any manual transmission when the car is not moving. It's a question of the first gear dog splines not being able to align. Releasing the clutch, or sometimes just moving the shifter in and out of another gear is enough to move the dogs so they can align in first gear.

This is probably the right answer. I have this issue atleast once a week in my F82, when I want to get going from a standstill at a stop light. The car will refuse to go from neutral to first. Easiest workaround is go to second then first or better yet just rev slightly with clutch down. Whichever feels faster to you before the car behind you starts honking.

FWIW, I had service look at this many times but they can't reproduce it since it happens rarely. However, they told me I was the first person ever to complain about this at this dealer and they don't expect the F8x manual to have this issue. Go figure.

[hC1001]

I've never experience this before... From a stop, first gear is always able to go in.

I've had some issues trying to go into first gear when i had to slow down but then the cars in front start to move. Im talking creeping like 5-8 mph, you kinda need to add some gas when going into 1st gear for it to go in smoothly. What i should really be doing is go into second gear whenever the car is moving even if it is slow and will bog a little...

[charlesw325]

I'd like to provide some data point here, I have exactly same symptom described by the op here on my 17 M4 6-sp , the only difference is I have it about 10%-20% of the time and shifting to 2nd then back to 1st always worked for me. I'm still under warranty so I sent the car to the dealer for diagnosis and BMW is recommending transmission replacement under warranty with no question asked. I believe the dealer did send a fluid analysis to BMW.

[fivemegabytes]

Originally Posted by charlesw325

I'd like to provide some data point here, I have exactly same symptom described by the op here on my 17 M4 6-sp , the only difference is I have it about 10%-20% of the time and shifting to 2nd then back to 1st always worked for me. I'm still under warranty so I sent the car to the dealer for diagnosis and BMW is recommending transmission replacement under warranty with no question asked. I believe the dealer did send a fluid analysis to BMW.

That's great to know. Any more clues on how they diagnosed the issue? My dealer refuses to move forward without the issue reproducing (I understand why, they can't replace stuff just because I claim it's faulty) and this 10% of the time pattern makes it very hard to show to the shop technician. It's also possible they are just kicking the can down the road.

[charlesw325]

Originally Posted by fivemegabytes

That's great to know. Any more clues on how they diagnosed the issue? My dealer refuses to move forward without the issue reproducing (I understand why, they can't replace stuff just because I claim it's faulty) and this 10% of the time pattern makes it very hard to show to the shop technician. It's also possible they are just kicking the can down the road.

I have no idea how they diagnosed the issue and I did tell them that this happens about only 10% of the time . They did mentioned about the fluid analysis sent to BMW and BMW came back with recommendations to replace whole transmission. I'd recommend to try a different dealer and see if that works.

[YRAGAEL]

I have this issue as well, probably 10-15% of the time. Extremely annoying. I've been driving manual BMW M cars for decades and never experienced this before, so there's no way it's normal. Changing trans fluid did not help. I fear sourcing a different transmission, and hoping it doesn't have the same issue, will be the only fix. Thanks - again - BMW! (just replaced my valve cover and intercooler because of stupid failures that should not happen on a car like this!)