Transmission question for the car guru's

rumatt · 01-01-2005, 07:49 PM

I found a guy selling an 1990 E30 325is with 200K miles, but he says there's a problem with the clutch/transmission. Basically, the car doesn't want to go in gear: any gear. When you're in neutral and you try to push it into gear, it grinds and/or resists. Then, it will suddenly pop in.

Sounds like worn synchros to me, but isn't there a separate syncro for each gear? He said it's in every gear. He said his dealer wanted to take apart the clutch and look, but he decided to sell the car instead.

Any ideas what this could be? Is it possible that a new clutch (which the car would likely need soon anyway) might solve the problem? Any kind of internal transmission troubleshooting sounds like lots and lots of $$$$.

01-01-2005, 07:49 PM	#1
rumatt Mugwump Join Date: Oct 2003 Carmudgeonly Ride: E46 330i, Chevy Colorado, Tesla Model 3 Location: NY Posts: 17,475	Transmission question for the car guru's I found a guy selling an 1990 E30 325is with 200K miles, but he says there's a problem with the clutch/transmission. Basically, the car doesn't want to go in gear: any gear. When you're in neutral and you try to push it into gear, it grinds and/or resists. Then, it will suddenly pop in. Sounds like worn synchros to me, but isn't there a separate syncro for each gear? He said it's in every gear. He said his dealer wanted to take apart the clutch and look, but he decided to sell the car instead. Any ideas what this could be? Is it possible that a new clutch (which the car would likely need soon anyway) might solve the problem? Any kind of internal transmission troubleshooting sounds like lots and lots of $$$$.