[killbill91]

Just wanted to put this out there and see if anyone else had these experiences and what your solutions were.

I have driven Manual Transmission for a while but not as a daily thing. My 335i which is now my daily, is a MT. And for the life of me I feel like I can not get a smooth shift from 1st to 2nd. I have never this issue driving other vehicles until now.

The only time I can really get a smooth shift from 1st to 2nd is to let out the clutch extremely slow, which can get aggravating real quick. Sometimes I get lucky and time it good, but most of the time I want to get going and that 1st to 2nd shift is just always jerky.

My car is completely stock. I have read the forums and seen people try a number of things from deleting or using a modified CDV, changing the fluids, etc. I did buy an M3/modified CDV but have yet to install it as I wanted to get some opinions from people if they have this issue and if any of this would resolve my experiences.

I know some people will say, "oh you will get use to it", but this just feels different then any other manual I have driven.

Thanks in advance!

[AllBlackBimmer]

Originally Posted by killbill91

Just wanted to put this out there and see if anyone else had these experiences and what your solutions were.

I have driven Manual Transmission for a while but not as a daily thing. My 335i which is now my daily, is a MT. And for the life of me I feel like I can not get a smooth shift from 1st to 2nd. I have never this issue driving other vehicles until now.

The only time I can really get a smooth shift from 1st to 2nd is to let out the clutch extremely slow, which can get aggravating real quick. Sometimes I get lucky and time it good, but most of the time I want to get going and that 1st to 2nd shift is just always jerky.

My car is completely stock. I have read the forums and seen people try a number of things from deleting or using a modified CDV, changing the fluids, etc. I did buy an M3/modified CDV but have yet to install it as I wanted to get some opinions from people if they have this issue and if any of this would resolve my experiences.

I know some people will say, "oh you will get use to it", but this just feels different then any other manual I have driven.

Thanks in advance!

CDV delete will be a big change.

Ive driven manuals all my life too, and ended up just getting use to the CDV... however, even after 4 years of owning my car, I still may get rid of it...

BMWs are also notoriously "notchy", especially from 1st to 2nd... it's just the way they seem to be.

M3 MT will shift much smoother than standard 3-series due to not having a VDC, but they are still notchy. You can change the fluid out and it MIGHT shift a little smoother, but there may also not be as much protection to your trans with different fluid, so just do your homework.

[LaserPower]

Many people know that downshift requires rev matching but few know that you have to rev match in upshift as well. Letting the clutch engage too soon or too late will result in jerky shifting. A lot of time it is not about how fast you let go of the clutch but precisely when do you let go of the clutch. A poorly timed clutch engagement will rock you front and back, which in turn cause your foot on the gas pedal to rock front and back, which in turn cause your shift to be jerky. This is not an issue under full throttle shifting since you will be pining the throttle pedal to the floor anyways or on a car with not much torque as your throttle input will not affect the power output too much, but it will be a huge issue under partial throttle on a car with a considerable amount of torque throughout the entire RPM span like a 335.

[Jsoboti]

CDV delete!!!

[B3M3W5iXM]

Originally Posted by LaserPower

Many people know that downshift requires rev matching but few know that you have to rev match in upshift as well. Letting the clutch engage too soon or too late will result in jerky shifting. A lot of time it is not about how fast you let go of the clutch but precisely when do you let go of the clutch. A poorly timed clutch engagement will rock you front and back, which in turn cause your foot on the gas pedal to rock front and back, which in turn cause your shift to be jerky. This is not an issue under full throttle shifting since you will be pining the throttle pedal to the floor anyways or on a car with not much torque as your throttle input will not affect the power output too much, but it will be a huge issue under partial throttle on a car with a considerable amount of torque throughout the entire RPM span like a 335.

OP, I had the same problem, my past 4 out of 5 of my cars were manuals (low powered econoboxes) and it took me awhile to get the rev matching for up shifting down until it was smooth. My advice: try to blip the car a little when you shift. Press the gas down a little to initiate, bumping the RPMs a little, then hit the clutch and as soon as you start to press it down, let off the gas, then gently press it again as you let off the clutch.

[MiniXP]

CDV should fix it. I had the same thing happening to me when I bought my 335 and I just got rid of the CDV all together and no longer have the issue.

The only difficult part I had was loosening the bleeder screw to bleed the clutch after I was done. It is in a very tight space.

[ctuna]

Mine did this and I changed to Redline D6
in the transmission and it smoothed things out
not just where it was notchy but in all gears.
Some people have reported mixed results.
Also did the CDV delete but that is more about clutch
feel but worth doing.

[unjukeable]

I also was having this issue not that frequently but I did the CDV delete and it was good after that

[ctuna]

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showth...ght=redline+D6

[MiniXP]

Forgot to mention that I changed my fluid to Redline d4 atf at the same time I did the CDV. That smoothed out the notchiness in the shifting, but I think the CDV is what smoothed out the jerky 1 to 2 shifts

[killbill91]

Awesome, thanks for all the replies everyone!

[Volasko]

Originally Posted by LaserPower

Many people know that downshift requires rev matching but few know that you have to rev match in upshift as well. Letting the clutch engage too soon or too late will result in jerky shifting. A lot of time it is not about how fast you let go of the clutch but precisely when do you let go of the clutch. A poorly timed clutch engagement will rock you front and back, which in turn cause your foot on the gas pedal to rock front and back, which in turn cause your shift to be jerky. This is not an issue under full throttle shifting since you will be pining the throttle pedal to the floor anyways or on a car with not much torque as your throttle input will not affect the power output too much, but it will be a huge issue under partial throttle on a car with a considerable amount of torque throughout the entire RPM span like a 335.

This is sound advice, but I want to add some more personal advice. I found the best way is not to short shift too quickly in 1st. I find that if I ride out 1st until 3500-4000 before shifting and waiting a little longer to engage 2nd I would have the best results. This is consistent with what Laserpower was saying with regards to matching the revs.

[Agentphish]

I did the CDV delete, it definitely helped.

Though I don't think the difference is as dramatic as some people report, at least it wasn't for me, but it did help. I still have issues now and again. I don't know why.

[MiniXP]

Originally Posted by Agentphish

I did the CDV delete, it definitely helped.

Though I don't think the difference is as dramatic as some people report, at least it wasn't for me, but it did help. I still have issues now and again. I don't know why.

Yea I felt the same way after I did it. It didn't feel like a huge difference like a lot of people say. I mostly just was able to get better engagements in 1st and from 1st to 2nd.

[mg4734]

CDV delete is essential. Furthermore, find an indy shop to change your trans and diff fluids to a full synthetic product, such as Redline D6 and their gear oil. These two changes made a huge difference for my car.

[rr006rbc]

Mine shifts fine, smooth and beautifully. Hell, buy it. It's for sale.

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sgv...875853635.html

[LaserPower]

Originally Posted by Agentphish

I did the CDV delete, it definitely helped.

Though I don't think the difference is as dramatic as some people report, at least it wasn't for me, but it did help. I still have issues now and again. I don't know why.

Yeah CDV mod only adjust the time taken to engage the clutch and the effect will be minor unless driving really competitively. Heck, moving from one manual car to another probably makes more difference in cluch engagement time than modding the CDV.

[ctuna]

I did the fluid change long before cdv delete
and my experience was the fluid alone smoothed it out.
I do love the cdv delete though . The clutch doesn't feel
all spongy now.

[PhaseP]

Two things I believe going on:
- These engines lose their RPM quicker than other cars when in neutral. I don't know if it is something to do with less inertia or more friction inside engine, but that is the case in my experience. So with most other cars, by the time you upshift and releasing the clutch, the engine speed has slowed down just enough to match the vehicle speed. With these cars it slows down faster, so when releasing the clutch engine has to speeds up and match the vehicle speed. This causes a jerk, like sudden short engine break. Releasing the clutch very slowly distributes this engine break event to a wider time so makes it smoother. The better solution is to give just a little gas to bring the RPM back up a little just before or during releasing the clutch, as mentioned already by others in the thread.

- The other thing is the dual mass flywheel, which is made up of two masses with a spring in between them. One mass is direct contact with the engine side, the other gets engaged to the clutch. Most traditional cars have single mass flywheel and instead have springs on the clutch instead. These springs dampen the sudden engagement of the clutch to flywheel. But in my experience the springs in these dual mass flywheels have more play in them and also can store more energy vs the springs in clutchs used in single mass flywheels. So what happens is, when clutch in for upshift, the spring between the two masses of the flywheel gets unloaded (can be heard like a clunk sound at low speeds), then next gear is selected and as clutch is being released and starts to make contact with the flywheel, initially the spring gets compressed. And only after that the clutch and so the drive train gets fully connected with the engine. This also causes some delay during which engine is losing more RPMs. The engagement of this has a different feel than single flywheel clutches.

In my experience this is most noticeable at 1st to 2nd shifts. And if the shift is done at a lower RPM, below 3K, it is more noticeable. For some reason shifting at higher RPMs, above 3K makes it less noticeable.

The transmission fluid may effect the notchiness of the gear selection, but I don't think it will have any effect on the smoothness of the clutch engagement. I actually do like the OEM fluid, works good cold or warm weather.

[SJ335i]

Cdv is for clutch feel. Nothing to do with gears

[AWDBooSTIn90]

CDV delete and BMS clutch stop. Problem solved!

The clutch stop is $10 and well worth it. Takes 5 mins not even to install.

CDV delete can be done for free.

[Gizmo 335i]

Good discussion above but Unfortunately the posters above have missed the guaranteed fix. While the CDV delete is a good thing overall the only way to get a good shift from 1 to 2 EVERY time is to shift at no less than 3k rpms with 3300-3500 being optimal. Money back guarantee if it doesn't work.😁