Yo folks. I’m a little over 8k miles and my gears are really sticky going from 1st to 2nd before the car gets warmed up. Just curious if anyone else is having an issue like that.
I don’t want to have to bring it in to the dealership if I can help it, but sometimes its really hard getting into 2nd, and it seems to be getting worse as time goes on.
My car has always been a little more difficult to get into 2nd when it’s colder outside and the car isn’t warmed up. I think it’s a common characteristic of the Tremec. Is it getting colder where you live? If not, it might be something else.
My car has always been a little more difficult to get into 2nd when it’s colder outside and the car isn’t warmed up. I think it’s a common characteristic of the Tremec. Is it getting colder where you live? If not, it might be something else.
Does it actually grind? Never had that happen even at 20F parked outside overnight. Sure it can take some force, but it’s a big boy car. I’ve had 2nd be difficult after a long highway run when 115F out and transmission got very hot.
Does it actually grind? Never had that happen even at 20F parked outside overnight. Sure it can take some force, but it’s a big boy car. I’ve had 2nd be difficult after a long highway run when 115F out and transmission got very hot.
No it doesn’t grind per se. But definitely takes force. All of the other gears never require that kind of force. I’ve googled it and I guess it’s pretty common, so I’ll stop worrying unless it actually becomes a problem.
I just drive it and use more force going into 2nd when cold. I would say use about twice the force you normally would going into second until the car/trans fluid is warmed up. In my experience the transmission seems to like it better when you use more force. I think it’s when you don’t use enough force where it grinds or pops out of gear you are going to cause more issues. The car can handle the occasional hard shift into 2nd. There is an entire thread on this somewhere in these forums.
When it got it cold in the mornings and I would drive the car to work. I would just skip 2nd until I made it a couple of miles down the road and got some heat in the transmission. Usually took 5 min of driving and the car has enough power that it didn't really annoy me.
Never had an issue in the summer months. Just when it got below 60's
Glad you made this thread. My prior ‘25 5BW and new ‘26 both do this. Had the fluid changed on the ‘25 very early on (along with rear diff) just for preventive maintenance and it didn’t seem to make any difference. All other gears are normal. I figured it’s normal and seems like this was a thing with other cars with T56s I have had in the past as well. 2nd gear just feels more notchy most of the time.
One thing I have noticed is that when shifting into second I try to just pull the shifter downward without applying any pressure to the left. In my experience, 2nd is straight down but maybe slightly to the right of first so it feels like the shift drags more if you’re pulling it over to the left when shifting. If that makes sense. More force helps too but hate the need to when all the other gears cooperate so much better.
It’s a minor, occasional inconvenience on what is arguably the best manual transmission car I have ever driven. I would still take this gearbox with its occasional flaw over something that doesn’t have any issues but the shift feel is rubbery and vague. Certainly not a reason to choose the automatic over the manual, but you were probably never in the market for a manual anyways.
Normal behavior of this transmission, as others have said. Some are better than others. My ATS-V was horrifically bad. Fluid change and a clutch bleed improved things quite a bit, but was still notchy and required a lot of effort. My 4bw 1st to 2nd shift is wonderful with just a hint of notchiness.
When it got it cold in the mornings and I would drive the car to work. I would just skip 2nd until I made it a couple of miles down the road and got some heat in the transmission. Usually took 5 min of driving and the car has enough power that it didn't really annoy me.
Never had an issue in the summer months. Just when it got below 60's
That sounds like the best bet! It definitely loosens up once the car is warm. I never even thought about just skipping to third. I mean I’m only in second for less than a minute after leaving my home anyhow. Thanks for the tip!
Glad you made this thread. My prior ‘25 5BW and new ‘26 both do this. Had the fluid changed on the ‘25 very early on (along with rear diff) just for preventive maintenance and it didn’t seem to make any difference. All other gears are normal. I figured it’s normal and seems like this was a thing with other cars with T56s I have had in the past as well. 2nd gear just feels more notchy most of the time.
One thing I have noticed is that when shifting into second I try to just pull the shifter downward without applying any pressure to the left. In my experience, 2nd is straight down but maybe slightly to the right of first so it feels like the shift drags more if you’re pulling it over to the left when shifting. If that makes sense. More force helps too but hate the need to when all the other gears cooperate so much better.
To each their own. I love the manual shifting personally. The early on clunkiness into 2nd gear is absolutely no sweat. I just wanted to make sure there wasn’t something wrong with my transmission. Everybody’s response here has made me feel a hell of a lot better about it!
There is already a thread about this. Search it up - Manual trans owners--both 4 and 5
Also, when cold, just double clutch it. That seems to work best.
So I am coming off 20 years or bmw manual transmissions. I personally like the smoothness (some folks call it rubbery) of Getrag boxes. Ct4 manual is nice but second gear does seem to be odd. So far - I discovered that shifting above 3k from first to second is almost always smooth. Below 3k could be a challenge. Also - more intentional movement seems to yield better results. I have 30k and was doing to change fluid to see if there is any considerable difference. Read conflicting info. BMW boxes - oil change every 30-40k always kept them smooth.
So I am coming off 20 years or bmw manual transmissions. I personally like the smoothness (some folks call it rubbery) of Getrag boxes. Ct4 manual is nice but second gear does seem to be odd. So far - I discovered that shifting above 3k from first to second is almost always smooth. Below 3k could be a challenge. Also - more intentional movement seems to yield better results. I have 30k and was doing to change fluid to see if there is any considerable difference. Read conflicting info. BMW boxes - oil change every 30-40k always kept them smooth.
Interesting. I have a growing number of Getrag/ZF gear boxes (E46s seem to be multiplying in my driveway...) and while I don't believe in "lifetime gearbox fluid" I have yet to change any of them, but I have been thinking more about it lately. But a fluid change every 30-40k seems quite, shall we say, proactive? Did you notice a deterioration in feel or performance if you went much beyond that interval?
And what generations of BMW manuals are you referring to (E30, E90, non 3series, etc)?
So I don't get this thread completely off-topic btw, my '25 5VBW has a mere 400ish miles, but the 1-2 shift has thus far felt very smooth, buttery, trouble-free etc. That being said, this winter will be its first, so I will see if the "cold weather" (lucky to hit freezing 1x a year these days in my neck of the woods) affects that at all.
I have had e36/z3 coupe, R53Mini, E89z4, e82 (both with n54), and most recently F30ZHP. Always used MTF3 oem bmw fluid. Takes about same time to replace as an oil change with a lift. Have done it on all of them and shifting kept as new thruout cars life. On z3 I experimented with Redline but it was not happy.
It will also get better with more miles. My 4BW was very notchy into 2nd when I bought it new, and now that it’s got 26k miles on it, it’s much better. Not perfect, mind you, but worlds better.
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