Hi everyone,
I've had my 1993 325i (with manual transmission) for almost two years now. I bought the car from a private seller. Ever since I've owned the car, it has made a slight grinding noise/feel (coming from the transmission area) when at lower RPM levels while in gear, especially 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. There is absolutely NO grinding in 5th gear...In 5th, the drive is completely smooth. The previous owner said that he had driven it like that for a while, without any problems, and the mechanic who checked out the car before I purchased it couldn't seem to find anything wrong with the transmission.
For the past month or so, it seems to be acting up more. The cold weather has seemed to intensify the problem. Now, I am having problems with the car "popping out" of reverse and (occasionally, not quite as often) 1st gear as well. The grinding sound/feel seems to have become more pronounced. Also, when at a stop, with the car in neutral and the clutch NOT depressed, I can hear what I can only describe as a slight "whining/moaning" noise, until I fully depress the clutch pedal, at which point this noise stops (I believe that this noise has existed to a lesser extent for a while now too, but that I've just began to pick up on it more because of the other problems which are now more apparent to me while driving.
What worries me the most is the fact that the car is having a lot of trouble at times with Reverse. It will go into Reverse gear, but will quickly pop out most of the time (especially when the engine is cold). I have tried giving it time to warm up, and shifting through all gears (with clutch depressed) to lubricate the transmission a bit before driving. Unfortunately, this is usually of little help). Sometimes I'll just have to grit my teeth and hold the gear stick into 'Reverse' while slowly letting up on the clutch/giving a tiny bit of gas, until I hear/feel a horrible but quick 'pop/grind' as the gears engage into reverse, at which point I can back up the car.
The "Reverse" problem has been happening for almost a month now, and it's bad enough that I've started backing the car into my garage (a huge pain! ) every time I return from a drive, so that I can completely avoid Reverse gear upon the next cold start-up. As my luck would have it, now First is starting to act up too....
A couple of days ago a similar problem started to occur while in First. The transmission will go into First gear just fine, but sometimes (again, with a terrible popping sound) it will suddenly pop out of first, at which point I have just been switching gears to 2nd a bit pre-maturely in order to avoid the gear completely.
So in summary, the slight grinding sound/feel has been coming from the transmission for over two years now, but I feel that the cold weather has made it worse. The problems with Reverse and First Gears just developed around a month ago (when it began getting cold). The whining/moaning (in neutral) has been happening for a while now too, but has also become more pronounced within the last month.
What is most likely wrong with my car??? I am hoping that my entire transmission isn't about to fall out onto the road, because I can't afford to put a new transmission into the car. However, I'd really appreciate your honest opinions concerning what might be wrong with the car, and how much it may cost to fix, because If I'm going to have to get it repaired I might as well do is sooner rather than later when the problems become even worse. Any feedback, comments, suggestions/advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time and Happy Holidays!
Sincerely,
-Mike
I've had my 1993 325i (with manual transmission) for almost two years now. I bought the car from a private seller. Ever since I've owned the car, it has made a slight grinding noise/feel (coming from the transmission area) when at lower RPM levels while in gear, especially 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. There is absolutely NO grinding in 5th gear...In 5th, the drive is completely smooth. The previous owner said that he had driven it like that for a while, without any problems, and the mechanic who checked out the car before I purchased it couldn't seem to find anything wrong with the transmission.
For the past month or so, it seems to be acting up more. The cold weather has seemed to intensify the problem. Now, I am having problems with the car "popping out" of reverse and (occasionally, not quite as often) 1st gear as well. The grinding sound/feel seems to have become more pronounced. Also, when at a stop, with the car in neutral and the clutch NOT depressed, I can hear what I can only describe as a slight "whining/moaning" noise, until I fully depress the clutch pedal, at which point this noise stops (I believe that this noise has existed to a lesser extent for a while now too, but that I've just began to pick up on it more because of the other problems which are now more apparent to me while driving.
What worries me the most is the fact that the car is having a lot of trouble at times with Reverse. It will go into Reverse gear, but will quickly pop out most of the time (especially when the engine is cold). I have tried giving it time to warm up, and shifting through all gears (with clutch depressed) to lubricate the transmission a bit before driving. Unfortunately, this is usually of little help). Sometimes I'll just have to grit my teeth and hold the gear stick into 'Reverse' while slowly letting up on the clutch/giving a tiny bit of gas, until I hear/feel a horrible but quick 'pop/grind' as the gears engage into reverse, at which point I can back up the car.
The "Reverse" problem has been happening for almost a month now, and it's bad enough that I've started backing the car into my garage (a huge pain! ) every time I return from a drive, so that I can completely avoid Reverse gear upon the next cold start-up. As my luck would have it, now First is starting to act up too....
A couple of days ago a similar problem started to occur while in First. The transmission will go into First gear just fine, but sometimes (again, with a terrible popping sound) it will suddenly pop out of first, at which point I have just been switching gears to 2nd a bit pre-maturely in order to avoid the gear completely.
So in summary, the slight grinding sound/feel has been coming from the transmission for over two years now, but I feel that the cold weather has made it worse. The problems with Reverse and First Gears just developed around a month ago (when it began getting cold). The whining/moaning (in neutral) has been happening for a while now too, but has also become more pronounced within the last month.
What is most likely wrong with my car??? I am hoping that my entire transmission isn't about to fall out onto the road, because I can't afford to put a new transmission into the car. However, I'd really appreciate your honest opinions concerning what might be wrong with the car, and how much it may cost to fix, because If I'm going to have to get it repaired I might as well do is sooner rather than later when the problems become even worse. Any feedback, comments, suggestions/advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time and Happy Holidays!
Sincerely,
-Mike
