Shifter vibration goes away when...

[hkovalcik]

Shifter vibration back and forth. Only in second gear under power. Never pops out of gear - just annoying.

I discovered something however:

It goes away if I pull the shifter further back and to the RIGHT (while in second). Any ideas as to why? What does pulling the shifter back further and to the right do to the shift linkage?

I have replaced:
Motor mounts
Guibo
CSB
Trans Mounts (UUC)
Clutch
PPlate
Throw-out bearing

**shifter linkage and all related parts are stock from factory**

Cheers.

EDIT: For those of you who have seen me post about this before, I apologize - only posting again because I figured out that shifter movement.

[hide1]

With that list said, did you replace shifter bushings? Carrier bushings, shifter cup, chassis-shifter bushing, little sponge inside the shifter coupling? Do you have a SSK?

If all the above have been ruled out, transmission detent repairs may be the culprit.

[snaponbob]

Shifter detents won't do this. U-joints of lost drive shaft balance weight may.

[hide1]

I've heard some talk about a vibration wobble prior to and being eliminated with the detent SIB. How does one drop a driveshaft and ensure they don't throw it out of balance?

[hkovalcik]

Shifter detents won't do this. U-joints of lost drive shaft balance weight may.

A bad u-joint won't 'just' give a vibration in the shifter. You'll definitely know if it is a bad u-joint... put it that way haha.


I've heard some talk about a vibration wobble prior to and being eliminated with the detent SIB. How does one drop a driveshaft and ensure they don't throw it out of balance?

To answer your first post, all shifter related assemblies are the same from 1998. I have the stock shifter assembly with a ZHP knob.

[BMW325issport]

My 98 m3 does the same thing

[snaponbob]

I've heard some talk about a vibration wobble prior to and being eliminated with the detent SIB. How does one drop a driveshaft and ensure they don't throw it out of balance?

Referring to the first sentence, the SIB acronym is a new one on me. Restating my comment on shift detents not being a "fix", MAYBE it could help based on if a specific detent is creating a weird loads in the gear set. Just have not heard that before. THAT said, it would be interesting what else was replaced when shift detent kit was installed. Seems hard to imagine someone would go to the trouble of pulling a ZF for detents and not freshening other components.

As for keeping the drive shaft in balance, it is a matter of aligning the two white dots on the drive shaft segments when it goes back in. The one aspect I have not learned about is pre-loading the CSB.

Generally speaking, there seem to be different symptoms that people describe as "vibration". I have driven an E30 that SHOOK in first gear between 3000-5000 rpm and only in a short range in second. On that one the CSB metal bracket was tearing. On various E36s I have felt vibration on the floor, in the seat, at the shifter, at my elbow on arms rests, or combos of those. Only one person wanted to address the issue ("I don't want to spend any money right now") and that was the E30 guy. As for u-joints, on other vehicles (other than BMWs) there have been noises, vibrations, and shaking, depending on the type of shaft and how bad the joints were. On my 328 I have a light buzz around 4000 rpm in first only. Soon the car will be on stands to start building it for Solo in 2014, so the drive shaft will be checked. Hopefully something will reveal itself.

[hide1]

Thanks for the drive shaft re-install tip. I haven't seen this mentioned in any DIYs but I may have just overlooked it. As for the SIB. . I agree SB would be more intuitive.

http://www.zpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=342629

[hide1]

OP: Any chance your shifter selector rod is installed upside down or being affected by the driveshaft below when youre in second due to the angle? I meant to ask this before but I saw this mentioned in another install thread and thought I'd follow-up..

[snaponbob]

OP: Any chance your shifter selector rod is installed upside down or being affected by the driveshaft below when youre in second due to the angle? I meant to ask this before but I saw this mentioned in another install thread and thought I'd follow-up..

I have run into this on E30s, but I guess I need to keep my eyes open on E36s.