Keep missing 3rd!!!

[giantrobot9000]

Maybe I just can't drive or something, but today I was running through the gears and botched the 2-3 shift. This is the third time in a week. I'm not going into another gear or anything (thank God!), I just let off in neutral as soon as I feel it not go into gear,but I guess I'm not pushing into gear hard enough or something.

The car has a short-shift on it, which might not be helping matters. I just had it looked over by a reputable BMW specialist (Voit Rich...it's his old car,actually), and he said the tranny mounts were fine.

Am I just being a girly man and not shifting hard enough? I have no problem except when I'm shifting at or near redline. None of my other cars give me any problem like this.

[Dispatch20]

Maybe I just can't drive or something, but today I was running through the gears and botched the 2-3 shift. This is the third time in a week. I'm not going into another gear or anything (thank God!), I just let off in neutral as soon as I feel it not go into gear,but I guess I'm not pushing into gear hard enough or something.

The car has a short-shift on it, which might not be helping matters. I just had it looked over by a reputable BMW specialist (Voit Rich...it's his old car,actually), and he said the tranny mounts were fine.

Am I just being a girly man and not shifting hard enough? I have no problem except when I'm shifting at or near redline. None of my other cars give me any problem like this.

I botch the 2-3 shift ALL the time when shifting at redline in 2nd. I have short shift kit, and all new bushings.

I suspect my tranny is getting a little worn and doesn't like the thicker "anti rattle UUC mix" fluid I have in there now. I may switch back to a thinner tranny fluid to see if it synchronizes faster.

At the drag strip on 3 out of 5 runs I hit 5th instead of 3rd, and 3rd just didn't want to get in there. It sucks getting into 5th, then going back into 3rd on a drag run. I ran 15.0's doing that :-(

[Julz69]

Flip your hand upside down and throw it into gear. The only direction it can go is into 3rd gear.

[rcM3]

Flip your hand upside down and throw it into gear. The only direction it can go is into 3rd gear.

+1 on this.

Also make sure your clutch is ALL THE WAY IN! I know that at least my clutch is touchy about this, especially going into 3rd.

[captainkev]

Backhand shifting is a must. Helps prevent the $$$ shift as well.

[nick325xit 5spd]

Short shift kits make mis-shifting easier.

The increase in shifting effort required forces you to push harder, which decreases your control. Since you're ALSO aiming for a smaller target, it's that much easier to miss a shift.

Some SSKs don't quite have their geometry right, either. This leads to fun times when you're trying to shift hard.

Net-net, if you have a hard time shifting the car, go back to stock.

[Novacaine]

Is it just some notchiness that gets worse at a redline shift? I have that, but I just throw it hard and be conscious about it so I don't let out the clutch too early. And yes proper shifting technique is key, I'm glad I learned that way from the very start.

[Pat533i]

ya ive done it a couple time when trying to shift fast, my old 533i did it to.

[nick325xit 5spd]

Is it just some notchiness that gets worse at a redline shift? I have that, but I just throw it hard and be conscious about it so I don't let out the clutch too early. And yes proper shifting technique is key, I'm glad I learned that way from the very start.
Of course proper shifting technique doesn't actually include "throwing it hard."

[MoeMuny]

Short shift kits make mis-shifting easier.

The increase in shifting effort required forces you to push harder, which decreases your control. Since you're ALSO aiming for a smaller target, it's that much easier to miss a shift.

Some SSKs don't quite have their geometry right, either. This leads to fun times when you're trying to shift hard.

Net-net, if you have a hard time shifting the car, go back to stock.

or try a different SSK, I started with the B&M ssk and it was crap third gear was very hard to hit... I am now using the the UUC EVO3 and it is very good...

[TC535i]

Interesting... my car does this, and I just figured out the other day that it really only does it if I've shifted into 5th... and I think engaging reverse helps.

My car needs some serious maintenance, so we'll see what it does after I rebuild the shift assembly and put some red mounts on.

[Novacaine]

hahaha, yes yes, I know. I'm just saying I move it faster and push a little harder than if I was going for a lazy cruise around town.