5th Gear Lean? HELP!

[BeamSwervin]

So I have a 2002 530i e39, and today I was parked and was randomly going through gears to see how they felt (its a manual). I went to 5th gear, then shifted back to neutral. I had the clutch pushed down this whole time. When i went back to neutral from 5th gear, my stick is now leaning to the right. When it is in neutral, it basically wants to sit right under 5th gear. I looked up this issue, and I think it is a problem with the detent ball/spring that resists shifting to 5th, similar to the one that resists shifting into reverse. Do I just need to replace the detent ball/spring? Or is that even the problem? I am new to this so please help.

[bmwdirtracer]

Welcome to the forum.

You've done well, in your research! Yes, that's the problem.

Still, it's not quite as easy as it might seem. Gearbox is coming out....might as well do the complete clutch kit. Flywheel might be toast. Maybe time to ditch the 40 pound dual mass and get a 13 pound single mass.

The there's installation of the ball/spring/sleeve. It can be easy, it can be tough.

[dworthy]

+1

Can you live with it? How much is the car worth to you? At times like this, you have to ask those 2 questions before diving into it.

[BeamSwervin]

might as well do the complete clutch kit. Flywheel might be toast. Maybe time to ditch the 40 pound dual mass and get a 13 pound single mass..

Yeah I know im going to have to do the clutch eventually as its a bit worn already. Also the flywheel change is an interesting idea that ill definitely consider. I wont be doing this fix for atleast a few days so I might just wait until I can do a whole flywheel/clutch replacement just so I can get it all over with now. Why wait until the clutch blows in traffic. Does it make any sense to change the flywheel and not change the clutch? Because i read that with a light flywheel you want a really good clutch.

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+1

Can you live with it? How much is the car worth to you?

I cant really live with the stick lean for very long. Its tolerable but quite annoying. The car is very important to me and I want the very best that I can do for it.

[dworthy]

The other option is to replace the transmission with another one. The M54/M52 5-speed is a pretty common one, and really doesn't cost much. Do you plan on doing the work yourself, or having a Tech do it?