<E30> re:Transmission rattle in neutral

[Christopher Pawlowicz <chrisp@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Neil Deshpande sez
>My 1988 325is makes a rattling sound from the transmission when it is in
>neutral.  It is clearly audible at idle at 600 RPM.  Any higher and it
>either goes away or is drowned out by the engine noise. 
>
>One mechanic I took it to says it is normal backlash noise.  This sounds
>reasonable to me. 
>

Lots of E30's do it (very common). 'They all do that'

Having synthetic in there makes the noise worse.

I have never seen/heard of any problems related/as a result of this noise.
(none reported to digest in last 5 years..)

Some guy (I can give you his email) ragged on me big time for posting
info like this in the past (basically told me I was a moron and knew
nothing) but it turns out that he has now changed his mind and agrees
with me. Go figure.

Mine only does it when *hot*.

BTW, this may or may not be the same problem that many E36/M42 people are
experiencing.

chris pawlowicz
'89 325i - 190k miles
'74 2002 - 130k miles

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