[uuc] E36 Thud when putting car in gear

["Bob Yang" <bobyang@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

I had quite an eye-opening experience at the dealer today when I brought in
my car.  The main problem I have on my '94 325is  (70K mi) is a thudding
noise when I put the car in gear.  At a stop, with the car warm, I hear a
dull "thud" of varying decibel intensities when I put the shifter into 1st
(also happens if I put the shifter into 2nd, haven't tried 3rd  or higher).
This only happens the first time after I've stepped on the clutch. If I dont
release the clutch and take the shifter out of gear and put it back again,
no noise the second time.  If I release the clutch and then then re-engage
the clutch and put the shifter into first...*THUD*.  Has anyone encountered
this before or might have a clue as to what's wrong?  I'd really appreciate
any help here (see my alternative down below).  I had the clutch replaced at
49K due to a leaking slave cylinder which caused it not to disengage all the
way.

The eye-opening part (to me at least) is that the dealer wanted 600 dollars
to disassemble the transmission just to see if they can find anything wrong.
uhh. wow.  thats a lot of money just to investigate.  my car is under
Certified Pre-Owned warranty, but apparently this is not covered.  I also
had the infamous squeaking clutch pedal and a squeak in the steering wheel.
I had the pleasure of shelling out $100 bucks to be told that my pedal
bushing needed to be lubricated and that my steering wheel slip rings need
to be cleaned.  Cost estimate?  250 for the clutch pedal and 160 for the
steering wheel (an inspection II is only $600 for chrissakes!) ... Guess
what I'm doing this weekend with the Bentley manual?  I guess I never really
realized how expensive it is to own a BMW until I find out the price of the
little things.


Thanks,
Bob
'94 325is THUDing along
BMWCCA GGC


_____________________________________________
NetZero - Defenders of the Free World
Click here for FREE Internet Access and Email
http://www.netzero.net/download/index.html

------------------------------

End of bmw-digest V9 #1463
**************************