RE: 2ND TRY *** Transmission hard to shift --> OIL??

["Ron Buchalski" <rbuchals@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Another data point...

My '85 E30 318i has had Redline MTL in the transmission since it was about 
20k miles old.  I changed the oil once per year (every 25k miles).

The car is now 16 years old, and has 254k miles on it, and the transmission 
is still fine.

The only drivetrain problems that I've had with the E30 are related to the 
clutch release bearing and clutch fork.  The bearing has two flat sides 
which keep it from rotating in the clutch fork.  Over time, the bearing 
flats will wear and allow the bearing to rotate in the fork, causing it to 
drag on the input shaft of the transmission, making gear changes harder, 
especially when sitting at a stop light and trying to engage first gear.

- -rb

>Date: Wed, 6 Jun 2001 12:08:14 -0500
>From: "Fadeev, Alex" <alex.fadeev@domain.elided>
>Subject: RE: 2ND TRY *** Transmission hard to shift --> OIL??
>
>Michel Drainville [mailto:MDrainville@domain.elided] wrote:
> >
> > Car: 1991 318ic ; 106000Mi
> >
> > My tranny has always been hard to shift since I have the car (4
> > years). When I bought the car, I flushed the tranny and filled it
> > with Castrol ATF DextronII as per BMW instructions.  Last year I
> > tried another car identical to mine, and the shifter was moving
> > like in soft butter. [...]
> > I was wondering if some specialized oil, friction modifier
> > stuff, could help my tranny. Do I need something to reduce
> > friction of the synchro or raise the friction rate of the synchro
> > so they spin less??
>
>Michel,
>I've had great luck with RedLine MTL. Come winter time you will not believe 
>how smooth your shifter will be no matter how cold the weather gets.
>
> > Hopefully I'm not due for a rebuild.  If it's the case, is it
> > better to rebuild (synchro only?) or buy a used one from a more
> > recent car? (models???) What is the lifespan of these tranny?
>
>Can't help you with rebuild questions since my 193K E30 is till on the 
>original tranny (knock on wood).
>Some digesters are into 250+K range on original trannies, while others had 
>already replaced theirs by 150K. I think transmission life span has 
>everything to do with proper maintenance and usage.

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