First Gear resistance and rear-end whirr

Hi All,

I hope that you are well. I have been overly busy at the office which is a blessing these days if one works in the architecture and construction world. And to really top things off, I will summarize an e-mail conversation with my boss today. "Kelly - why did you send that e-mail to Ted. That was really dumb!" "Well, I sent it because I needed to check that we were complying with Ted's health and safety requirements. This way he can't sue for errors and omissions later." I really think that he is losing his mind, and now I have concrete evidence in writing. But I'll give him the benefit of the doubt; running a small business is never easy. This is not however the automotive problem.

First gear resistance - Sometimes Beemie resists going into first gear. In the past, the shift just slid very easily into first. But now there is a little pressure required. Sometimes I need to move the shifter just a hair to the right and then a hair to the left when pushing it forward into first. I asked the mechs about this. They said that my hydraulic clutch pressure was fine, and if there was wear inside the transmission it was impossible to teal without opening it which might just prove futile and expensive. So, I might just live with it unless you all have suggestions.

Wheel bearing whir - One day when driving on the highway I notices a whirring sound. I began to wonder if there was an old fashioned bi-plane in the distance, and I checked the mirrors. Sadly no planes appeared. Before too long, Beemie and I roll over to the mechs in order to address the first gear problem, and I tell them about the whir sound. He and I drive along the highway and the noise appears at 45mph. I head to work. Later he calls and says that the right wheel bearing needs to be replaced and the left on is a little noisy too. Once the right bearing is replaced and if the noise is gone, then the differential should be fine. Eventually, the left bearing will need to be changed too. On Monday, Beemie returns to the shop for the right bearing replacement. Do you have any deep thoughts?

Thanks,

Kelly

Hi Kelly,

Glad to hear that your business has enough work to keep you out of trouble

The rear wheel bearing sounds right on. I had one replaced and the mechanic wanted to do the other but I was on a budget. The other one never made any noise and was good for as long as I had the iX.

As for the shifting; could be a couple of things. How sloppy is the shifter? If it is quite sloppy and imprecise as to shifting positions, then it could just be that the shifter bushings need replacing; that doesn't require removal or dismantling the transmission.
If the shifter is still relatively tight and the shift positions are well defined; then it could be that the syncro rings inside the transmission are getting long in the tooth. That starts with hard shifting and progresses to occasional gear grinding during the shift.
First gear is usually the first to show signs followed by second and rarely for the remaining gears. I guess that is mostly due to the number of times we normally shit into and out of first and second with city driving.

Let's hope you just have a sloppy shifter and only need a new bushing kit.

If it is syncro rings; you can get by for a long time before it becomes a real pain and even then, you could learn to 'double clutch' and never need to open the tranny

Don't forget Kelly, some redline synthetic oil will help the shifting also. Sometimes it takes a few weeks for it to work into all the syncros etc but it will make things better and last longer.

Like said above, I would suspect first the shift linkage and bushings, before touching the gearbox itself.
Of course an oil change couldn't hurt, unless if it was just recently done.

Something interesting about shift linkage bushings, as i wrote before the BX (my old car) was stolen and recovered by the police. The reason it was abandoned way before it ran out of gas was because the shift linkage let go, and they couldn't change gear anymore!
In the process, the clutch was fried, and what could be a simple fix turned into a 200€ project.

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Kelly
Hi All,

I hope that you are well. I have been overly busy at the office which is a blessing these days if one works in the architecture and construction world. And to really top things off, I will summarize an e-mail conversation with my boss today. "Kelly - why did you send that e-mail to Ted. That was really dumb!" "Well, I sent it because I needed to check that we were complying with Ted's health and safety requirements. This way he can't sue for errors and omissions later." I really think that he is losing his mind, and now I have concrete evidence in writing. But I'll give him the benefit of the doubt; running a small business is never easy. This is not however the automotive problem.

...
Thanks,

Kelly

Hi Kelly, as you may know, I work at HVAC projects as an engineer. Sometimes our office looks exactly like "Hells Kitchen" the tv show, only we do projects instead of cooking...

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Jose Pinto

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Kelly
Hi All,

I hope that you are well. I have been overly busy at the office which is a blessing these days if one works in the architecture and construction world. And to really top things off, I will summarize an e-mail conversation with my boss today. "Kelly - why did you send that e-mail to Ted. That was really dumb!" "Well, I sent it because I needed to check that we were complying with Ted's health and safety requirements. This way he can't sue for errors and omissions later." I really think that he is losing his mind, and now I have concrete evidence in writing. But I'll give him the benefit of the doubt; running a small business is never easy. This is not however the automotive problem.

...
Thanks,

Kelly

Hi Kelly, as you may know, I work at HVAC projects as an engineer. Sometimes our office looks exactly like "Hells Kitchen" the tv show, only we do projects instead of cooking...

As usual, Jose - your rock. :-)

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Archeo-peteriX
Hi Kelly,

Glad to hear that your business has enough work to keep you out of trouble

The rear wheel bearing sounds right on. I had one replaced and the mechanic wanted to do the other but I was on a budget. The other one never made any noise and was good for as long as I had the iX.

As for the shifting; could be a couple of things. How sloppy is the shifter? If it is quite sloppy and imprecise as to shifting positions, then it could just be that the shifter bushings need replacing; that doesn't require removal or dismantling the transmission.
If the shifter is still relatively tight and the shift positions are well defined; then it could be that the syncro rings inside the transmission are getting long in the tooth. That starts with hard shifting and progresses to occasional gear grinding during the shift.
First gear is usually the first to show signs followed by second and rarely for the remaining gears. I guess that is mostly due to the number of times we normally shit into and out of first and second with city driving.

Let's hope you just have a sloppy shifter and only need a new bushing kit.

If it is syncro rings; you can get by for a long time before it becomes a real pain and even then, you could learn to 'double clutch' and never need to open the tranny

Hi Again,

Rear Whirl -

Well as you know, the right wheel bearing was replaced and the bi-plane whirring sound disappeared...for a while. Now there is a new whirring sound - softer this time around. And very predictable - at 2900 to 2950 engine RPM it appears. Most clearly in 4th gear, but it may occur in 3rd or 2nd gear as well. The sound's volume oscillates 2 seconds louder and 2 seconds softer and 2 sec louder and 2 sec softer. Maybe the left rear bearing is failing? (Please let it not be the Differential.)

Transmission and shifting -

And, for what it is worth, the transmission has Red Line fluid . Maybe I should have it changed?

Also, I do try to double clutch (Thanks Ferd!) during downshifting. San Francisco is a hilly city. I'm "pretty ok" at determining the correct engine speed but certainly not perfect. First gear is the most resistant. When I shift into first gear, sometimes i need to move my hand (and the shifter handle) just a tiny bit to the right (a mini-hand swerve) before moving forward into first, then the shifter goes easily into first. (The mechs think that perhaps I should not do the mini hand swerve and just push straight into first), Also, the mechs think that I should just ignore the problem. (But I beg you all to recall the story of the rear suspension problem when I told them for 6 months about the "banging noise" in the rear. Oh yes, it was the rear shocks and the right shock mount failing. ) I could ask them to check the shifter bearing again.

Any thoughts?

Thanks, Kelly

Hey Kelly

Try going in to 2nd and then up to 1st. See if that works.

The shifter has bushings and rubber mounts that get loose over time but usually, if the shifter goes into gear easily or not depends on the transmission (not always though). A good tell is what's in the drained oil....

Rick

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rkj
Hey Kelly

Try going in to 2nd and then up to 1st. See if that works.

The shifter has bushings and rubber mounts that get loose over time but usually, if the shifter goes into gear easily or not depends on the transmission (not always though). A good tell is what's in the drained oil....

Rick

Hi,

Rick - good to hear from you!

Yes, I often do the second then first maneuver. It helps.

For a few days the rear end whirr disappeared, but now it has returned. Tonight it was rather strong at 2400rpm on a 20 degree uphill.

Occasionally there is a little whine from the rear when I parallel park at very low speed naturally.

I wonder if now the left wheel bearing is failing.

So hard to know.

Peace, Kelly

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Kelly

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rkj
Hey Kelly

Try going in to 2nd and then up to 1st. See if that works.

The shifter has bushings and rubber mounts that get loose over time but usually, if the shifter goes into gear easily or not depends on the transmission (not always though). A good tell is what's in the drained oil....

Rick

Hi,

Rick - good to hear from you!

Yes, I often do the second then first maneuver. It helps.

For a few days the rear end whirr disappeared, but now it has returned. Tonight it was rather strong at 2400rpm on a 20 degree uphill.

Occasionally there is a little whine from the rear when I parallel park at very low speed naturally.

I wonder if now the left wheel bearing is failing.

So hard to know.

Peace, Kelly

Yup, it's hard to pin em down from here Kelly, but we keep tryin

Hi All,

Well, there is news on this topic. After a few months of waiting for the whirring noise to appear when someone else was in the car, I now have video!!! It only took a mear 2 hours to figure out how to post this iphone video which a friend emailed to me. iPads are such a conundrum.

So my colleague Lu and I drove north on Highway 101. The noise started. He thought my car was crying. He whiped out the iphone which recorded this video. When the video starts, you will hear a whirring noise in the background. Lu is in the passenger seat; I'm driving. Lu tells me to turn the wheel left and right a little bit. this will cause the whirring noise to stop momentarily. In the film. it looks like the car moves vertically up and down. This is an illusion created by the hand held camera. The noise occurs throughout the film clip. You will also hear me giggling a little and some crackling plastic noises. Don't worry about the crackling plastic noises, I think that is the plastic door pocket. The black blob on the dash is my gloves.




This is a (semi) private link on YouTube. I am told that you cannot search for this with the search functions.

After dropping Lu at his car, I drove to the mechanics. A mech took a little ride with me. Beemie started making the noise again. Now he thinks the noise is the parking brake.

What do you guys think? If the link does not work, then let me know and I'll repost. To me, the noise sound like an owl in the distance issuing continuous hooting noise.


Cheers, Kelly

Rear wheel bearing! I had the exact same happen on the iX. It will eventually get louder to the point where you can almost not stand the howling it will make.
Don't wait until it gets that bad because it can ruin the hub and axle.

As a quick test; after you driven it for a while; stop and feel the center of the rear wheels. One is going to be very warm if no hot. That's the one that needs the new bearing.

If the parking brake is involved, it should change the sound if the parking brake is gently applied while the noise is there and it should change noticeably. My first thought with the variation in left turn to right turn is that there is a wheel bearing that is worn and become noisy. On each wheel hub there will be two bearings, an inner bearing and an outer bearing. Usually they are capable of some side load to keep the wheel from moving from side to side on the axel. The inner bearing would resist side load from one direction and the outer bearing would resist side load from the opposite direction so when turning, one bearing is side loaded. Turning the opposite direction side loads the other bearing. So, I am thinking it is the inner bearing on the right side of the car or the outer bearing on the left side of the car. The important thing is to find out which side of the car has the bad bearing and replace both bearings on that one. As Peter has said, the one that gets hot is the bad one.

Bob in Lake Havasu

I third the wheel bearing diagnosis. I don't know why it has to be the rear one, since I've heard front wheel bearings also make strange noises (though not like yours). But Peter is probably more well-versed in this! But yeah, after you've driven it a while, feel all four hubs to see which one is hot. Since it seems to happen when the car is turning left, my bet is a right-side wheel.

__________
Dave
'91 325iX

Hey Kelly,

Other than Rick(I think) you are the first to show us your face

It just goes to show how often we get totally false impressions...I had visualized you as having auburn or even reddish coloured hair worn much longer.

I like that we have a good looking young female E30 enthusiast here on the forum. You add a lot of class to this place

So; do you think we should do a 'what do you look like thread? Could be fun

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Archeo-peteriX
Hey Kelly,

Other than Rick(I think) you are the first to show us your face

It just goes to show how often we get totally false impressions...I had visualized you as having auburn or even reddish coloured hair worn much longer.

I like that we have a good looking young female E30 enthusiast here on the forum. You add a lot of class to this place

So; do you think we should do a 'what do you look like thread? Could be fun

If it wasn't for Kelly, this place would have very little class, no offense to the boys...
I think I had posted something with my face on, not that anyone cares...
Ferdinand has posted movies all over, he is kind of a celebrity where he lives.
I have the idea I have seen some of Peter's pictures here some time ago.

I don't know if there would be a good idea to turn BENN into some "e-30 facebook"...

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Jose Pinto

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Archeo-peteriX
Hey Kelly,

Other than Rick(I think) you are the first to show us your face

It just goes to show how often we get totally false impressions...I had visualized you as having auburn or even reddish coloured hair worn much longer.

I like that we have a good looking young female E30 enthusiast here on the forum. You add a lot of class to this place

So; do you think we should do a 'what do you look like thread? Could be fun

If it wasn't for Kelly, this place would have very little class, no offense to the boys...
I think I had posted something with my face on, not that anyone cares...
Ferdinand has posted movies all over, he is kind of a celebrity where he lives.
I have the idea I have seen some of Peter's pictures here some time ago.

I don't know if there would be a good idea to turn BENN into some "e-30 facebook"...

I guess you're probably right...we don't want to make Interpol's job easier

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Archeo-peteriX
It just goes to show how often we get totally false impressions...I had visualized you as having auburn or even reddish coloured hair worn much longer.

Funny, I was having the same virtual image...

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Jose Pinto
I don't know if there would be a good idea to turn BENN into some "e-30 facebook"...

There is one, here. I created it once the site went down for whatever reason so we could meet up there and see when this site came back to life, there were some members but at some point the facebook groups changed and I was the only one left in there.

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Michiel 318iS

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Archeo-peteriX
It just goes to show how often we get totally false impressions...I had visualized you as having auburn or even reddish coloured hair worn much longer.

Funny, I was having the same virtual image...

Women often change their hair style, and I love them for that!

Is funny how we put faces on people we never met in person, like when you talk to someone on the phone and try to imagine how he/she looks like...

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Kelly
Hi All,

Well, there is news on this topic. After a few months of waiting for the whirring noise to appear when someone else was in the car, I now have video!!! It only took a mear 2 hours to figure out how to post this iphone video which a friend emailed to me. iPads are such a conundrum.

So my colleague Lu and I drove north on Highway 101. The noise started. He thought my car was crying. He whiped out the iphone which recorded this video. When the video starts, you will hear a whirring noise in the background. Lu is in the passenger seat; I'm driving. Lu tells me to turn the wheel left and right a little bit. this will cause the whirring noise to stop momentarily. In the film. it looks like the car moves vertically up and down. This is an illusion created by the hand held camera. The noise occurs throughout the film clip. You will also hear me giggling a little and some crackling plastic noises. Don't worry about the crackling plastic noises, I think that is the plastic door pocket. The black blob on the dash is my gloves.




This is a (semi) private link on YouTube. I am told that you cannot search for this with the search functions.

After dropping Lu at his car, I drove to the mechanics. A mech took a little ride with me. Beemie started making the noise again. Now he thinks the noise is the parking brake.

What do you guys think? If the link does not work, then let me know and I'll repost. To me, the noise sound like an owl in the distance issuing continuous hooting noise.


Cheers, Kelly

This movie gave me an idea. Know that iphone app to recognize music? There could be one to diagnose car problems by the sound, only thing needed was a library of car problems to look up.
What do you think? Will tell my geek friends about this.

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Jose Pinto

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Kelly
Hi All,

Well, there is news on this topic. After a few months of waiting for the whirring noise to appear when someone else was in the car, I now have video!!! It only took a mear 2 hours to figure out how to post this iphone video which a friend emailed to me. iPads are such a conundrum.

So my colleague Lu and I drove north on Highway 101. The noise started. He thought my car was crying. He whiped out the iphone which recorded this video. When the video starts, you will hear a whirring noise in the background. Lu is in the passenger seat; I'm driving. Lu tells me to turn the wheel left and right a little bit. this will cause the whirring noise to stop momentarily. In the film. it looks like the car moves vertically up and down. This is an illusion created by the hand held camera. The noise occurs throughout the film clip. You will also hear me giggling a little and some crackling plastic noises. Don't worry about the crackling plastic noises, I think that is the plastic door pocket. The black blob on the dash is my gloves.




This is a (semi) private link on YouTube. I am told that you cannot search for this with the search functions.

After dropping Lu at his car, I drove to the mechanics. A mech took a little ride with me. Beemie started making the noise again. Now he thinks the noise is the parking brake.

What do you guys think? If the link does not work, then let me know and I'll repost. To me, the noise sound like an owl in the distance issuing continuous hooting noise.


Cheers, Kelly

This movie gave me an idea. Know that iphone app to recognize music? There could be one to diagnose car problems by the sound, only thing needed was a library of car problems to look up.
What do you think? Will tell my geek friends about this.

Dear Friends including Peter, Jose, Rick, and Everyone,

Dare I propose that the "classiness of the joint" question is really the "chicken and the egg" question. The BEN forum established a lovely and respectful tone long before I arrived 6 years ago. I probably have the least technical expertise to share, but I try to compensate for that with general good humor and amusing stories. :-) I'm not all tht young really. But I can see how the video gave that impression due to the giggling. I'm 45 and proud of this. I have had many different hair colors in my life. For awhile, I did dye my hear dark red brown. My genetics give me mousey blond hair which is now has quite a bit of white grey as well. I find this dramatic, and I roll with it.

Moving on to the whiring noise, it has been largley resolved. DRUM ROLL PLEASE..... THE ANSWER IS.....from left field if you are a baseball fan....

Failing right front brake cailper!!!!!!

The mechs found irregular wear on the right front brake pads which worried them. Beemie now has new front brake pads, calipers, rotors, and lines. I knew they were nervous when they said they replaced the lines as well. This work occured 3 weeks ago. the noise has not recurred since then. However, It may be two months more before I will know if the noise is truely gone.

Sorry this post is so long over due.

Be well, Kelly

Kelly, It's better to replace brake lines that look durable, than have them burst when you really want to slow down!
Don't ask me how I know!

And while we are into this, I will be 40 soon, and never felt better in my life!

Hi All,

Yet again it has been ages! The good news is that I have only good news!

Well, I think I told you that last year one rear wheel bearing was replaced by the BMW specialist mechanics. All was well until Jan 2015 when the rear end whirl or whine returned. I notice this most when driving up or down helical parking garage ramps. Finally this month I had time to return Beemie the the BMW specialists. The diagnosis is "The noise is from your diff. It's the internal gears chattering. Pay no attention to this. For the type of driving you do (i.e. normal street driving) this is mechanically inconsequential. We changed the diff fluid to the purple type. We hope this reduces the noise." They also replaced the broken speedo gears in the instrument cluster and services the driver's door electrical connector that was causing all types of central locking troubles.

Well, I will admit to a car-o-condriac traits. I imagined the wheel flying off Beemie at some inopportune moment.

Other than the "weak paint," as named by the OCD detailer, all is well. I have other news, but that is another post.

Hugs, Kelly

The purple oil type you mention, is probably Royal Purple, which is a good brand.

"Only good news" is fantastic!



Here, on the contrary, both my cars have a "waiting list" of small things needing to be fixed.


Cheers!

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Kelly
Hi All,

Yet again it has been ages! The good news is that I have only good news!

Well, I think I told you that last year one rear wheel bearing was replaced by the BMW specialist mechanics. All was well until Jan 2015 when the rear end whirl or whine returned. I notice this most when driving up or down helical parking garage ramps. Finally this month I had time to return Beemie the the BMW specialists. The diagnosis is "The noise is from your diff. It's the internal gears chattering. Pay no attention to this. For the type of driving you do (i.e. normal street driving) this is mechanically inconsequential. We changed the diff fluid to the purple type. We hope this reduces the noise." They also replaced the broken speedo gears in the instrument cluster and services the driver's door electrical connector that was causing all types of central locking troubles.

Well, I will admit to a car-o-condriac traits. I imagined the wheel flying off Beemie at some inopportune moment.

Other than the "weak paint," as named by the OCD detailer, all is well. I have other news, but that is another post.



Hugs, Kelly

There was an additive I used to use to help with the chattering clutches too, I think nowadays it's syntheic but still might help.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/05/2015 07:37PM by rkj.