i have the 540i w/sport pkg. it's a 2002 and has about 47,000 mi. it seems like the second gear 'pops out' when engaged but goes back in easily and stays. any ideas as to why this is happening.
Previous owner may have had it removed or replaced with a modified one Does it pop out of second every time and you have to repeat trying to get into second before it "sticks"? i.e. is it consistently repeatable? If the answer is no then is the symptom apparent when the car (and hence the gear box is cold)? If it does it when the car is cold then I can only recommend getting the gear box hypoid oil (must be the specified viscosity/rating etc) changed and have the mechanic (or yourself if DIYing) check to see if the CDV is still there. The CDV could have been replaced with a modified one in which case you won't be able to tell if it is a modified (bored out) one unless it is removed and inspected. But don't change the CDV yet as I am not sure given the symptoms that it is required. At least if the problem does not go away with a simple hypoid oil change you have performed a cheap preventive maintenance item (especially if the time/vehicle mileage of the previous gear box oil change is unknown) while trying to root cause the problem. Please do let us know how it turns out....Good Luck! Matt
as a footnote, look into Redline for your gearbox (MTL) I drove an e39 530i MT and a 540i MT, and it was hard to pull off crisp shifts and smooth engagement. (get that CDV outta there, if it's still there.)
My '99 540 6 speed has a similar issue But my problem is with 4th gear. Sometimes it feels like I've got the lever fully in 4th gear when that's not the case, and it will pop out during engagement. So I'm more careful to make sure I've got the lever as far into 4th as it will go, and I have no issues when I've done that. The problem is not bad on my car, particularly since I changed out the transmission fluid for Redline MTL. The worst thing with my car was the CDV, but that's a thing of the past (removed it one week after purchase).
