Drove through puddle, now cant get into gear!
 

Some help please,

went through a deep puddle and everything was fine, parked at work with no problems. when i left work the below happened

when the car is turned off i can use the clutch to get into all 5 gears and reverse
when the car is on, when the clutch is used it wont go into any gear
if i start the car with the clutch in and in first the car bounces forward.

others have mentioned the clutch delay valve or the clutch cylinder?? I dont think i need a new clutch, any advise would be appreciated!

Does the clutch pedal feel normal? Maybe the water got into the clutch and swelled the drive plate??

Did you also "bottom out" and have some other mechanical damage?

You car-turned-off shifting test doesn't mean too much. You don't need the clutch to work in order to shift car with the car turned off. That is, you can change gears with the car off without using the clutch.

When you try to start and it lurches forward, was the car in gear? If it was in gear, this is a solid indication that the clutch is not working somewhere after the clutch pedal. In the old days, you could try and start a car that was in gear without pushing in the clutch pedal. The result was a car that lurches forward. Modern cars have a switch that won't even allow the starter to operate unless the clutch pedal is push in. So, I'm thinking you tried to start the car with it in gear with the clutch pushed in.

Try starting the car with the car in neutral. Does it still lurch forward? If it still lurches forward, the car is in gear even if the shifter in in neutral. That would indicate a gear linkage problem.

If it doesn't lurch forward, the clutch isn't being released from the flywheel when you push down the clutch pedal. Most likely, you have a clutch hydraulic system failure. The clutch slave cylinder could have been damaged or the clutch hydraulic line severed.

Take a look at the brake fluid reservoir. The clutch hydraulic system uses brake fluid and the brake and clutch take it from the same brake fluid reservoir. It actually has two chambers inside the one piece of plastic. So, if you have a clutch hydraulic system failure, you don't also loose your brake fluid for the brakes :) This picture isn't great, but you can kind of see the two different fluid levels. CDV Delete/Replacement DIY - Page 3

So, take a look and see if part of the brake fluid reservoir is missing fluid from some part of it. That would indicate that there is no fluid in the clutch hydraulic system. No fluid and it will behave as you have described.

Update: wow cheers for that. garage called to say they have done nothing and the car can now get into gear when started! guess if it was water its now cleared up?!

That's strange I wonder if the friction material swelled up due to being wet?

Wow....Glad it all worked out. I'm really puzzled what it could have been.

Same... the clutch felt fine, if I started the car with the clutch fully down and in 1st it jumped forward like it wasn't engaged. Even the garage was confused, they rang BMW for advice. Just hope it doesn't come back, its not like I can wait 3 days in the car for it to clear....