Rookie lol keep practicing

 

I deleted the CDV in our E61... MUCH better, but I'd still like to find the clutch pedal travel to be a bit long, and, on occasion, I too find the gas/clutch pedal timing to be awkward.

HTH,
Jim / crewzer

 

Most beginners are taught to take their foot off the gas pedal, depress the clutch, shift to the next gear, bring the clutch back to the friction point, then carefully reapply the gas as the clutch continues into full engagement. This works, but it's slow and often leads to clutch engagement at too low an engine speed...resulting in jerking, or too high...resulting in a power shift. The real trick for a smooth shift is the position of the gas pedal, i.e. engine speed, at the point of initial clutch engagement. If the engine side matches the transmission side, you have a smooth shift with no clutch wear.

For smoothest and fastest downshifting...keep the gas pedal in the same position from before clutch depression and gear change until it's complete. Shift fairly quickly. I know, it sounds strange, but it works well if done right and doesn't jar the drive train at all. I've never had to replace a clutch. Keeping the gas pedal in roughly the same position through the downshift allows a rise in the engine speed to match the lower gear.

For smoothest upshifting...keep the gas pedal depressed somewhat but not as far as for downshifting as described above and shift quickly. Again, very smooth, no jarring. perfect rev-matching. Keeping the gas pedal depressed somewhat prevents the engine speed from dropping so far that it can't catch up to the transmission speed fast enough and saves you from hunting for the right speed.

For starting on a hill...with foot still on the brake raise the clutch pedal to the point where it starts to generate a little friction but not enough engagement to move the car (you'll notice a slight drop in engine speed), then take your foot off the brake and give it gas as you fully engage the clutch. No worries about rolling back or killing the engine. Works like a charm.

 

+1

 

learn to drive in England!

 

Your clutch leg should be almost, but not quite fully extended when holding the clutch fully down. This allows your ankle to flex giving better fine control.

Do not look at the rev counter, you need to hear/feel the revs.

Clutch needs to pause, at the bite point on the way up after a gear change, at the same point go on the gas just enough to match engine and road speed.

DO NOT rush gear changes, smooth hand movements = smooth foot movements.

Can you hold the car still on a hill with no brakes, just using clutch?

When you can do this, then creep it forward 3 feet, then hold it still, then roll it back 3 feet, then hold it still. This will help you feel the bite point and realise how sensitive it is, it moves very little to change forward motion to backwards.

Then practice more!

Or come to the UK and I'll give you a free lesson, I teach this for a living :-)

 

Most of the advice here is good... Although it's not an option for most, riding motorcycles will also make you a MUCH better manual transmission driver in general! You think a manual BMW car is sensitive (which it is compared to other cars), hop on a BMW sportbike! The clutch on most high performance manuals is not linear and the friction zone is often very short, so feathering takes a lot of practice to get good at knowing exactly where the friction zone starts and ends and working your way in and out smoothly with just the right amount of gas.

 

Very simple.....PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!!

 

What the heck are you doing PRACTICING on a BMW?

 

Good point. Much better to practice on someone else's BMW. Or pretty much any rental car outside North America.