E46 GEAR LINKAGE

[MPJ41]

hi
on my 323i v reg e46 bmw, occassionally the movement in the neutral position becomes very slack.the gate to go into reverse is still there but the gate to go into 5th dissapears!with in a few gearchanges it comes back, is there a bush or something that wears and needs replacing.cheers

[daver]

My 2000 E46 330 doesn't like being put in 5th too early into a trip before everything is nice and warm. Well, it's OK going into 5th but going back through the gears afterwards it can sometimes be difficult locating 3rd. I've spoken to the indie who looks after the car for me (Munich Motors) and they've come across this on other cars but there doesn't seem to be a known cure.