i got 325i w/MT
took a couple of lessons on driving the stick and now practicing on my car.... i have some questions

1. what are the shifting points for gears? rpm or speedo-wise? if it's upto the driver, what system do u use?

2. do u clutch in when going into the turn (i mean when u re in 3rd or 2nd gear in the city)? i been driving through the turns in 2nd gear just releasing the gas but read that u should clutch in.... so i m confused...

3. i was going 60mi/hr in 6th gear up a long lasting hill (not too extreme of a hill - it was in the city) but felt it was hard for the car (maybe it wasnt but i thought it might) so i donwshifted to 5th and tried to gain more speed as a result the rmps went high but car wasnt really a rocket, so i shifted to 6th again and smelled some bad "farting" smell in the car.... burned the clutch a little?

4. stop n go traffic: it this ok to keep the clutch in while waiting for traffic to move (talking about short wait)

5. my car doent have much power in 1st gear, to make it run in 1st i'd need to go to high rmp and it revs too much.... what am i doing wrong?

6. any advice on larning how to go btwn gears smoth? i go smoth from 1st, but once i start shifting to 2nd and then 3rd the car jerks a little... no prob with higher gears though....


thnx in advance

All good questions IMO, hope someone will help, I can't as I am waiting for my new car to get here. I ordered a manual, which I haven't driven a manual in about 15 years (other than the test drive). As delivery gets closer, I have more and more questions similiar to yours running around in my head too! I will keep an eye on this thread, I am sure someone will help out.

Good Luck!

i got 325i w/MT
took a couple of lessons on driving the stick and now practicing on my car.... i have some questions

1. what are the shifting points for gears? rpm or speedo-wise? if it's upto the driver, what system do u use?

2. do u clutch in when going into the turn (i mean when u re in 3rd or 2nd gear in the city)? i been driving through the turns in 2nd gear just releasing the gas but read that u should clutch in.... so i m confused...

3. i was going 60mi/hr in 6th gear up a long lasting hill (not too extreme of a hill - it was in the city) but felt it was hard for the car (maybe it wasnt but i thought it might) so i donwshifted to 5th and tried to gain more speed as a result the rmps went high but car wasnt really a rocket, so i shifted to 6th again and smelled some bad "farting" smell in the car.... burned the clutch a little?

4. stop n go traffic: it this ok to keep the clutch in while waiting for traffic to move (talking about short wait)

5. my car doent have much power in 1st gear, to make it run in 1st i'd need to go to high rmp and it revs too much.... what am i doing wrong?

6. any advice on larning how to go btwn gears smoth? i go smoth from 1st, but once i start shifting to 2nd and then 3rd the car jerks a little... no prob with higher gears though....

thnx in advance

The best advice I can give you is listen to your car. For example, if you shift from one gear to another and the car feels unresponsive, you shifted too early. If you are going downhill, you can shift earlier. If you are going uphill, you'll have to hold the gear longer. I have an E90 328 with 6MT. On level ground, it pulls from around 2000 RPM so I try to keep the RPM higher than that.

Here's a few more things I do:

- I put the car in neutral and pull out the clutch at long traffic lights or if there are cars in front of me (gives me time to shift into 1st).
- I keep the car in gear when turning so I have power if I need it.
- I don't rush the shifts to give gears time to mesh, especially when the tranny is cold. If its very cold, I'll double clutch between gears.
- I avoid revving the engine until it warms up.

Hope that helps.

1. It depends on how you're driving. The main thing is not to lug the engine by running too low rpm. If the rpm are too low the car will buck like it doesn't want to go; this is bad for the engine. When you want to go fast, shift at higher rpm, that's it's made for. Redline is not something to be feared.

2. You should do all your shifting and most of your braking before the turn. A little trail braking into a turn is OK, but you should be slightly on the throttle through the turn to keep the rear end planted. If you lift off the throttle in mid turn, the back end will come out if you at the limit of adhesion.

3. You should downshift for steep hills. Note my comments on lugging the engine in #1.

4. It's not good practice to hold the clutch in for too long, but a several seconds isn't too bad. If you can, just creep in a lower gear so you don't have to clutch. Of course in some traffic this can open you up for people to cut in front of you. When the clutch is all the way in or all the way out, there's not much wear, it's in between the most wear happens.

5. It could be technique or it could be the clutch. You could have someone more experienced drive it and get their opinion.

6. Practice, practice, practice. Work on releasing the clutch slowly and smoothly while applying the gas. Of course the most clutch damage occurs when applying gas with the clutch partially depressed, so take it easy as you practice.

1. what are the shifting points for gears? rpm or speedo-wise? if it's upto the driver, what system do u use?

RPM. You'll have to feel the car and learn what is the sweet spot at the lowest RPM that provides enough power to keep moving. To decrease the consumption, you'll have to learn to upshift as soon as the RPM's for the next gear hits that spot. I can't help you on fuel as I've always been a diesel fan, but for example in a diesel one can (in average) use 3k to upshift and pick the next gear at 2k, thus without revving too much and consuming a lot.

2. do u clutch in when going into the turn (i mean when u re in 3rd or 2nd gear in the city)? i been driving through the turns in 2nd gear just releasing the gas but read that u should clutch in.... so i m confused...

Never leave gear (go to neutral) or press the clutch when you're moving. Always keep a gear on, which helps you breaking/decreasing speed without touching the break pedal, and allows you to re-speed up in case of "panic". Even when you're stopping, you can delay the clutch pressing up to the last minute, a second before the car starts jerking in low revv.

3. i was going 60mi/hr in 6th gear up a long lasting hill (not too extreme of a hill - it was in the city) but felt it was hard for the car (maybe it wasnt but i thought it might) so i donwshifted to 5th and tried to gain more speed as a result the rmps went high but car wasnt really a rocket, so i shifted to 6th again and smelled some bad "farting" smell in the car.... burned the clutch a little?

You can't burn the clutch unless you're pressing half the pedal for some seconds. Don't worry with that.

4. stop n go traffic: it this ok to keep the clutch in while waiting for traffic to move (talking about short wait)

The less you keep the clutch pressed, the longer it lives. As the other comment says, if you're behind a car, you'll have plenty of time to press the clutch and get first gear. If you live in a stressed city where people (specially taxis) will horn you if you take more than 0.1 sec to start, then it might be worth to keep the first engaged and the clutch depressed to avoid those situations. But avoid it as much as possible. And avoid one bad habit I have which is keeping the foot on the pedal, pressing it a little bit. This is enough to engage the clutch and decrease the live of the rolling things.

5. my car doent have much power in 1st gear, to make it run in 1st i'd need to go to high rmp and it revs too much.... what am i doing wrong?

Get a diesel ;) kidding. The first gear is just to get the car moving. Then go to second.

6. any advice on larning how to go btwn gears smoth? i go smoth from 1st, but once i start shifting to 2nd and then 3rd the car jerks a little... no prob with higher gears though....

You need to learn to depress/release the accelerator to sync the revs with the expected ones on the next gear, and to be gentler with the clutch. Start with releasing the clutch really smooth, even if you're killing it a little bit, and try to learn where to put the accelerator to match it. Then when you get better with the accelerator position, you can be faster releasing the clutch and sparing it.

Remember: pressing the clutch wastes the rollings. half-pressing the clutch (the act of pressing and releasing) wastes the clutch itself.

1. It depends on how you're driving. The main thing is not to lug the engine by running too low rpm. If the rpm are too low the car will buck like it doesn't want to go; this is bad for the engine. When you want to go fast, shift at higher rpm, that's it's made for. Redline is not something to be feared.


what is considered low, normal, and high rpm ranges for our cars? is it diff by gear?

please elaborate on this topic...

thnx

what is considered low, normal, and high rpm ranges for our cars? is it diff by gear?

please elaborate on this topic...

thnx

It's different car by car - depends on fuel vs. diesel, how much power the engine has, the torque curve, the effort the car needs to perform (hill vs descend, one person vs. a lot, etc.), and also a little bit on the gear, as expected - it's easier to jerk a shift between lower gears than on high gears.

You really need to try it and "feel" it. There are no rules or math here.

For example.

Go first, then second, and go up to 4-5k (1k less than redline for example). Then press the clutch and put the third. Now press the accelerator to 2k and slowly depress the clutch. Now feel the car and see if it needs you to accelerate more or less. Press the clutch, accelerate less or more, and depress the clutch again until you feel it.

Then, as the car is going slower every time you repeat this, see how low you can go without making the car go jerky on low revvs. As I said, on a diesel ~2k is a great spot, but on your car you might need more, or might be powerful enough to need less.

I really believe that driving a manual is more about feel than anything else. You learn your car and develop a "realationship" with it. It just takes a little time. That said:


1. what are the shifting points for gears? rpm or speedo-wise? if it's upto the driver, what system do u use?
Listen to your car. You'll know when you're lugging it (ie., the RPMs are too low) because the engine will shake a bit. Avoid that. If you sense the engine is lugging either accelerate or downshift. You'll get the hang of it soon enough.




2. do u clutch in when going into the turn (i mean when u re in 3rd or 2nd gear in the city)? i been driving through the turns in 2nd gear just releasing the gas but read that u should clutch in.... so i m confused...I downshift or brake to slow down before I turn. That's not to say I don't enjoy accelerating out of a turn! IMHO that's one of the great pleasures of driving a manual. Downshift to get the RPMs up there before the turn in order to 1) slow you down to safely turn, and 2) to zoom out of it the moment before the turn straightens out!:D




3. i was going 60mi/hr in 6th gear up a long lasting hill (not too extreme of a hill - it was in the city) but felt it was hard for the car (maybe it wasnt but i thought it might) so i donwshifted to 5th and tried to gain more speed as a result the rmps went high but car wasnt really a rocket, so i shifted to 6th again and smelled some bad "farting" smell in the car.... burned the clutch a little?Downshift and accelerate up steep hills. This is the same as telling you not to lug the engine. I wouldn't worry about the smell. Unless you have the clutch in too long while accelerating then you aren't going to burn your clutch.




4. stop n go traffic: it this ok to keep the clutch in while waiting for traffic to move (talking about short wait)As much as you can, try to keep it in a the lowest possible gear. That'll help you 1) accelerate faster if you need to, and 2) slow down faster if you need to. And you have a lot more range of speed in one lower gear than you might think, so there's usually not that much of a need to continually shift gears. When I'm in bumper to bumper highway traffic, I make it a point to allow more room between me and the car in front of me. That allows me to stay in the same gear to both accelerate and gives me the room to let the gear slow the car down for me. And there's nothing wrong with having the clutch in for a few seconds here and there. Just don't have your left foot rest on the clutch in anticipation of shifting gears.




5. my car doent have much power in 1st gear, to make it run in 1st i'd need to go to high rmp and it revs too much.... what am i doing wrong?There's no reason to spend a lot of time in first. Get your RPMs up and shift to second. I've often started in second gear for fuel economy's sake, and so that I don't have to mess with shifting immediately after I start. BTW, lots of automatics are designed to start you off in second gear.




6. any advice on larning how to go btwn gears smoth? i go smoth from 1st, but once i start shifting to 2nd and then 3rd the car jerks a little... no prob with higher gears though....You just need to get used to your car. I've driven manuals for more than 30 years, and when I first test drove a new 328i in manual it jerked around a bit. After a few minutes of test driving it was lot smoother, and if I drove it for more than a few days to a week it'd become second nature. Actually, that's one of the beauties of a manual transmission: you develop more of a relationship with your car.

There is definitely a great experience someone can have with a car when they learn to drive a manual transmission smoothly. You will get the hang of it.

I would say that the one thing you have with a manual transmission is the flexibility to choose your shift points depending on how you feel and what you want to do. Somewhere between 2500 and 3000 rpm will get you smooth shifts and modest acceleration. The intuitive thing you will learn is that there is a shift point that makes the transition from gear to gear the smoothest. There are a few things you should get in the habit of early.

First, when braking, brake first and depress the clutch as you come near a stop. You shouldn't get used to braking by depressing the clutching first.

Second, always try and shift before you get to a corner. Actually you should always brake BEFORE entering a corner and technically not brake through a corner.

Third, when down shifting, it is not necessary to downshift in sequence, you can downshift to 4th from 6th to accelerate briskly. I don't have a manual 325, but I would think if you want to accelerate 4th, or even 3rd at the right speed will get you moving quickly.

Fourth, respect the tachometer. It will tell you how fast the engine is revving and obviously, if the tach's needle is needle is getting to the red line, you're going to have to change gears. Learn where the range on the tach gives you the most benefit from changing gears to accelerate.

Finally, all of this will become intuitive after a while. You'll here and feel when to shift gears and the response you can expect from that. When you've mastered all that, you can practice "blipping the throttle" that will give you smooth downshifts as you keep the revs to the ideal point.

Have fun.

When I'm playing with the car, I keep the revs between 3000 to 4000 RPM's. On acceleration, you will get an 800- 1000 RPM drop between normal shifts. I don't speed shift, as it's hard on the equipment, humble opinion. According to graphs in European Car Performance, the max hp output at 5800RPM's, and bleeds off up to the redline of 7100RPM's. Seems to be accurate in my limited 5 month experience, I never push it above 6000 RPM's, it's really unnecassary in the real world.
When decelerating 3000 RPM's with a good rev double clutch will give you an RPM around 3900 to 4000 RPM's. You are in the band for acceleration if needed, and engine deceleration comes down nicely. The power band is very smooth in this car with the twin turbos, but the car starts really coming alive around 2600 RPM's. The 335 makes really good low end torque and peaks at 2800 RPM's on the same graph listed above. You'll get the feel for it when you get you car. BMW recommends a 1000 mile break in period, keeping the RPM's below 4000, and I kept to it, but it is hard to do! The car loves to run.

Those are good rough "gouge numbers." You can build your driving stryle off of those.

I would keep driving that beater car you were learning on before driving your new 3 if your that inexperienced.

If you have to ask how to drive a car on a forum, you should have gotten a Prius!

There's no reason to spend a lot of time in first. Get your RPMs up and shift to second. I've often started in second gear for fuel economy's sake, and so that I don't have to mess with shifting immediately after I start. BTW, lots of automatics are designed to start you off in second gear.


Yeah, the manual mode of the Steptronic completely bypasses 1st gear by default.. You could downshift to 1st if you wanted to, but it always starts in 2nd gear from what I've noticed..

Go slow and learn as you feel the car move. I have never gone by numbers for the shifting. see what the car feels like!!!!! Clutch movement should be quick in and slow out. you will figure this out. If not, get a prius!!!!!!
HTH!!

All good questions IMO, hope someone will help, I can't as I am waiting for my new car to get here. I ordered a manual, which I haven't driven a manual in about 15 years (other than the test drive). As delivery gets closer, I have more and more questions similiar to yours running around in my head too! I will keep an eye on this thread, I am sure someone will help out.

Good Luck!

Ha, similar to my situation. Looking to buy a 335xi manual but I haven't driven a manual since I learned to drive in one over 10 years ago. Did the salesman sit with you on your test drive? I didn't want to stall with him in the car so I just test drove the automatic, lol.

i just wanted to say i appreciate all the helpful advice/response here....
i got to try some and it did help however i m still learning... since i live and work in the city i dont drive it much enough to get used to all the technique that quick but i m getting there and now it feels a lot better....

to ppl suggesting getting a prius/whatever - i never get it... if u dont want to contribute/help, then dont... your suggestion on "prius" is useless, so (being nice) keep it to urself.....