I just purchased an 02 E46 a few weeks ago. The car has only 32,000 miles and runs great. Yesterday I was simply accelerating on the freeway on-ramp and shifted from 2nd to 3rd and the car would not come out of 2nd. The shifter is stuck in neutral position but will not come out of 2nd. I pulled the boot and everything looks good. I will be jacking it up tomorrow to see if the linkage is blocked by something or hung up, but I am afraid it is not. The shifter will not move to the left, up or down but will move slightly to the right. Any ideas? Do these transmissions have problems? I am seeing some mixed feedback on the forum. What should I try when I pull the thing apart? I don’t know what to do?

sounds like maybe a broken selector rod. if the link is damaged, you will lack the proper force and direction to shift and it will jam up. but thats just my guess. if you drop the tranny yourself, go for it. but I would have a shop look at it.