3rd Gear shifter vibrations

[11135i]

I'm getting irregular vibrations when in said gear. I've never made a habit of resting my right hand on the shifter of any manual car but I've noticed on occasion that 3rd will occasionally vibrate in my hand more than any other gear. I will also notice it when I'm redlining through the gears and realize that 3rd is the odd stepchild in what are otherwise clean pulls. I can't replicate it on demand but I can feel a difference whenever I move to switch gears or rest my hand on the shifter sometimes.

I've never had issues being locked out of gears except when the engine is cold (shifts require a bit more dexterity) and never had any gears kick itself out before. All other gears seem to fall in line with the inherent smoothness of a balanced i6 but this one baffles me. It might all be in my head but it's starting to annoy me. Is 3rd gear just a bit looser or is it just closer to the engine?

[mblaber]

Shifting into 3rd is noticably less smooth than all other gears in my car. From day 1 it felt like the synchro gear had a slight issue and it would "bite" when upshifting into 3rd. Asked the dealer to look into it, but they said they "couldnt replicate" (which is dealerspeak for "dont have a clue what we are doing").

[Lester]

Have you tried the CDV delete? This is supposed to help a lot.

[11135i]

It's just the feeling when the gear is engaged and I'm driving in said gear. It's not a violent shaking of any sort but I'm just getting a increased amount of vibrations coming through the shifter when in 3rd gear.

CDV mod already done.

[Dackelone]

Maybe you have a bad(broken) motor mount or trans mount?

[1ToBeOn2Wheels]

Mine does this in 3rd gear as well, when the engine is under load that is.

[11135i]

Mounts seem fine, it's really a slight vibration in all gears, just that 3rd gear seems to be bit more shakey than the rest.

[SfValley335i]

Bump of an old post, Im having the same issue... is there a known fix?

[Dmacc]

Same thing happens with my car, it's always been this way, again only under load, but yes the shift knob does seem to vibrate a bit more under load in third than in any other gear. I'm glad others are having this issue to and its not isolated to my car!

It feels as though it is vibrating like it is going to pop out of gear under a heavy load, but it never does.

If a lot of other 6mt owners are experiencing this, I wouldn't be too worried about it

[SfValley335i]

Originally Posted by Dmacc

Same thing happens with my car, it's always been this way, again only under load, but yes the shift knob does seem to vibrate a bit more under load in third than in any other gear. I'm glad others are having this issue to and its not isolated to my car!

It feels as though it is vibrating like it is going to pop out of gear under a heavy load, but it never does.

If a lot of other 6mt owners are experiencing this, I wouldn't be too worried about it

Ive noticed my car only doesnt vibe in the AM. Mid afternoon drive home and under load it does vibe like an old car. Seems like the shifter is resting on the 3rd gears gate...

[Dackelone]

I still say its a bad or twisted motor(& or trans mount). I would looses both motor mounts(2) and both trans cradle mounts(2), then with them loose start and stop the engine a few times - so it shakes the motor into a neutral position. Then tighten everything up and go for a test drive.

Normally when one of these liquid fill mounts fails, you can't tell when one is bad other than a (increased) vibration. Its only when you pull one out, that you see the mount in two pieces, that it is bad.