'87 BMW 325 not shifting into gears

This is 1987 BMW 325i, 5-speed, with 185K miles.
Today it suddenly stopped shifting into gears - all gears when the
engine is running. It will only shift into gears if the engine is
turned off. Why is this happening? Could it be the clutch going bad?

SQ wrote:
> This is 1987 BMW 325i, 5-speed, with 185K miles.
> Today it suddenly stopped shifting into gears - all gears when the
> engine is running. It will only shift into gears if the engine is
> turned off. Why is this happening? Could it be the clutch going bad?

If you try to force it with the engine on do you get gears grinding?
how does the clutch pedal feel? First guess on my part is clutch
hydraulics are going bad and the clutch is now not disengaging.

nate

The most common cause of this problem is a bad clutch slave cylinder.

N8N wrote:
>
> SQ wrote:
> > This is 1987 BMW 325i, 5-speed, with 185K miles.
> > Today it suddenly stopped shifting into gears - all gears when the
> > engine is running. It will only shift into gears if the engine is
> > turned off. Why is this happening? Could it be the clutch going bad?
>
> If you try to force it with the engine on do you get gears grinding?
> how does the clutch pedal feel? First guess on my part is clutch
> hydraulics are going bad and the clutch is now not disengaging.
>
> nate

--
Mike Walsh
West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S.A.

"SQ" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> This is 1987 BMW 325i, 5-speed, with 185K miles.
> Today it suddenly stopped shifting into gears - all gears when the
> engine is running. It will only shift into gears if the engine is
> turned off. Why is this happening? Could it be the clutch going bad?
>
FIRST check that fluid level lies within its marked limits on the
reservoir. Try pumping the clutch pedal several times, just as you would
pump up a brake pedal on its master cylinder. If this gives you better
clutching action you can rest assured it's in the hydraulics. HTH, s

SQ > wrote:
>This is 1987 BMW 325i, 5-speed, with 185K miles.
>Today it suddenly stopped shifting into gears - all gears when the
>engine is running. It will only shift into gears if the engine is
>turned off. Why is this happening? Could it be the clutch going bad?

The clutch is not working at all. Given that it's a BMW of that era,
I'd first suggest the clutch master cylinder. If it hasn't been rebuilt
yet, it should probably be done whether it needs it or not because they
all fail.

Swapping out the piston from the master cylinder is a pain because you
have to get under the dash, but it's much easier than changing the
clutch.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."