How to fix the leaning fifth gear in BMW ZF gearbox

Welcome to the Sipa's BMW garage.
This time we are going to fix the leaning fifth gear in this ZF s5d 320z gearbox.
Which can be found for example from e36 328 and 5-speed e36 m3.
And also you could find one in 528 e39.
Also these can be found bolted 2,5 litre m52 engines.
And even from 5-speed 330 e46.
These have common problem that the fifth gear doesn't work properly like this.
It just smoothly just swing to fifth gear just like this does.
But usually this is sticking when you try to shift to fifth gear.
Or in works case the shifter just leans to the fifth gear all the time.
So it can be broken in many ways.
But the reason for that is just one pin.
Like in this another transmission.
In which the pin is totally jammed and it leans to fifth gear all the time.
Because this should be straight like this.
And not lean like this.
So this needs to be fixed.
But this one is just fine.
So because this is broken, we are going to fix this.
Well. How can we fix this.
Fixing the gearbox might sound like tricky thing to do.
And that is normally the case.
But this is much easier because we don't need to take the transmission apart.
But the pin we need to access can be found under these plugs.
One is for reverse gear and another is for fifth gear.
But I don't currently remember which one is which.
So I have to check that first from Google.
That's because the reverse works just fine like this. So we don't need to touch that.
And we only fix the fifth gear.
But I will check that and then we continue.
Aand I looked that and the lower one is for fifth gear.
And the upper one is for reverse. So we will open this lower one.
And lets see how it looks like.
So lets try to open that cap.
You need this kind of snap ring tool to do this.
And I have to wrong on for this kind of snap ring.
Well i make it work.
You need to buy new cap for this because this probably doesn't come off in one piece.
oh.. This should now just pop off.
So that's stuck there.
okay. As I said that cap should just pop off from there.
But that is seized in.
So I need to figure way to take that off. it looks like it might move.
Fuck I will just destroy that.
Well now.
Now it came off.
Here is the spring for that pin.
And now we need to remove the pin itself.
But I don't know yet how to do that because it's totally seized.
Piece of shit.
Hell no....
hey it moved little bit.
Fuck this.
How can I get that out.
Could I pull it out with pliers.
No. It just will ruin that.
Fuck.
Hopefully i can loosen it little bit.
No wonder the shifter doesn't work because this is totally stuck.
No noo no no...
Hell..
Totally stuck.
Now I got this thread tap in the pin so hopefully that is enough to pull that out.
Fucking hell.
the things I do for these cars...
Will it come out.
Now!
There it came.
And the pin looks like this.
This pin should loosely move in that hole.
But that bushing is so worn that it wont move anymore.
And eventually gets totally seized.
So now we need to take this bushing out.
Some instructions say that you will also need to change this pin. But I haven't found anything wrong in these.
but if this gets destroyed while removing this, you will need to get a new one.
But here I have..
oh..
the repair kit for this.
Which includes the new bushing.
New cap and the snap ring.
And here you can see the BMW part number for this set.
Which is because this is quite common problem that needs to be fixed.
So repairing is easy.
But still. No wonder the fifth gear didn't work properly.
You could get the gear in but the shifter was leaning to fifth gear all the time.
And that was very annoying.
Then we need to remove that old bushing.
And that can be tricky also.
That wont come out in one piece.
But still you need to get that out without destroying the bore for that.
And then the new wont fit in.
Of course there might be some kind of puller for this.
But i have just used flat head screwdriver for removal.
Hopefully this will do the trick again.
Now I have proper screwdriver.
So you will need to bend the bushing inwards from the seam.
Now.
Now it's loose.
Hopefully I can show that to you too.
Like that.
I will try to take that out.
Like that.
It looks like this and this is the reason for the problems.
The pin should slide easily like this in the bushing.
But as you did see previously, that wasn't the case.
And now we need to get this in without destroying it in the process.
I was thinking maybe I should take this bushing to cold and heat this gearbox to make this easier.
There is BMW special tool to get this is properly.
But for example I have this 3/8 inch socket which is damn near perfect for getting this in.
But still I will cool this and heat the gearbox to get this in easier.
Ok and now I will see how this will go in.
So now the bushing is in.
And I will then...
I will put some gearbox oil to this pin.
Just little bit.
And this should slide in easily.
And remember to put it in so that this ramp goes upwards.
Otherwise this wont work.
And it just dropped in like that.
Yeah it works now.
That's ok.
Just perfect.
Last thing to do...
You need to put in..
The cap and snap ring.
Which can be tricky.
Here is the cap and we need to press this in against the spring.
And simultaneously put this snap ring in place.
And i don't remember how I did this last time.
Like that.
Cap is in.
And then goes snap ring.
And like that it's fixed.
That wasn't very complicated at all.
Let's see if that works.
in this working gearbox the fifth goes in like this.
And towards the lower gears like this.
And now in the fixed gearbox the fifth goes in same way and first or second gear can be found easily also.
So fifth and the lower gears.
So now it doesn't lean towards fifth gear anymore.
Works like new.
Feels really solid.
It's fixed.
now we can bolt this back in.

How to fix the leaning fifth gear in BMW ZF gearbox

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