97 m3 question

[rodney887]

just bought a 97 m3 coupe. something doesnt feel right with the transmission. sometimes when the car is first started it wont go into any gears without me having to really force it in. other times it shifts great. is there any quirks with this e36 transmission that i should know about? also are m3 sideview mirrors notorious for breaking? mine doesnt work and it has blotchy brown spots all around the mirror

 

[Big Daddy]

How many miles are on the car? It sounds like a bad clutch! Also when was the transmission fluid last changed? I would replace it with Redlines synthetic fluids. As far as the mirror goes I know of no issues with them.

 

[rodney887]

I thought it could be the clutch too, but it never slips gears or anything like that so i figured maybe theres something wrong with the tranny and since the car has 120k im thinking theres a lot of different things that could go wrong. especially not knowing if the last owners beat on the car or not.

 

[Big Daddy]

A bad clutch is worse at an idle than at speed. When you are already moving the clutch is doing less than when you are sitting. When my clutch went out it was like that, hard to get the car into gear but no problems at speed.

 

[rodney887]

so im getting a stage II clutch and im wondering if i should buy a lightweight flywheel as well. is the flywheel worth the money or should i just get the clutch

 

[Big Daddy]

I had a lightweight flywheel and did not care for it, they can be noisy at an idle or at street speeds.

 

[frolf]

my vote goes for LIGHT WEIGHT FLYWHEEL!!!! the feel of a single mass flywheel trumps some chatter at idle in my mind. toss that dual mass thing to the curb i say, toss it to the curb!

 

[Kirby]

also are m3 sideview mirrors notorious for breaking? mine doesnt work and it has blotchy brown spots all around the mirror

If you mean the mirror glass, this does happen, same thing happened on my 94 325i. You can buy replacement glass for $15 or so.