wow some of you must not really know how to drive a MT properly. i downshift to first all the time and never have had a problem

 

Exactly . . . However, everyone has to start from scratch at some point. I do admire all of the helpful suggestions, which people are offering. That is what keeps these boards busy and interesting for many people. We are connected by the information, which we receive and share.

 

yea

i'm a n00b and you would totally pwn me IRL dude bro

you're elite and ****

 

Ok I will, your VERY wrong.

If your putting your shifter into first gear BEFORE you rev up, I'll give you another 20K miles before you start having some serious problems. I've been to driving school (Bondurant) numerous times in my life, and the one thing that they will yell at you for is this. "Your Damaging the transmission" is usually what they say. I will repeat exactly what I said before, take it to heart, from someone who knows how to drive stick in all aspects and all the little "fun ways of shifting" such as side stepping (powershifting), clutchless shifting and rev match downshifting.

1) Start with your car in 2nd gear
2) Depress clutch pedal
3) As you break the catch point, REV your motor to +/- 200 rpms of where you will be in first.
4) Move the selector form 2nd to 1st

If you are FORCING it, your breaking something. The one thing that they will tell you (any experience driver or instructor) is if you have to exert extra force on your shifter, its bad. You want to be as GENTLE AS POSSIBLE with your gear shifter, as it is DIRECTLY connected to your transmission (obviously). That "winding down noise" for lack of better terms as you force your selector to first BEFORE revving, yeah thats called your car screaming in pain as you **** your tranny up.

 

Yep, exactly what I was saying. In other words, Don't Do It unless you HAVE to.

 

Good God! Now, this is getting old and beat down. Simply put . . . If you have to force it . . . You'll probably eventually end up breaking it. Use some common sense!

 

Better yet . . . Those still in question and doubt . . . Get an AT!!!

 

But let's not forget what the original poster stated:
That little gate that'll drop in front of 1st when the car is moving... is getting aggrivating as hell
I hate rolling at 5mph and wanting to hurry and turn out at an intersection and have to go into 2nd instead of 1st
you guys know what i'm talking about?

The answer to the question is that if you have problems shifting into first gear at 3 MPH you have a transmission problem. Many posters stated that when you downshift into first, you should rev match. And they are right to avoid putting stress on the tranny. But I don't agree that you should have to shift into neutral and then shift again into first. With a normally operating tranny, you should be able to down shift into first without problems. Hell I've been doing it for years at certain tracks with hairpin corners, and I've never had a problem. Although I don't typically downshift to first on the street, I did it today and had no problems whatsoever. I tried two downshifts into first: one from around 10 mph and the other around 15mph. No problem.

 

Agreed . . . However,

Okay . . . Easier. Since your cars' path of travel is obviously obstructed . . . Come to a complete stop . . . Grab 1st gear and proceed when it is safe to do as such.

Hmmmm . . . Yeah, I like that routine better . . . It's safer . . . You won't break anything . . . No scientific rev matching calcs . . . Life is good and peace and justice are restore.

 

I never said to or would try to force anything. Although I must disagree with you on pre 1st gear reving, since it seems impossible to shift into 1st gear while RPMs are high at least to my experience. I hardly ever do it, but I feel the resistence at an attempt. And even when shifted into 1st, the transmission nor the engine never made any noise or sound, grinding or winding, since the clutch was always pressed in and the shifter was never forced just perhaps needed more guidance. No worries fellas. I appreciate your help and concern.

 

Agreed. I usually just stay in second and roll out from there, the VQ has plenty enough torque for most days, but sometimes you just gotta' go and can't roll to a stop like some have suggested, so you go for 1st. and It can be done properly without damage if the revs are right.

 

http://www.bmwm5.com/greg/school/

Go there, download the videos. This guy knows his stuff. You NEVER move the selector into a gate before you rev. It's just plain bad driving. You're sig shows you used to own a bike? How could you not know this kinda stuff? If your putting it in first, from another gear with the clutch in and THEN revving, a) your holding in the clutch too long b) your making the shift take longer than it should and c) if you try to go in at anything over 1000-1200 rpms, your making the gear do the work. Your right foot goes down before your right hand moves, its the most basic lesson in driving stick anyone can teach. I'm sorry if you feel that what your doing is correct, but your 100% wrong on this issue.

Just for kicks though, I tried to rev into 1st gear at 30 mph.... well guess what it worked. Either your technique is wrong or something is wrong with your transmission. Saying that you cant go back into first because your revved high is like saying you cant put it in 2nd at 50 mph.... Yes you can do it, yes it requires MORE skill than say shifting in at 35-40 mph from a higher gear, but saying that it does not work means either something in your driving technique doesnt work, or something in your transmission is seriously wrong.

 

i have to say 1st gear does seem tricky. even when i'm at a dead stop, clutch all the way in, just putting the stick into 1st, i feel some resistence on the shifter, not like a metal grinding, but like a rubbery click click click. i know about revmatching and i can slip it into first at speed pretty smoothly, but i hav noticed that at a dead stop, 1st is weird. I tried bliping the throttle a little at a dead stop and it went in much easier. Sometimes, it won't go into first at a dead stop, seems like it gets stuck half way in, and i never force it. But when it gets stuck like that, as soon as i release the clutch it pops out. After that i try again, and it goes in like usual.

Any thoughts anyone? Remember i don't have a problem at speed, i can rev match, and i never force the shifter, just from a dead stop its weird.

 

tried it again today

i was driving, doing about 6 mph, and tried rev matching back into 1st....no joy :/

think i'm going to ask the dealer

i just can't get the gear selector into place. It's not about the downshifting, it's about putting the gear selector into 1st! I can't downshift into all the other gears but first!

 

Well, I also tried today and last week, to rev as I slowly roll and shift into 1st gear, and it's blocked. I did the attempt numerous times and no matter what the RPMs the gate into 1st gear would not open - just as I expected. Only after the car slowed almost to a stop the gate just becomes open and the shifter goes smoothly into 1st.
To my knowledge and experience I was right from the beginning, as the blockage is there for safety reasons, so until I see it done I'm convinced all you guys that said you rev before 1st gear were explaining something else.