Input shaft bearing or throwout bearing?

[Stu]

I get differing opinions all over the net. I do have a video, but it seems I am unable to upload it at the moment. I will post it later today.

When I put the transmission in neutral and have the clutch out and then turn off the car, I will hear what sounds like rattling in a can from directly under my transmission, closer to the front. I noticed a similar type of noise and vibration when shifting while driving. If I speed up, even with the clutch in neutral and shifting around, I will hear a thunk/rattle as I shift through the gears. In addition, shifting into 2nd has always been a bit more difficult, and usually causes some vibration throughout the cabin before letting me shift it into 2nd.

If I push in the clutch while accelerating, especially in 1st, I will hear a fairly significant "thump" and a noise similar to when I turn the car off with the clutch disengaged.

What is causing this, and should I be very concerned? Input shaft, throwout bearing, or something else? I've seen things from the throwout bearing going bad causing the harsher shifting to the input shaft bearing causing the noise to go away upon disengaging the clutch.

[wsmeyer]

This is one of those things that is really tough to troubleshoot without directly observing the symptoms. Another possible culprit is the Dual Mass Flywheel.

A whole bunch of threads come up on a Google search:

https://www.google.com/#safe=off&sclient=psy-ab&q=bmw+dual+mass+flywheel+problems&oq=bmw+dual+mass+flywheel+&gs_l=hp.1.1.0l4.77900.77900.1.79103.1.1.0.0.0.0.93 .93.1.1.0....0...1c.1.23.psy-ab..0.14.1578.iwpcU1g79gg&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_cp.r_qf.&bvm=bv.49967636,d.cGE&fp=b11f31b00cc2038e&biw=1403&bih=823

Do any of these sound like what you are experiencing?

[Asiah119]

I think that I know exactly what you're talking about. At least for the first part. Mt mechanic didn't seem concerned, and just wrote it off as a thing that happens. The other noises sound like a throw out to me, either way, drop that trans and find out before something gets ruined.

[Stu]

I think that I know exactly what you're talking about. At least for the first part. Mt mechanic didn't seem concerned, and just wrote it off as a thing that happens. The other noises sound like a throw out to me, either way, drop that trans and find out before something gets ruined.

The interesting thing is, no mechanic over the years has ever said anything about the noises on shutoff, even during test drives. They would tell me all sorts of things to try and get them to fix - from my shocks being worn out to my wheel well lining missing screws (they suggested replacing it!) to a radiator leak that I couldn't even see - but no one has mentioned those noises. It doesn't sound bad, as if the transmission is going to grenade, but it sounds like something closer to the clutch is worn out and is just rattling. When my engine was misfiring really badly when my DISA died, the rattling can noise was very evident.

I have had some clutch chatter starting to increase over the years, which also tends to mean either hot spots or a bad pilot bearing. Personally, I'm thinking in the next 2 years I'll be needing a clutch job done. I have a feeling I'll start to feel it slip within that timeframe.

Haven't been able to upload the video, been too busy with work.