XSeries-forum

Hello this is my first post , have just been to test drive a 2005 x3 3.0d manual with 112.000 on the clock, she runs as sweet as a nut but noticed a bit of slop in the gearstick, just wondering if this is down to worn linkage / bushes or something more sinister ? Can't fault rest of car so could be a bartering point with the seller
Any advice gratefully welcomed
Cheers
            Diz

Hi and Welcome.

Worn or badly adjusted linkage would be my guess.  It's cable operated IIRC. Mine had no slack in it in all the 6 years I owned it.

Richard

I think the autos are cable operated, can't imagine manual would be as well, more likely to be rod bushes, but happy to be corrected.

Doh!!  Missed that it was a manual.. :doh: 

Hi Diz, welcome to the forum and hopefully we will be seeing more of you and your new X3.  I would suggest talking to an independent BMW specialist to see what there thoughts are and possible cost of repair.  If you had one close enough to the sellers place I would invest in having them check the car over.  Too easy to let your heart rule your head at this stage and his second opinion would be money well spent.

Thanks for the replays fellas and the warm welcome , have asked my local Bm Indy and he has never had one in with that problem before but said it could be as simple as worn bushes or the entire mechanism but without seeing it he couldn't sure, but said to try knock some money off just in case off the worst scenario, so will see what I can make out
Cheers
            Diz

Good luck and keep us informed.

Don

Cheers don will do, it still goes into gear fine and drives well with no noises just not used to the slackness in the gearstick  >:(  as my present BMW e90 330d m-sport has the same miles as this x3 and is as tight as new with the gearstick, fingers crossed for just bushes

Diz

Is the mileage genuine? All my previous cars were manual and all had 100-130k when I sold them and none had sloppy gearchanges.

It's possible that a previous owner drove around with one hand resting on the gearshifter, or was a bit 'brutal' with the gear changes.  Either scenario would cause the bushes/pins etc on the linkage to wear and result in some slack.

Mileage seems genuine looking at the old mots and stuff, could be just a rough previous owner, am not too bothered if its just some bushes need replacing as they will probably be quite inexpensive

Diz

Easy enough to do I would think.

[quote="Diz"]
Mileage seems genuine looking at the old mots and stuff, could be just a rough previous owner, am not too bothered if its just some bushes need replacing as they will probably be quite inexpensive

Diz
[/quote]

i re bushed the entire gear linkage on the e30 (though at 26 i thought she deseved it) was about £35 in parts oem, i imagine the x5 linkage will be similar, it was just a few different generic looking plastic bushes, spacers and washers!

Cheers for that shadrack  my Bm Indy has said that the bushes and bits aren't that expensive to get like you have put for your e30 that's a reasonable price for the parts

Thanks for the link x5sport that's for your x5 and I'm going for the x3 but am sure they are similar and I will put my details into realoem and look for my model

Cheers
            Diz

[quote="Diz"]

Thanks for the link x5sport that's for your x5 and I'm going for the x3 but am sure they are similar and I will put my details into realoem and look for my model

Cheers
            Diz
[/quote]

Come on Richard, pick up your game!  You missed it was a manual and then an X3  :doh: as our guiding light we do expect high standards from you