A91-MT 10k Mile Status Update

[Richard Truman]

Great car hit rev limiter from 1 st
IT wines up fast in 1st gear You have to hit second just right to get the foward punch needed to roll on to the epic 3rd gear pull wow sweet

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[6mtsoup]

14.5k 1yr 2mo, been beating on it 1-3 a bit recently and still no issues

 

[Supra_UK_]

3k miles here, stock, also no issues, drives perfectly.

1-2, and reverse, both slightly smoother now they're broken in a little.

Although sometimes, like someone else said above, I swear I am paranoid just due to the clutch slipping threads I read, almost like I'm trying to find something that feels wrong when maybe it isn't? Lol

 

[SupraDOc]

3300ish miles on my MT, had it for nearly 11 months.

Clutch is completely fine. Been JB+/JB4 tuned for 2500 miles. No clutch slip, no clutch smell. Nothing weird at all to report, other than like others said: the clutch pedal feel is meh and a bit vague due to CDV.

Do you still not recommend JB4 for MT cars?

Glad to hear it’s handling it well so far!

 

[ColonelAdama]

Do you still not recommend JB4 for MT cars?

Glad to hear it’s handling it well so far!

Maybe if you have a stock downpipe. Going catless has made it a bit too inconsistent to give a rec. It's definitely possible to get it sorted though.

 

[Goko]

Just passed 8K on my MT premium. Absolutely zero issues, as good as the day I drove it off the lot - knock on wood. Feels like my clutch and shifter feel have only gotten better with time. Love the car. It's perfect. It's not an A91 but I like to see good things about the manual after seeing all the kerfuffle in the clutch slipping threads here. I could be wrong but I suspect the majority of cars are just fine and we just hear a ton about the problem cars or at least not as much from the people without issues.

I think my only scare was my own dumb fault and from paranoia caused by the clutch slipping thread - there was one time that I had rev matching on and went for a 1 to 2 shift under acceleration. The tach flew toward redline when I put the clutch in. I immediately let the revs drop and went gingerly into second....I thought for about five minutes my clutch slipped but it's perfectly good - this hasn't happened again in about 1000 miles, can't replicate it, and it passed all clutch slip tests. I've never ever smelled burned clutch in the life of the car. My suspicion is that I may have touched the shifter in such a way that I tricked the rev matching into thinking I was going to go back into first instead of second and it rev matched accordingly. The alternative is that I left my foot on the gas a bit when i put the clutch in but I'm very mindful of never doing that. For context, this is my first manual car with rev matching and prefer not to use it but can only turn it off in sport mode....that's probably my only grips with the car but the solution is easy- sport mode.

I’m a new manual driver and I’ve experienced this as well. Basically accelerated and shifted at 5k rpm then once I shifted into second there was that weird rev jump (about 1k rpm). Not sure what happened but I can’t reproduce it either. This was in normal mode.

 

[AJRMKV]

11k miles on mine. Flawless so far aside from tramlining and wandering around the lane under wot with seemingly perfect alignment.

 

[Eddy90]

9 Months and 3500 Miles into ownership.
I have the CDV deleted. Here are my findings (similar to most):

1. No clutch slip at all, none whatsoever (Although, i will say, I have been extra careful after reading thru all the discussions here).

2. Occasionally, the clutch feedback goes from grabby vs having no-feel, and the back to grabby.

3. 1-2 shift is much better, but gets better the faster you shift. I think the lurch / weirdness is just due to the torque of the B58. It just takes time to get used to.

4. Boost by gear is very apparent, specially in 3rd which literally RIPPPS. Car accelerates like a Hybrid in 3rd lol.

4. In colder temps (< 40F), I have noticed that, shifting into 3rd gear at lower speeds is difficult. I can feel the synchro's still locking me out. It is repeatable and is scary. The lockout goes away once the car has been driven for about 15 mins at 40-50mph. It might be that the trans fluid does not get warm enough or at least on par with the engine. At least this is my theory. Anyone else notice this?

 

[tub54500]

6k since last november on my a91. it still drives well as the day i got it. no complaints here. mine does have the interior noise as well but thats because i took out the interior to do my dash cam and probably didn't install it back right lol

 

[DrSupra]

4. Boost by gear is very apparent, specially in 3rd which literally RIPPPS. Car accelerates like a Hybrid in 3rd lol.

4. In colder temps (< 40F), I have noticed that, shifting into 3rd gear at lower speeds is difficult. I can feel the synchro's still locking me out. It is repeatable and is scary. The lockout goes away once the car has been driven for about 15 mins at 40-50mph. It might be that the trans fluid does not get warm enough or at least on par with the engine. At least this is my theory. Anyone else notice this?

I've been trying to avoid driving in the cold but bought the car in January and now I can't stop driving it (though I won't go out under 30 for the tires). I'm not sure if this will help but hopefully it won't worry you - I've never had difficulty getting into third even when it's cold out. That said, my car is garaged and it stays about 40-50 there no matter what and I let the car run for maybe 3 minutes before leaving my garage. Are these just regular shifts or more aggressive shifts?

Also, I love third gear. Totally agree about it feeling like warp speed.

 

[Spart]

I'm only around 3000 miles, but it hasn't shown a hint of slip or weirdness since I did the CDV delete. Not that it slipped with the clutch fully out with the CDV in place, it just slipped more than I was expecting relative to the pedal position making the 1-2 shift inconsistent among other oddness.

Dude.. I'm almost convinced. I'm going to see how much this will cost me to get done. Is a CDV delete easily reversible?

Depends on how you do it. Buy a clutch slave from a BMW that doesn't have one integrated and you'll have the factory/unmodified clutch slave should it ever need to go back in. Do it the cheap way (remove the valve with a screw) and it's a permanent modification to that part.

It's such a subtle mod from the perspective of a mechanic though, that unless they go looking for it they will never know that anything has been done. So I question the need to ever reverse it.

This is also a very easy DIY mod, no need to pay to have it done. The slave is external to the trans. You remove a panel from the underbody, and then remove two bolts holding the slave to the trans. Remove a quick connect fitting by hand and it's out. If you have a replacement slave ready to go you don't even need to clamp the rubber clutch line, just swap them quickly. Then reinstall and bleed and enjoy better shifts.

 

[Zupraaa]

I have a little over 8,000 miles on the clock over the past year, 0 slipping. I’ve done mountain runs, burnouts, donuts (on my private property, I’m no takeover fella), you name it. It’s been great. Heck, my fiancée has been learning manual own it and was able to drive it 30 minutes home one day.

Definitely need to do the CDV next, everyone highly recommends it!

 

[Kroberter]

About to turn 13k miles on mine and it’s been good. Besides having to educate the dealership on how to service the car and calibrate TPMS it’s been a great daily.
Touchscreen rattles sometimes on rough pavement and the piping is starting to wear on the driver seat from the yoga pose entry method I’ve developed. About to get a new set of front tires and the rears got replaced about 1k miles ago.
Would totally buy it again, what a great car.

 

[dreadforge]

In my nearly 20k miles with my 6mt, my experience has been that if you are producing more than 500ft/# of torque the stock clutch is liable to start slipping during aggressive shifting

 

[Eddy90]

That said, my car is garaged and it stays about 40-50 there no matter what and I let the car run for maybe 3 minutes before leaving my garage. Are these just regular shifts or more aggressive shifts?

When I leave my 40-45 F garage, its fine as well.
But it sits out for 6-8 hours in 30F while im at work. Driving driving back home from that - is when i notice it.

Happens during regular shifts at 25 mph ~ 30 mph at 2k or lower rpms. Interestingly, at higher speeds and more aggressive shifts, it goes away.

For now, I've been dodging 3rd, and shifting straight to 4th lol.

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