[RobM2]

About a week in with my 2024 M2 and loving it. Engine, suspension, brakes — this is a lot of car and a ton of fun to drive. I get a huge smile just looking at it.

The one area I am a little mixed on is the manual transmission, particularly the clutch. I am curious what others are observing and if I just need to get used to it:

• The main issue: I find it hard to engage the clutch smoothly, particularly going into 1st and 2nd gear. It feels like clutch engagement is mediated at a fixed rate independent of how fast I depress the pedal. Is this the Clutch Delay Valve (CDV)? If so, any tips for smoother shifting aside from a CDV delete?
  
• There's a bit of free travel from the floor until the clutch engages. I will probably get used to this any day now but not sure why the pedal doesn't just ride higher, closer to the engagement point.
  
• For lack of a better word, the shifter feels a little notchy or rough, like I'm never moving it perfectly within the gates, particularly in 1st gear. Not a big deal but want to confirm this is how it feels for everyone?
  
• What I love: Gearing seems good, shifter throws are short and precise (aside from the above roughness), the auto-rev matching is fun.

To be clear, the car is stellar, and no regrets getting the manual transmission. But interested in what other 6MT drivers think.

[CadolinaRipr]

Originally Posted by rlove

About a week in with my 2024 M2 and loving it. Engine, suspension, brakes — this is a lot of car and a ton of fun to drive. I get a huge smile just looking at it.

The one area I am a little mixed on is the manual transmission, particularly the clutch. I am curious what others are observing and if I just need to get used to it:

• The main issue: I find it hard to engage the clutch smoothly, particularly going into 1st and 2nd gear. It feels like clutch engagement is mediated at a fixed rate independent of how fast I depress the pedal. Is this the Clutch Delay Valve (CDV)? If so, any tips for smoother shifting aside from a CDV delete?
  
• There's a bit of free travel from the floor until the clutch engages. I will probably get used to this any day now but not sure why the pedal doesn't just ride higher, closer to the engagement point.
  
• For lack of a better word, the shifter feels a little notchy or rough, like I'm never moving it perfectly within the gates, particularly in 1st gear. Not a big deal but want to confirm this is how it feels for everyone?
  
• What I love: Gearing seems good, shifter throws are short and precise (aside from the above roughness), the auto-rev matching is fun.

To be clear, the car is stellar, and no regrets getting the manual transmission. But interested in what other 6MT drivers think.

Prob not a huge help, but...FWIW...

CDV delete and a BMS clutch stop has completely transformed the feeling of my manual in the M2.

[RobM2]

Originally Posted by CadolinaRipr

Prob not a huge help, but...FWIW...

CDV delete and a BMS clutch stop has completely transformed the feeling of my manual in the M2.

Maybe a huge help ... these would probably resolve both my clutch observations!

[JMcLellan]

Maybe this helps but this is has been my relationship to my 6mt so far:

The 1st to 2nd gear upshift continues to be mysterious to me. What I have gotten used to is that the lower the rev when I shift the slower you go through the shifting process the smoother the transition into 2nd. The easiest shifts I have from 1st to 2nd are when I go full throttle and shift close to redline.

When my A/C is on I notice the rev hang is less so I have to shift quicker to ensure smooth shifts.

Other than those main things for me I feel pretty good about the 6mt on this car. I haven't owned or driven a manual car for about 12 years so I can't really compare the clutch feeling or shifter notchiness to anything else.

[Geighty7]

Originally Posted by rlove

About a week in with my 2024 M2 and loving it. Engine, suspension, brakes — this is a lot of car and a ton of fun to drive. I get a huge smile just looking at it.

The one area I am a little mixed on is the manual transmission, particularly the clutch. I am curious what others are observing and if I just need to get used to it:


The main issue: I find it hard to engage the clutch smoothly, particularly going into 1st and 2nd gear. It feels like clutch engagement is mediated at a fixed rate independent of how fast I depress the pedal. Is this the Clutch Delay Valve (CDV)? If so, any tips for smoother shifting aside from a CDV delete?

There's a bit of free travel from the floor until the clutch engages. I will probably get used to this any day now but not sure why the pedal doesn't just ride higher, closer to the engagement point.

For lack of a better word, the shifter feels a little notchy or rough, like I'm never moving it perfectly within the gates, particularly in 1st gear. Not a big deal but want to confirm this is how it feels for everyone?

What I love: Gearing seems good, shifter throws are short and precise (aside from the above roughness), the auto-rev matching is fun.

To be clear, the car is stellar, and no regrets getting the manual transmission. But interested in what other 6MT drivers think.

I deleted the CDV and installed a BMS clutch stop with 3 of 4 spacers intact. Immediately improved my experience by huge lengths. I recommend this for everyone.

As for the notch- I notice whenever I am not in the right rpm range I’ll get a little clicky or notchy. The car likes to be driven at medium to highe rpm and acts super temperamental when lugging. Overall the only way to improve the throw and notch is a short throw shift kit.

[RockCrusher]

With some cars I found moving the seat forward so my clutch leg wasn't as fully extended helped considerably. I don't remember fussing with this with M2. But by habit/feel I probably selected a seating position a bit closer but just right thus no complaints with the engagement point.

I can move the car, smoothly, with with no throttle just clutch pedal manipulation when pulling out of or into my garage.

On the road taking off from a stop requires just a small (very small) touch of throttle to get the car moving with the throttle allowing me to get the car moving a bit quicker than with no throttle at all. No drama. The car just takes off smoothly.

My M2's shifter/transmission is not notchy. It doesn't require conscious thought just good old muscle memory to ensure the clutch pedal is fully down before I move the gear shift lever.

I believe my M2 and its clutch and transmission are at the top of the list of the manual equipped cars I've owned.

I do have the shift assist feature enabled. It makes down shifts a joy. What role it plays in up shifts I don't know. I have not bothered to disable it to find out. I like the way the clutch/shifter work and I am not anxious to play with any settings for the sake of research/curiosity.

The above doesn't mean your experiences are wrong/invalid, just contrary to my experiences with my car.

[JMcLellan]

Originally Posted by RockCrusher

My M2's shifter/transmission is not notchy. It doesn't require conscious thought just good old muscle memory to ensure the clutch pedal is fully down before I move the gear shift lever.

Yes to this. I read another forum member (maybe it was you?) saying to not move the shifter until the clutch pedal is all the way down. I've put this into practice and it delivers a smoother driving experience.

[Dave07997S]

My advice is to leave it alone. Drive it for a few months as is. Then make a decision. As someone who has had 2 E46 M3s,2 E92 M3s and now this G87 the clutches and feel all pretty much felt the same. I am having no issues with the feel of this clutch. I feel its something you will adjust too. If you don't then I would make a decision on what you want to do.

[Digitalprty]

Originally Posted by rlove

There's a bit of free travel from the floor until the clutch engages. I will probably get used to this any day now but not sure why the pedal doesn't just ride higher, closer to the engagement point.

I gave it a few hundred miles to get used to this, but I couldn’t. I installed a BMS clutch stop and it feels so much better. Minimal/no extra travel. Cheap and easy mod.

[techwhiz1]

The clutch engagement on just about every BMW I've owned is in the last 30% (up).Bal so very light.

BMW is not know for crisp shifters. They all feel "rubbery". A lot of this can be fixed with a short shifter and weighted selector rod.

I drove an M3 a few weeks ago. Same feel as I described.

[MMMGuy60]

I am a manual driver all my life. There is nothing wrong with this manual. It is not the best like Honda/Porsche but it is easy to shift and hard to miss gears. The clutch is just fine, takes me a day to get used to it. You just need to slip the clutch a little for the 1st to 2nd shift and it can be fast and smooth.

[Laguna Seca Blue]

Personally, I’ve never felt comfortable installing any sort of a clutch stop because how do you actually know it’s fully depressed?

Don’t think anyone has addressed your concern about the shifter feeling notchy, — but that’s usually just something that can be resolved with technique. Instead of pushing/pulling from shoulder or elbow, focus entirely on using your wrist to flick from neutral to and first and then down to second. Putting too much pressure on a BMW shifter is generally what makes them feel notchy.

CDV valve deletion is the only thing I’ve found to improve shift smoothness and the only one of the host of “solutions” that I can in good conscious recommend. Short shifters on BMW’s have only made shifting slower and more notchy.

[Geighty7]

Originally Posted by Laguna Seca Blue

Personally, I’ve never felt comfortable installing any sort of a clutch stop because how do you actually know it’s fully depressed?

Don’t think anyone has addressed your concern about the shifter feeling notchy, — but that’s usually just something that can be resolved with technique. Instead of pushing/pulling from shoulder or elbow, focus entirely on using your wrist to flick from neutral to and first and then down to second. Putting too much pressure on a BMW shifter is generally what makes them feel notchy.

CDV valve deletion is the only thing I’ve found to improve shift smoothness and the only one of the host of “solutions” that I can in good conscious recommend. Short shifters on BMW’s have only made shifting slower and more notchy.

There’s a decent sized dead spot in the remaining 20% of the clutch. The catch is significantly higher up on the G8X platform (I think it’s the same clutch for F8X also I may be mistaken). I had your same concern before my clutch stop, however I decided to just try it. Haven’t had any issues with full depression unless it goes beyond the feeling we get. I love it, much more enjoyable now.

Watch out for my thread if I eat my words and something fails

[Laguna Seca Blue]

Originally Posted by Geighty7

There’s a decent sized dead spot in the remaining 20% of the clutch. The catch is significantly higher up on the G8X platform (I think it’s the same clutch for F8X also I may be mistaken). I had your same concern before my clutch stop, however I decided to just try it. Haven’t had any issues with full depression unless it goes beyond the feeling we get. I love it, much more enjoyable now.

Watch out for my thread if I eat my words and something fails

Great points, but obviously that’s my concern — the feeling vs. what’s actually mechanically going on.

I’m also quite conservative when in comes to any of sort of “aftermarket” modifications to a vehicle that’s been engineered over thousands of hours. I’ve owned 2 heavily modified cars in my life, and one almost killed me and the other was a maintenance nightmare. So take what I say with a pinch of salt!