I have a 2002 325xi that is only a few weeks old and has about 800 miles on it. When I shift gears, especially from 1st to 2nd and from 2nd to 3rd, I sometimes hear a "thunk" or "clunk" when I engage the clutch. The sound is like the transmission has a bit of "freeplay" in the gears and when engaging the clutch, this process quickly takes up the slack, causing this sound. There is a slight jar when this happens.
I notice that generally if I rev match (within 250 rpms) that this minimizes the number of incidents of this thunking. Also, on hills, the thunking does not seem to happen as often -- maybe the freeplay is taken up.
My BMW service center looked at the car this morning and told me that it was "normal for some cars" and that the M3 have a really loud clunking sound (I suppose I could live with that if I had an M3 . . . ).
1. Is this normal, or is it just my shifting technique (I have not had any trouble shifting). Could it be that for DBW I need to press the accelerator a fraction of a second before I start to engage the clutch?
2. What causes this?
3. Is it harmful to the transmission? (Service says no, wait to see if it gets worse.)
Note that I have driven a 330xi, a friend's new 325xi, and a 5 series car and none of them do this when I drive it.
Your comments and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
TIA.
BTW, I have done a search on a number of boards, including this one, and have only found 1 thread that seem directly related to this problem.