[xtac]

I learned manual on a 93 accord as some here know for the past 2-3 months, and my09 finally arrived, and I think I need to mod the cdv because the shifting does not feel right at all.

It might just because its new, but the shifting is very delayed and the clutch seems unresponsive

Just seeing if any other newbie MT drivers felt the same way?

[LZM Ray]

How long have you been driving MT? i actually learned on many cars, but my first stick car is the e92 335. and from my guess is, because i am new to manual transmission i do not seem to notice any difference between other manual gearbox without a CDV. quite possibly since this is my first manual car, i gotten use to the CDV.
So your best bet is just stick with it for a month if something seems off then go for the CDV mod? because i still dont understand how the CDV can affect the drive, clutch work of the transmission.

[AndreyATC]

CDV mode does improve the feel
But it is also break in period, plus learning to shift smother

[.:bHd:.]

I decided to not take mine off and got used to it.. I think it makes a you a better stick shift driver since other cars seem so easy now

[xtac]

I'll ride it out till 5k miles and see how I feel than

[JoeyBananaz18]

i learned on an MK4 GTi 1.8T. the biggest difference that i see is that i need to give it more throttle before taking my foot totally off the clutch. with the GTi i could let the clutch catch and it would take off smooth. Xtac, when i test drove a 335 sedan w/o a sport package, the shift know went into the grooves alot smoother. with my M sport it feels a little rougher. i tried out my friends 328 with the short throw kit and its alot nicer. i probably gonna take it off his hands when his lease is up a month. once you get the right balance take off is beautiful.

[MrSpain]

I guess you have to adjust to the car, every MT feels very different.
Specially comparing a 93 accord to a 09 3-series.

[rotaryboy]

No and I don't think I will. I did it to my 540 and didn't notice too much of a difference. This car feels pretty good in comparison.

[jopa489]

Originally Posted by MrSpain

I guess you have to adjust to the car, every MT feels very different.
Specially comparing a 93 accord to a 09 3-series.

Agreed with this. It will naturally be a little tighter since the car is so new, but it's a totally different car. Honda's have always had super slick shifts, BMWs just have a different feel.

You'll get used to it.

[vadim]

Originally Posted by JoeyBananaz18

i learned on an MK4 GTi 1.8T. the biggest difference that i see is that i need to give it more throttle before taking my foot totally off the clutch.

Actually, with the delay valve deleted it would be even harder in this respect, as the whole purpose of it is to modulate the clutch engagement in case you drop the clutch too fast.

I was planning on doing this mod - even bought and "modified" a valve on my own, but never proceeded to installing it. In fact, shifting in the 335i feels (and always have) more or less like that in my previous car, MB C230K. It had a 6-speed Getrag gearbox, which initially required some getting used to, but after that it was great.

Upon switching to the 335i, I did not need any re-adjustment at all - that's how close in feel they were.

[jlstyle]

Yea, if you are comming from a honda, BMW would feel weird.
Japanese cars, especially honda and mazda have this close feeling to the shifting with very light clutch but germans have long clutch travel and shifting is far and rather sloppy throw compare to some japanese cars.
I started off with nissan sentra (pretty far travel but rather short engagement) to jetta (deep clutch, long throw) to S2000 (short and precise, best one I had felt until now) to Z4 (deep clutch and normal german throw) to E92 (deep clutch and normal german throw).

Just FYI, cdv will improve the shift feel 100% on any car regardless.

[vadim]

Originally Posted by jlstyle

Just FYI, cdv will improve the shift feel 100% on any car regardless.

Just to clarify: what will improve the shift feel - the presence of CDV (as it is there by default) or the removal of CDV (as in CDV "mod")?

[335Abuser]

Also, what exactly does the modified CDV do? I bought a modified one, but have not installed it yet... Have to agree on the shifting, Honda, Mazda vs. German cars...I had an RX8 and it is absolutely the best clutch, shift transmission combo I've ever driven.

[Bimmerdriver17]

BMW's stock clutch/gearbox is known to be like that. My 350z' stock short shifter was amazing. Bmw's gearbox is not the greatest, but once you get the hang of it, it will be fine. It will never be as smooth as Honda's gearbox. Once you get used to the timing of the clutch in your car, you will be fine. Your lucky you have a SSk with the Msport pack! Congrats and enjoy the ride!

[BKV122]

Give it more time before you decide to remove the CDV. I was considering it untill I started fooling around with giving a lil more throttle before I would fully engage the clutch. Plus removing the CDV will void the warrenty on your tranny n clutch if there happens to be a defect in either the clutch or tranny.

Get use to the new car before u remove it. 5000 miles plus.

[vadim]

Originally Posted by 335Abuser

Also, what exactly does the modified CDV do?

It has a larger opening allowing the fluid to flow freely. As a result, there is no induced delay in the clutch engagement.

[BMWDAD]

Best mt transmissions I have driven:

1. 1990 miata

2 1993 miata

3 20xx? s2000

4. 2008 lotus

4. 2003 rsx s with short shifter

5. 2008 335i with short shifter

[mmm def]

take the cdv out, makes a nice difference. if u r in nj ever let me know, u can drive mine.

[742]

I took my wife's out. She does not see much of a difference, while I do.

My thinking is that this issue is very dependent on minor variations in technique. Drive the car for awhile, and if you still think there is an issue then do the delete. But don't do it just because everyone else says to do it.

And yes, my wife knows how to drive a manual.

[xtac]

Just want to add one more thing. I'm not sure if its because I have the ssk, but changing gears especially 1-2 is crazy rough. Right now I can't imagine shifting fast enuff for something like a race for instance. It just does not seem to be responsive enough you literally have to strong hand it.

Check this video to see what I mean

I'm not sure if this will loosen up over time.

I'll get used to it over time, but just sharing my experience.

[AndreyATC]

You do need a bit of a force going into 2nd, especially when you accelerate hard
It did loosen up over time though
CDV mod just helps to do this quicker and a bit more predictable

[aitsu]

Originally Posted by 335Abuser

Also, what exactly does the modified CDV do? I bought a modified one, but have not installed it yet... Have to agree on the shifting, Honda, Mazda vs. German cars...I had an RX8 and it is absolutely the best clutch, shift transmission combo I've ever driven.

The RX-8 stock tranny, clutch felt good.. but when reliability comes into question... ugh..

The RX8's clutch is crap and the Aisin 6 speed in the car is really pretty weak. The 09's have a better transmission, similar to the 06+ MX-5's and it's much nicer and isn't outsourced to Aisin.. It's a mazda box.

The 04-08 RX8's had so many transmission issues it was unbelievable. They were recalled for bad shift forks, bad synchros and exploding clutch discs (no joke, people actually had their clutches just break apart). My 04 has just under 80k miles on it and I've had the tranny rebuilt twice, once due to dealer stupidity (they literally put AT transmission fluid in the tranny at 30k service causing practically all of my synchros to seize up in winter weather) and then later for the shift fork / synchro issues.

Apparently, one of the techs from Team MER (MX-5 cup), who rebuilds all of their trannies says the problem is that there is no shift fence on 3rd or 4th gear which allows the shift hub to be pushed past the engagement point. It's the same tranny used in the S2000, the MX-5 and several other cars of the era, all of which were plagued with synchro issues that fortunately, the manufacturer's acknowledged and covered fully.

TL;DR: The RX-8 04-08 transmissions shift great, but are fragile. 09+ has a similar tranny to the 06+ MX-5 and is much better.