89 325i not going...

I just bought a 89 325i w/2.5l 6 and made it back 700 miles from where i bought it. I was going home this afternoon and went to downshift and pass someone. I took it out of gear when i was going to put it in gear i heard a pop and could not get any gear. when i stopped i checked the shift linkage it was still connected and the clutch pedal still felt normal but could idle like in neutral while going through the gears with nothing going to the rear wheels.

If the clutch hydraulic slave cylinder went south you will not be able to shift her into gear (well without a lot of crunchng). Check brake fluid reservoir for fluid level as i believe yur car shares the fluid with both brakes and slave. Slave is on the transmission (under car of course), not too pricey and easy to change.

would the clutch pedal still feel firm? when the slave went on my 300z so did all pedal feeling. it'll be nice if thats what it is.

Also the tranny seems to be shifting just nothing going from the engine to the tranny(also checked shift linkage) thanks

You are correct, usually the pedal is like stepping on air but you can still shift (by matching gear RPM). If the slave is intact then next suspect would be a "U" joint

I don't know i just have this bad feeling that the clutch itself is done. everything feels like it's woking properly just no power transfer from engine to trans. thanks

If the clutch is toast I would think the disc would start chattering first. She goes into gear, no grinding, and yet no power transfer. Can you go under, or at least look under (car rear end up in air)and have someone put her in gear and see if the driveshaft is turning?

with the engine on or off? also when engine is running it sounds fine like there is no debris in the bell housing. the way home from ga. it had no problems but about an hour prior to this happening it seemed like the clutch didn't engage all the way when i went from 1st to 2nd but then no problems after that until it crapped out. thanks

I dropped a nickel with my buds at ROADFLY.com and should hear soon what there beliefs are. I will keep you in the loop (I am currently maintaining my son-in-laws 1990 325 ic with 160,000 on the clock whiele he is in The Sandbox (IRAQ) so I am all ears with these situations.

First choice of the other boards is the shifter linkage, make sure it is all hooked up and a retainer has not broken or come off.

I appreciate all the help guys. I ran my hand up the linkage and all feels attached also the shifter feels the same as before it happened. If my clutch gets here early enough tommorow it's off to aamco they quoted me 360 labor to replace the clutch(if thats what it is). Maybe I can be talked into posting some pics of my turbo set up, it runs 10psi. w/ about 280hp at the back. (which is why I'm leaning towards the clutch being the problem. Once again thanks for the help.

Keep us in the loop. The strange thing is that I have never had a clutch fail without first starting to slip or chatter.

I had a Tech weigh in and he said ONCE in his memory, the center spun out of the disc. If linkage is good and "U" joints good, unlees the differential is toast (I doubt that ) I would have to believe the disc or fork has let you down, again let us know what you find.

I just double checked everything for the umpteenth time.

Drive shaft has no more play in it then one would expect.

The linkage feels attached(kind of hard to see), and tranny appears to shift gearseven while the engine is running.

The master cylinder is full w/no apparent leaks and pedal feels firm.

UPS ought to be here at five so I'm going to call aamco and see if I can get them started and run the clutch up when it gets here. Once again thanks for the help.

Just got off with a master tech who said he has seen the inner hose portion of the slave cyliner line collapase and fold in, thus holding pressure against the clutch throwout fork. Are you getting tired of us yet?

hpefully that'll be it and i can return my clutch. I don't get tired of people helping me thanks

One more thing, when they get the car on the lift and the wheels are hanging (hopefully), with car in neutral have a tech try and rotate the drveshaft and look for rear wheel movement (to isolate a bad "U" joint or bad CV joint).

also just removed slave it appears fine. when i took it off the piston extended out and easily went back in. it stays extended when not on the car. also car rolls when in gear wether slave is attached to car or not. thanks

I pulled my slave cylinder while waiting on a tow and it was fine so I slapped it back on. aamco called about 20 minutes ago to tell me that my flywheel was going out for resurfacing. Apparently when they pulled everything apart the clutch had basically exploded. thanks again for the help.

Apparently I had so little friction material left on the clutch that it exploded in between shifts. Thanks again for the help.