Clutch question for 5spd owners

[Dudesky_E36]

My '92 325i is the third manual car I've owned, and I have never gotten around to mastering the technique of double clutching and double de-clutching. So i guess that makes me a newbie to manuals. On my previous car, the clutch blew out on me. It was probably long overdue, but I wonder if my driving habits also had anything to do with it. I mean, I rarely drag the car, my revs almost always match, and my shifts aren't sloppy, but they could be a little smoother. On the highway, I blip the gas while the clutch is engaged to downshift, which is probably a bad thing. In the city where I do most of my driving, I'll shift into neutral and let the brakes do all the work to come to a stop.

So my question is, how important is double clutching and double de-clutching? How robust is the synchromesh gearbox in a 3 series? I've heard some people say that the technique is unnecesary and old school, yet others say it significantly adds longetivity to your drivetrain. Is doing it a little anal retentive, or am I a moronic Bimmer abuser who should be shot for not doing it?

[Antiburn]

I believe its totally pointless and useless to do. Some might say different but maybe they need to stop watching fast and furious

[mazdaspeed88]

Duble clutching is a why of saveing the drivetrine, And is "pointless". If you are Road racing . drag racing, or any from of racing you really dont need. But if you are the lest bit ciruos, heer is how it is done.
As you have the clutch in you need to match the rpms for the next gear. You are going to push in the clutch, shift to nuteral, let out on the clutch, rev the motor, put the clutch back in, and shift to the next gear. That is the way must people will do it.Well any way have fun and try it a few times, it met take you that long to get it right.

[Dudesky_E36]

Yea, I know how to do it. What I wanna know is how tough the synchro is on an E36. Anyone had an experience where one went out on them? Why would it be pointless if doing it ensures matching rotation of the driveline and engine without straining the synchro? I mean, why drag the car if you don't have to? I guess it's not that important if no one here seems to do it

[ionizer]

basically the gearbox of the 3 series is a really good one. it can take alot of beatin the only thing u need to look out for is not shifting into 2nd gear to fast do not yank it in as hard as u can. if u do that u will wear down the syncronisation rings very fast which is a pretty expensive thing.....double cluthing is good if u are into driving hard. the drivetrain wont wear down if u drive in a normal fashion without double cluthing.

[Dudesky_E36]

Thanks, ionizer, that's probably what I was looking for. What I haven't mentioned is that I just bought the car a couple of weeks ago, and got $1500 knocked off the Kelly Blue Book price because 2nd gear was dead. The dealer promised to get it taken care of, and right now I'm waiting to get the car back from them. I'm guessing that what you described is probably what happened to the car.

[ionizer]

sounds good .....hope u'll enjoy the car