1st gear whining noise

[floydzeppelinfan]

Hey, I am new to the forums here, and relatively new to cars in general. So in other words I know jack squat about cars. Now I just bought my first car, 16 years old here, and it is a 1995 325is 100,000 miles. Great car. Only a few things that i realized when driving and one is that when I am coming to a stop sign or whatever, I pop it into neutral, then when I am almost stopped, I put in the clutch and put it into first. Remember it is still moving when I do this. The car whines a little and the loudness gets softer as I get slower. Am I doing this wrong? 2nd week on the stick

Also, when I first got the car It had been sitting for quite some time, and When I started to drive white smoke came out of the exhaust for about 10 seconds. The dealer replaced the radiator/water pump/ thermostat. On top of that the coolant level is low. What is going on?

Thanks in advance.

[PhiLLaY]

its burning oil, rings are worn

[floydzeppelinfan]

and about how much will that cost ?

[bitcore]

BLUE smoke is burning oil, WHITE smoke is actually just water condensation being evaporated into water vapor by the car's hot exhaust, which is rather normal and nothing to be worried about, unless you live in a HOT climate.
you could be doing a driving teqnuiqe called engine braking, putting the car in a lower gear while your moving a little faster than that gear's intended for.
If you keep the clutch in and it still whines, then somthing may be up.


Add some colant, it's good to keep ALL of your fluid levels full.

[floydzeppelinfan]

Ya, it still whines while the clutch is in..... But I'm still confused by the coolant level being low. As I said earlier the dealer replaced the radiator, thermostat, and water pump. Very confusing.

[bitcore]

The older E36 series have a water pump with a plastic impellor that breaks without wanring, they probably replaced the pump with one with a metal impellor. The radiator has a common problem where the neck of the radiator at the top where the hose is hooked onto, will crack over a course of a few and leak fluid. In my case, mine broke completely off :P They probably replaced the radiator for that reason or a preventive measure (Not sure why they'd spend money on somthing that wasn't broken but you never know) Check the radiator hose neck at the top of the radiator for wetness, it MAY be leaking. I doubt it since they just replaced it.
Add some antifreeze

[007ben]

the whine when you down shift when slowing is most likely the engine tring to slow the whole car down..

compression breaking i belive it is called.... using the compressison on the engine to slow down as the RMPS are lower than what would be required for current speed so it resists and slows you down.

[BlantonG13]

I think there is a big difference between an engine making a "Whining" noise and the normal raising of the engine's RPMs...I notice a little bit of a whining noise as well in my car, it just started. You should point the noise out to a mechanic or a dealer...do you only hear it during the times you described?

[brien4787]

Originally posted by floydzeppelinfan@Jun 20 2004, 03:05 PM
Hey, I am new to the forums here, and relatively new to cars in general. So in other words I know jack squat about cars. Now I just bought my first car, 16 years old here, and it is a 1995 325is 100,000 miles. Great car. Only a few things that i realized when driving and one is that when I am coming to a stop sign or whatever, I pop it into neutral, then when I am almost stopped, I put in the clutch and put it into first. Remember it is still moving when I do this. The car whines a little and the loudness gets softer as I get slower. Am I doing this wrong? 2nd week on the stick

Also, when I first got the car It had been sitting for quite some time, and When I started to drive white smoke came out of the exhaust for about 10 seconds. The dealer replaced the radiator/water pump/ thermostat. On top of that the coolant level is low. What is going on?

Thanks in advance.

i wouldnt downshift into 1st by the way. i usually only go down to 2nd. then when stopped, put into 1st.

[dancehall]

hi all! got a '94 e36 automatic compact.. no problems at all .. untill 2day .. some little squeeking sound apeared .. seeming to come from under the hood/exhaust but it was pretty silent .. drove te entire day like 100 Km in total.

then all of a sudden there was a loud very loud squeeking (sounded like the sound be4 but much louder) sound and the car stopt and the engine also stopped.

looking outside, fluid was rapidly emptied and it had been leaking heavily for like 10 meters or something. it was at night so i could see the color, the fluid came from the front left side under the hood..

could that be the waterpump, described in this topic, or is it something much more serious or lets say expensive??

[theironm0nk]

First off if your moving never go into 1st gear . Second buy yourself a Bosch water pump. Take it really slow with driving. I suggest if you can take a car care or auto class in your school if possible. You will save large amounts of money for even the smallest of jobs done by yourself correctly, about $50-$80 bucks an hour.

[93 325i]

^^Agreed, never into first when in motion.. As for the coolant, just add more OEM BMW coolant and watch it for the next few days. If it disappears again then it can be anything from worn headgasket to leaky hoses..