[No_curebimmer]

Updating this thread for posterity:

So I had my car at the dealership all last week; they could not duplicate any specific symptoms with my transmission, DMF or gearbox; the DME computer did not have any stored faults either – so no particular problems were found. The symptoms that I reported (sometimes 1st gear was jerky + ticking transmission noise while at idle and not in gear would go away after disengaging the clutch) seemed to be normal; I actually consulted with the Shop Foreman, and he confirmed that the car performs as designed. Two different Master Techs tried to diagnose my car, and no abnormalities were found.

I'm no BMW technician, but here is my take. For manual transmissions, the reason that we hear a slight ticking noise when in idle, clutch pedal depressed and not in gear is that the flywheel (which normally vibrates ever so slightly as it rotates) is so close to the clutch plate that they touch when the clutch is engaged. Keep in mind that dual mass flywheels are composed of 2 disks/plates: one attached to the crankshaft and the 2nd to the clutch. Now, it makes that, upon dis-engaging the clutch (i.e. press on the clutch pedal), the two plates physically separate and no longer touch, thus the ticking goes away. I believe that this is sometimes called ‘clutch chatter’.

Now, I could be wrong, but for single mass flywheels, this symptom is actually even more pronounced since they typically vibrate quite a bit more than DMFs.


In all honesty, I experienced the 1st gear being jerky on maybe 3-4 occasions max, so it could have been user error on my side. Please note that 100% of the time I drive in Sport Plus all settings (except in efficient mode till engine/oil temp reaches at least 160F).