Yup, $150 lessons for a $50k car...it's a no-brainer.

 

this may be a worthwhile investment too:

http://www.bmw.ca/drivertraining/dt_...l5.asp?lang=en

i've heard good things about the bmw training courses, but i'm not sure if they use RWD as their student cars.

 

I believe in taking your foot off immediately, but you need to practice until you become comfortable with it. The clutch gets worn the most under partial clutching. When the pedal is fully released, the clutch is biting with all its strength, and is gripping. When you ease off the pedal, there is a period of time where the clutch is contacting, but not fully, and there's some slipping, and the clutch is worn. This happens both when upshifting, and when starting from a stop.
For starting from a stop, make sure you're under 2000rpm unless you're racing or something. On a level surface, with some practice, you will get accustomed over time to take off at the idle rpm, and a bit more revs for uphill.

 

To be honest, all Z behave differently, some have smoother clutch and what not. The most important is practice, and learn the clutch engagement and dis-engagement point of your Z.

 

they are 335's, and i'm pretty sure most if not all of BMW's cars are RWD (unless it's the 4wd of course).

 

one could only hope......

 

yeah i know Z is a terrible thing to waste :-) but i have no other choices. before buying my Z, i had a toyota corolla, and i drove that sh** for like 3 years...and i decided to change and get something cool and manual.so i pick the Z. i have no regret tho , it's quite a fun car to drive even if i am still a beginner of manual shift.. i think i will be all right when time goes by.. At lease my Z is so much better than the toyota corolla i had before..lol i am happy!

 

\wow...that's 775 bucks for a day's course...

 

On a level surface, i can usually start the car with about 1500 rpm for now.

but on the uphill stop, when starting the car, i have go above 2000 rpm to start, otherwise, i am scared of rolling back..even if i know i won't roll back that far to hit the car behind me...but i just rev a bit higher to start on uphill...is it normal?

on a surface level with no traffic(no cars behind me) i can start the car solely using the clutch. no gas. but when i am in traffic, i have to rev a bit.:-)

 

lol..normally, how long it takes for ppl to get used to their Zs? one year?

 

LoL!
Congrats man, that is a huge jump

You should really consider the Young Drivers of Canada training course. It wouldn't hurt...

Enjoy man & speed safely

 

lol, 2000rpm at uphill. NOOB!!
I did 3000rpm at uphill when I first started on my friend's dad's Golf TDI. With the Z, after a month of driving, engaging at idle speed on uphill wasn't a problem.

 

Forgot to mention, a couple of my friends took the BMW course, they're all SMG. For the manual, you have to pay extra, something like $2000 or some ridiculous price. But it's a fun course, they teach you to control the car in slides and avoid accidents when they happen.

 

You will look back at this thread 6 months from now and laugh. Once you spend some time behind the wheel you will figure out driving manual just by doing it.

Wondering what gear to be in and where will all answer it's self as you go. It's not a "this RPM you do this" type of thing, it's all feel and sound. Just as you don't stall anymore because you can feel the release point of the clutch you will always know what gear you are in and what gear to be in when you are driving.

It just takes time, thats all.

 

well said

he just needs an outline and guide so with that he can learn and create his own 'style' of driving. After 3 pages i think he has what he needs

what you wanna do first is take your car to a flat road and with your left leg only clutch in gear one and slowly release the clutch still it starts moving by itself WITHOUT you applying gas, that is your release point where you should start giving it a bit of gas, knowing this point will make your manual driving days alot easier.

what i do is always shift AT LEAST above 2000rpm like everyone said
you mention you were going a low speed on 4th gear and the car was shaking, simply because you were in the wrong gear the car was shaking and 'working' too hard to get it going.

turns
i always take city turns in 2nd gear, the power is there for you to stop and go.

a big part of driving manual is also muscle memory you will just feel it as you develop this, it goes along with what Jim said

Wondering what gear to be in and where will all answer it's self as you go. It's not a "this RPM you do this" type of thing, it's all feel and sound. Just as you don't stall anymore because you can feel the release point of the clutch you will always know what gear you are in and what gear to be in when you are driving.

It just takes time, thats all.

cheers

Quy

 

thanks for all of the ppl who helped me in this thread..that really helps...and i manged to do the downshift without much problem for the past couple of days...:-)

 

However, i figured out, the more i drive my stick Z, the more question i will have to face.

i guess learning to drive stick is a long trip , and it's never ending.

Here's a New Question i got today..:-(
when i start the car on 1st Gear, i give some gas, when the Speedometer reaches 2500 to 3000rpm, i didn't shift to 2nd Gear,instead, i let off the gas, the car's kinda sliding back and forth, very strange feeling(don't know how to desribe),sort of like braking and go , braking and go, and it makes me very uncomfortable.

When i am in 2nd Gear while driving, i give some gas to about 3000rpm, i let off the gas, the car is doing the same thing as it did in 1st gear, but much less to the point that i can't even feel it.

What is going on with my car???? something wrong with the car? or how am i supposed to solve the problem?i am totally confused!

Please help!!! Million Thanks~~~

 

You're not giving enough gas and letting off the clutch too quickly. When you get that jerky feeling, give it some more gas. Also, try to keep it in 2nd at least if you plan on crusing around close to 20mph. Nothing is wrong in the car, lol. Ahh, what trim is it?

 

stop lifting off, it's all about flooring it!

Like Manjot said, letting off clutch too quickly. Another way is letting off the gas too quickly, it's all about smooth fluid motion. Your feet have to get used to it. It's like synchronization.

 

i think hes sayin that instead of shifting on 1st gear on 3000rpm he just lets go of the gas and in 2nd its not so bad.
i think the situation he has here is usually you shift at 3000rpm and some cases you need to slow down (say a car cut you off)instead of shifting to 2nd. i would recommend either putting it in neutral or clutching in as you need to slow down in 1st gear. the reason you are being 'jerked' foward and have a stop-and-go feeling is because 1st gear spins the engine very fast that is why you accelerate in 1st, if you were to start your car in 6th it would be slow. so in theory if you were at 3000rpm on 6th gear going at 100km you wouldn't feel that jerky stop and go because that is the difference in gear. in any gear if you dont give any gas the rpm will go down making the car slower and in 1st gear you will feel it jerk you towards the window, whereas the opposite idea when you ally gas you move forward. hope that helps if not maybe the next meet some of us can help you out in person.