Ok so I've been motoring a bit harder lately since the car passed its break-in period. I've noticed when downshifting from 3rd to 2nd the shifter enters the gate for reverse. Then it seems it's very easy to keep going into that gate instead of being locked out like you should be with forward motion.

Now in my old M Coupe this NEVER happened. Reverse was completely locked out until I had the car stopped or at a very low speed. It seemed much harder to engage the reverse gate.

Has anyone else had this issue? Is this common? or maybe should I take it in to the dealer? It sorta sucks when you're hitting a corner perfectly then try to accelerate away only to notice that you can't get into second gear.

 

Usually people that aren't familiar with the BMW/MINI reverse location run into this problem where they accidentally arm wrestle themselves into reverse, but this is a first hearing a previous BMW owner accidentially finding reverse.

If I may ask; why are you waiting until after the apex to shift into gear? You should be in the gear you want to use accelerating out of the corner just before hitting the apex, if not as early as the corner entrance. I also recommend MUCH less arm muscle on the shift lever; it's not like my old Mustang Cobra with a B&M Ripper shifter that required you to pump iron to use effectively. The R56's shifter is as light as they come; use your fingertips, and no more.

Good luck,
Ryan

 

I usually throw it into second before the corner as I'm braking. Blipping the throttle while braking. Maybe I just need to use more finesse. The 5spd in the M Coupe I had never went into the reverse location. I don't think even once during ownership.

 

In my R56, it takes a deliberate amount of side pressure to engage the reverse gate. I can't imagine how this could happen on a 3 to 2 shift. On a 4 to 1 maybe but not 3 to 2. Sounds like you have a shifter/gate issue.
Try this:
Engine off shifter in neutral.
Ease shifter to left until it stops.
If more pressure to the left is applied, can you feel the reverse gate resistance? I feel a lot at this point, takes a noticeable amount of pressure to engage the reverse gate.

 

Yeah most of the time I can feel the resistance, but sometimes it just goes right in like butter.

 

ditto- this was my first manual, yes i popped it into reverse once by accident, thank god there was no car, but ive never done it since, i always imagined it like an arcade game where im slamming it and all, but in the r56 its just a little push and a pop! and your in gear.

 

I've had it go into reverse a couple of times when I was expecting first. Both times I was at a stop light and trying to pick first in a hurry when the light changed. It's happened to my husband, too--in a similar situation, and both of us are former BMW drivers. I haven't had it happen when going from third to second, though. I'd see the dealer...

 

I am an R56 and a BMW driver. I have never had any problems at all in regard to entering reverse gear rather than any other gear--except in one situation. If the MINI has been in reverse, it is easy to reengage reverse when intending to enter first gear. The problem is caused by not fully leaving reverse, that is by allowing the shift selector stay to the left of the 1-2 range. It's not a problem because the car is stopped and it is very apparent what is going on as you start to release the clutch.

But finding reverse when trying for second is something I can't imagine unless there is some sort of defect with the shifting mechanism, or a heavy handed, unfeeling driver is jamming the shifter level about. Surely no one who posts on these fora would ever do such a thing--would they?
I have to say that my MINI has one of the nicest trannies that I've ever used. A possible issue that I was a bit concerned about was reaching second when down shifting to fourth, or third when going for fifth. However, a light hand allows things to go where they should.

Cheers,

Joe

 

Hahah.. I can assure you I'm not a brute. I'm just pulling out from 3rd looking for the 'wall' then into second. If you pull straight down I'd be in 4th, I need to pull down and to the left to get 2nd gear. It just slips right in. (sometimes)

 

I did this the other day luckly the car behind was about 5 feet back ,When I first read about this I could't imagine it happening but ,but when I did it I was shocked how easy it was.This seems like something that should be fixed before someone gets hurt!

 

Yeah, it's happened to me as well. On my drive home from the dealer after buying the car I was waiting at a light that was on the incline of an overpass and my daughter was just behind me in her car. I was so used to having to really force it into first while in a Saturn SC2 (now another daughters car) that I jammed it into reverse and scared my poor daughter. Then couldn't seem to get it out of reverse when "fixing" the situation. All the cars behind me where very patient with me, my thanks to all of them.

 

*sigh* I've put my MINI into reverse trying to find 1st before. After doing it once, I learned...take the time to get it in the right gear or suffer the humiliation. I'm sure the guy behind me was thinking..."friggin' newb"...which I was at the time.

 

Yeah, it's better if you do it with the paper plates on the car--you have a visible "excuse."

 

For a second there, I was thinking picnic plates. And ??????

 

wow weird, my r56 will not even make the slightest attempt to go into reverse while down shifting to second (even while agressively driving and quickly shifting). so thats odd. In fact it wont go into reverse without a lot of
deliberate effort to push it to the side and up.

guess it could be chaulked up to more "variances" in the construction of the car.

 

You'll get used to it if you're new to manuals. Can't say I've had this problem for many, many years. I'm surprised it'll go into reverse and not just make huge amounts of nasty gratey noises.

 

This happened to me at a light when I test drove the dealer's demo car the other day.

Now I'm just trying to decide if I wanna give DSC a chance or save my $500 it will cost to add it in....

 

quit trying to yank the shifter out when you downshift. problem solved

 

Reverse is up and 2nd is down. How in the heck do you go in the R when you move the shaft to 2nd???????????????????????????????????????????????

 

This is on the R53, but I've had what I think is a similar experience. I want to downshift from 3rd to 2nd, but I apply too much left pressure, overcoming the normal resistance and missing the gate into 2nd. When I try to complete the shift, I obviously can't. It's probably happened to me...twice?

I don't think the OP was actually shifting into reverse but was into the far-left neutral position of the shifter, where obviously you can't pull the shifter rearward.

 

I've gone for a downshift to second and pushed too far to the left and found myself in what feels like a dead end box (learning curve experience). But with an attempt at a downshift to second, no matter how hard you force the stick (you're forcing to the left and DOWN), is not going to get you into reverse (which is hard to the left and UP). And woe unto the car if you did get it into reverse when doing a downshift to second from whatever higher gear you were in in the first place.

 

I noticed where the Reverse gear was, and I was wondering why they had the Reverse such that you have to shift upward, instead of the more intuitive downward (like on other cars I've driven with manual). I say more intuitive because when you want to reverse, it seems more natural to shift downard, in the direction you wanted to go.

On the other hand, maybe they designed it that way on purpose so those trying to downshift won't accidently shift into Reverse instead of 2nd? Hmmm.........

 

that's it - no downshifting into 1st

 

I have been driving standard transmissions since they were commonly called "standard transmissions." The Mini is the only car that I had a hard time preventing accidentally hitting reverse among all the manual transmission cars I haved owned or driven ( a lot ).

This lasted a week or so.

Since hitting reverse a few times in the very beginning, I am a little paranoid about this, but expect the paranoia will fade as the miles add up. The only time this happened to me was from a dead stop when engaging ( trying to engage ) first from neutral. If you are hitting reverse during a downshift from third, you are probably hitting the lever a bit hard. The centering action of the gearshift is a bit light for my taste, but - knock on wood - you will get used to it like I did.


Paul

 

I've done the reverse instead of first thing--but only once (so far). Reverse seems like a foreign territory. I have to say that the 6-speed is harder to adjust to than I thought it would be. I've only been away from a 5-speed 5 years, but adding that 6th gear and staying under 4500rpms is making me the most nervous driver ever! My head seems to remember the 5-speed and I intuitively am using 2nd as 1st. I also have "trouble" getting into 6th. I can't explain it--but I'm getting better. I'm up to 250 miles now.
I also zone out enjoying the ride and find I'm driving in too low a gear---just plain old forget to shift! (Girlie stuff--I know!)