Over the past weekend I did a gearbox oil change and whilst there I did the CDV delete. Very happy with the results, first a quick summary as to what issues I was experiencing;
1.) Difficulty changing from neutral to 1st and from 1st to 2nd.
2.) Occassional "thunk" when changing gears.
3.) Difficulty with clutch control when pulling off, resulting in jerky pull offs.
The CDV removal is pretty straight forward, but there is little to no room to open & close the bleed nipple. I have tool that was made up for me when I had the 318 that allows the slave cylinder to be removed and and bled whilst being held, far easier.
The gearbox oil was removed and replaced with Liqui Molly - thanks to Moranor for shipping this me this and an additional additive that I added to oil, also an LM product. We managed to to get about 1.5 liters back into the gearbox vs the recomended 1.2 oddly.
The difference is massive, with the clutch feeling silky smooth and far lighter now. The "thunk" is now gone and clutch modulation is now perfect. I know that recently the CDV recieved a lot of coverage on the forum, but having done it on my previous 318i with hardly any difference, I was sceptical that it would not have any effect on the 330i, but the combination of the 3 DIYs has really resulted in a significant positive improvement.
This is a must do if are experiencing any of the above symptoms, and the BMW "oil for life" idea is total BS - change your gearbox oil, you won't regret it. I will doing the diff too shortly.
1.) Difficulty changing from neutral to 1st and from 1st to 2nd.
2.) Occassional "thunk" when changing gears.
3.) Difficulty with clutch control when pulling off, resulting in jerky pull offs.
The CDV removal is pretty straight forward, but there is little to no room to open & close the bleed nipple. I have tool that was made up for me when I had the 318 that allows the slave cylinder to be removed and and bled whilst being held, far easier.
The gearbox oil was removed and replaced with Liqui Molly - thanks to Moranor for shipping this me this and an additional additive that I added to oil, also an LM product. We managed to to get about 1.5 liters back into the gearbox vs the recomended 1.2 oddly.
The difference is massive, with the clutch feeling silky smooth and far lighter now. The "thunk" is now gone and clutch modulation is now perfect. I know that recently the CDV recieved a lot of coverage on the forum, but having done it on my previous 318i with hardly any difference, I was sceptical that it would not have any effect on the 330i, but the combination of the 3 DIYs has really resulted in a significant positive improvement.
This is a must do if are experiencing any of the above symptoms, and the BMW "oil for life" idea is total BS - change your gearbox oil, you won't regret it. I will doing the diff too shortly.