I just purchased a 1987 E34, it seemed to shift hard from the begining; the neutral gate wasn't always definite, and the shifter travel in either gear didn't seem to have definite limit neither; ie, the only thing that stopped the travel was other parts of the pedestal being in the way. Friday a couple times, it didn't engage in forward, until I brought the rpms up a little from idle, while maneuvering in a marina. I disconnected the the shifter cable, and found that the shifter shaft on the transmission didn't stop rotating once it got into gear. I thought the lever (attached to the shaft on the trans) might be loose, but no such luck!! There is definitely to much travel, in either gear, in the shaft. Then it began to not shift into gear at the dock, especially reverse. Sometimes I could move the shifter lever in the cockpit to its extreme range, and it would shift after a few seconds. AAARRRGGHHHH!!! That doesn't seem good!!! Anybody have any similar symptoms and/or ideas? Thanks, Howard