I'm on my second BMW 118d SE. My current one (40k miles) was inherited after 15k miles from a colleague. I covered 80k trouble free miles in the first vehicle.

Recently and without warning I've been having problems engaging third gear. First it baulked and needed careful handling to get the car into third gear. Now, from time to time, it's impossible to engage third gear. I think this is a reall safety issue - especially in city driving.

All the other gears are fine. At a recent service the BMW technician took the car for a test drive. It proved inconclusive. The BMW dealer stated that there have been no issues with this model - it's an 11 plate first registered in Feb 2011.

It's a company car. I'm minded to press for a replacement vehicle until the issue is resolved. Am I being over optimistic? What's causing the probelm?