I have a torsion spring setup already. All I need to do is take down opener, unwind spring, remove cables from lower section, move springpad up, measure and crimp new cables, take off top section and extend rails, make new hangs, get a new pair of rails and mount them to vertical tracks and hang them from cieling, put on top section, connect cables, wind up spring and test...then reinstall opener.. I've done it a few hundred times in my youth My first blue collar job!

 

So, I finally worked up the courage to do this. Your diy was extremely helpful as well as alot Of the other comments.
I did run into one issue, my car was leaking transmission fluid before, I hadn't realized it until my transmission had a malfunction
It went into failsafe mode a few times so I stopped driving it for a bit, until I had the time to work on it,
I finally had a chance to get it on a lift and change out the leaking mechatronic sleeve and I also did the pan and filter even though it wasn't leaking.
Well, all done with and and went on a test drive and it still goes into failsafe mode. It drive perfect, never smoother, in first through third gear.
But when I go into 4th or higher it surges , like it's trying to go back into third gear but it's confused whether or not to go into fourth or back to third.
And if I accelerate while in fourth gear it completely freaks out and jerks around then seems like it goes into neutral and then the failsafe mode comes.
I'm just trying to figure out what's going on with it and whAt I need to do to fix it. Please help!!


And i noticed that 8 of the transmIssion bolts were loose enough to take out by hand, as if someone had loosened them, I recently had my car in the dealership for the vaccuum pump recall and I gave them a very hard time about the recall not covering the actual pump. Any chance that this is more then a coincidence??

 

No information on this one??

 

is the problem consistent in fourth gear? sounds like the 4th gear clutches are slipping maybe??

 

Yes it wouldn't seem to let me in fourth or Above, if I go in any of those gears and accelerate the red cog of death will come up saying transmission malfunction

 

You might need a transmission reset. I would take it to the dealer and pay for diagnosis. It might be something as simple as a reflash of the transmission ecu.

 

+1 exactly what I was going to say. Turn key over all the way w/0 starting car while pressing gas pedal down for 30 seconds or so then release. take key out for 10-15 seconds. There's more info on the board about it.

Try transmission reset first. If that doesn't work, disconnect battery overnight before calling the dealer. See what happens when you re-connect. If you do not have diagnosis tools, you can take to dealer. To be honest they're going to give you some BS about changing your fluid/pan. That bolt problem is a serious issue and you need to make sure you replace them or tighten. Failsafe is when the vehicle is only in 3rd or 4th gear...only. You actually get 1-3 fine, so your car is not in failsafe mode. Stay calm, I'm sure there's an easy fix.
ARE YOU SURE you did everything correctly?
Was the car completely level when adding fluid?
Did you make sure your temperature did not rise beyond the requirements?
Did you have someone shifting through all the gears while topping off fluid?

 

I did replace the pan/filter with new bolts and mechatronic sleeve. And 5.5 liters of pentosin fluid
Yes, I was able to get 5.5 liters back in, I followed the temPerature and shifting requirements and made sure there was no leaks. I followed this exactly and the car drove better then it ever has. What I mean to say is It will go into failsafe after I shift out of third gear, regardless if it is in d, ds or the manuall gears. I can drive the car from startup, but when it goes to 4th it pulls the failsafe mode up. I tried the 30 second trick and nothing, I checked the battery an alternator and they are fine. My obd2 codereader doesn't tell me anything except undefined code so maybe I need to try a better one from checker or something, before I take it to the dealer

 

"maybe I need to try a better one from checker or something, before I take it to the dealer" - what do you mean checker? you mean V-Checker? Yes, that's a good one to have. Just select BMW in profesional mode and it may pull the code and display exactly what the code states (translates it)

So if you car is going into failsafe mode after hitting 3rd then it could be related to the Mechatronics sleeve....are you sure you did not bend any of the pins and are you sure there all electrical connectors were clean?
From experience when I had an E46 car stuck in safe-mode, I not only had a bad Mass Air Flow Sensor, but also had a blow fuse by the DME that kept popping on me. Why? I have no idea and spent way too much time trying to figure it out. In fact, I even took the tranny out of the car!
Only to find a blown fuse and a bad MAFS. I upgraded the fuse from 30amp to 40amp and replace MAFS and issue solved

 

I meant checker orielly auto parts. They have some good code readers there. And as far as the mechatronics, the sleeve slid in very easy, so I'm sure I didn't hit any pins, I took out the connector a few times to make sure. I disconnected the battery last night and I will put it back on later today, I was thinking it could be the dme fuse after reading a bit on bimmerfest.com but I couldn't seem to find the fuse. I hope I can figure this out soon