gmak

My car is just fine as well. But it took that 3 - 5 drum replacement to take care of the slippage in 3rd and 5th. The bearings and clutches were just a bonus - of sorts. I also had the torque converter cracked open, fluid changed and resealed. SO now, with the valve body rebuild and the solenoids, it's practically brand new and drives like it.

After driving the other cars exclusively for a long time, I find that in 'old farts' mode that the car shifts quite soon from one gear to the next. In sport mode, it's much more aggressive going to the higher revs. I suppose that the 'old farts' mode will delay at bit before shifting (guess it wants to get to 4th quickly for that fuel economy) after a bit of use. It's already starting to happen.

seanddd

OK, over this weekend, I finally was able to attack the transmission problems. I have a 2007 525xi x-drive that jolts when shifting 1-2, 2-3, and 2-1. Have tried fluid/pan replacement twice but the problems persisted. I was working under the car alone and only have about 21" of clearance, so forgive me for not not being able to take pictures. These are XI all wheel drive x-drive specific:

1. raise the car and remove the under cover;
2. drain most of the fluid from the drain plug;
3. disconnect the dual exhaust pipes at the joints right next to the transmission pan, pull down the exhaust pipes away from the car and let it hang freely;
4. remove the heat shield behind the exhaust pipes to expose the transfer case mounting bracket;
5. use a jack or jack stand to support the transfer case's weight, remove the 3 screws, 3 bolts and 1 through bolt which releases the transfer case mounting bracket (this step is critical because it makes it possible to remove and replace the mechatronic sealing sleeve);
6. remove the pan, be careful not to spill;
7. pull down the locking tab on the valve body to free the mechatronic sealing sleeve, pull out the sleeve;
8. remove the bolts, remove valve body (weighs about 20 pounds) and replace the solenoids, foam strip and all 5 seals between the valve body and transmission as shown on the CTSC instruction; this is the step where you will expect a shower and bath of Lifeguard 6 fluid;
9. re-install the valve body, push in a new mechatronic sealing sleeve, push up the locking tab to lock the sleeve in place, connect the transmission wire harness, re-install the transfer case mounting bracket and now you can remove the supporting jack or jack stand from the transfer case, re-install the heat shield and re-connect the exhaust pipes;
10. install a new pan and filter (built-in as one), don't be cheap, buy the ZF pan for around $95, to avoid any leaks down the line, I re-used the aluminum pan bolts;
11. fill the transmission with ZF Lifegaurd 6 or BMW ATF-2 fluid (again, don't be cheap, the extra $50-$80 are really nothing compared to your peace of mind), with valve body removed and re-installed, I managed to put in about 7 liters of fluid (the previous 2 fluid and pan changes, I could put in about 6 liters);
12. reset the transmission adaptation using INPA or similar software, do not believe the floor-the-gas-pedal-for-30-second thing, test drive.

So far I have only driven around 20 miles and it already feels totally different, the jolts and clunking are no longer there, the shifting is so much firmer and decisive, I'm only expecting a hot-knife-cutting-butter smoothness in 100-200 miles when the adaptation leaning process is done. Will report back.

Conclusions: it is highly doable in a home garage with a limited under-car clearance, even though the XI model makes it so much harder to work on. Make sure you wear personal protection equipment, eye protections, facial masks, long sleeve gloves... Have fun!

seanddd

Now that I have driven 300+ miles since the fix, happy to report that the car shifts firmly and smoothly like new between all gears and at all speeds, no jolts no clunks no hesitations. Thanks to KyleB and everyone else for the great inputs!

gmak

congratulations! It's a good feeling when the problem is solved.

Alexandru.k_24

Hello,
Can anyone please tell me why I can not see the pictures from the op`s post? Thank you

KyleB

because photobucket sucks a male camel's ass with hoisin sauce and now wants me to pay them $400 to host my photos.

sorry, I'll have to figure out a fix for this when I get a chance. I had no idea this thread would be so popular and use up the amount of bandwidth that it has. I'm open to suggestions.

Alexandru.k_24

Ok, for those who can not see the pictures from the tutorial, just right click on the picture and select "open image in new tab". The picture will appear on photobucket`s site. I also made a .pdf file with the author`s tutorial with all the pictures included. Hope that helps.
Mecha.pdf

KyleB

awesome alexandru, thank you very much!!!!!

CTMarc

I'm looking for help with a problem that's slightly off the thread topic, but still relevent.

I'm replacing fluid and pan on a 2008 528xi. Because of the x-drive there's a driveshaft that runs to the transfer case. The shaft blocks access to the transmission fill plug. The shaft is held by four E12 bolts. I need to unbolt it and move the shaft out of the way.

Problem is I'm having trouble accessing two of the four E12 driveshaft fasteners. Can the shaft be turned by hand? A half a rotation would give me access. If it can't be turned, is there a different approach to take?

If anyone has dealt with in the past and has any info/advice/tips, they would be most appreciated.

seanddd

CTMarc, that hole is not your filler hole for xi model. The correct filler hole is at the right rear corner of the filter pan, directly below the mechatronic sealing sleeve. You should not have to remove anything in order to loosen the filler plug using a 8mm allen key, fill and close. The plugged hole you are talking about is at a slightly higher level and should not be used for filling transmission fluid, which will result in an incorrect transmission fluid level.

However, just to answer your question, yes, you can hand-turn the drive shaft that goes to the front differential.