Tkarrde

Hi,

Great thread and write up.

I have an 05 530i auto I picked up at 90k -- now has 119k.

Had what I thought was an oil leak. After replacing the OFHG myself it became apparent to me that it was a tranny pan leak. Driving it to my indy, coming off the highway the tranny slipped on the downshift from 5th to 4th and went into limp mode.

Indy replaced the pan (mechatronic sleeve appears to have been replaced by previous owner) and filled with ZF fluid and cleared adaptations. He said that while I was a bit low on fluid, what came out was not burnt and there didnt appear to be any debris / shavings. I had put about 150 miles on the tranny when the same slip occurred on the 5-4 downshift -- it threw a code (can't recall exact code but had to do with CAN communication errors). Took it back to indy who cleared adaptations and said give it a bit more time to see if it works itself out. He said he can try software upgrades and double-checking fluid level but if that doesnt solve it I'll likely need a new tranny.

Questions:

I hear that if these trannies are truly slipping (ie clutch packs are wearing out), that putting new fluid in will kill them pretty quickly and that the slips will increase across multiple gears within several hundred miles of driving -- true?

My other indy says mechanical tranny failure usually begins in the lower gears, not the higher gears, which leads him to suspect a faulty mechatronic unit / solenoids -- thoughts?

Lastly, what should I do?! I'm seriously considering dumping the car. I just put a new front end in myself, waterpump, t-stat, pulleys, tensioners...I'm tired of throwing money at the car.

Thx in advance for any help / feedback.

KyleB

utter nonsense.

Highly likely, I would have given the same recommendation.

Having said all of this, if you're tired of sinking money into the car this might be the point where you throw in the towel. Repairing your transmission as it sits now will cross the $1000 barrier if you're having someone do it for you.

best of luck

Tkarrde

Thanks for your feedback. It's funny, if this were someone else's car, I would feel confident to dive into replacing the solenoids myself. It doesn't look too difficult.


If I were to elect to have an indy perform solenoid replacement, assuming we can reuse the existing fluid that was just changed, what can I expect labor-wise (in terms of hours)?


My biggest issue is general lack of faith in the car. I've had 2 E39s prior to this and they were great. I'm not afraid to throw another $1000 into the vehicle -- I'm afraid that I don't trust that this tranny will go to 200k.

KyleB

What gearbox was in your E39? I know that BMW used ZFs 5HP19 in a lot of E46 cars, so I'm going to guess it was the gearbox of choice for E39. 5HP19 is also a hunk of junk transmission. google "E46 no reverse", and youll see a bunch of ZF transmissions with blown out reverse drums.

I doubt your gearbox will make it to 200K. I don't have faith in ANY ZF transmission making it to 200K. If you do make it, consider yourself lucky. I cannot for the life of me figure out why BMW would engineer motors that push 300K miles and more and mate it to a gearbox that routinely blows out at 60,000 miles.

If $1000 is too much to sink into the car, dump it.

Tkarrde

2 words: planned obsolescence.


The gearbox in my 97 528i was I believe a GM tranny -- car went to 190k before I traded it in.
2000 528 was a manual from which I got 220k on the original clutch.


$1000 isn't too much for me to spend, but it is if we have no faith this car is going to make it to 200k on this tranny.


BTW, I've put about 200 miles on the car since the last adaptation reset and I have had no error mode. Not sure if it cleared itself up?


Thanks for your input I appreciate it.

KyleB

The GM A5S360R transmission used in E39 and E46 was much more reliable IMO. It suffered from loss of reverse gear too, but it was a $100 solenoid that fixed that problem. I am no fan of GM, but they do build good automatic transmissions.

I think ZF is more interested in building a money-making transmission than a good transmission. BMW doesn't care about longevity, as long as it lasts up to the end of the warranty period. ZF should be ashamed, but they likely aren't. This year I'm looking at buying a 128i, and the first thing I will make sure of is that it has a GM gearbox in it.

I doubt it's cleared up. The one thing that would be helpful would be to post exactly what fault codes are stored in EGS. I'll put ten bucks on 4F85 and/or 4F81.

a10warlord

I have 2004 E60 525I withis 6HP19Z transmission ..... during fast acceleration when i press deep my accelerator pedal i have hard vibration coming for my trans .... but when my transmission is cold it working perfectly after 15 minutes it shifts hard sometimes and have vibration.... any idea?

KyleB

I responded to your PM. feel free to respond via PM or in this thread.

Tkarrde

Warlord are you low on fluid?

Kyle this box may be FUBAR but I'm now at 400 miles without incident so I'm curious if the fluid leak was primary culprit. I will report back as time passes.

a10warlord

here is my foult code in IM memorry .... also yesterday i was watchit trans oil temperature and it was 82 C is it normall....???


I inspect my fluid level and it was ok