liamsmith33

Hello All,
So I recently purchased a 2004 530i for my daughter as her first car. The care has high mileage (229K), but the owner was selling it for a cheap price and stated that he had a used transmission installed the previous year. He did however state that since the transmission was installed the car sat in his driveway because of "drivability issues", which he stated was because the Crankshaft and Camshaft positions sensors were needing replacement. I had the vehicle towed to my house, and began attempting to track down the issue's. The car was without a battery the entire time it had sat......which I quickly determined that BMW's did not like to have, so there were many faults after a new battery was installed. I replaced the both sensors, did ALOT of suspension/brake/wheel work, yet continued to have codes for Transmission Control & DSC interface were faulty. I found oil had been leaking from the valve cover gasket into the where the ECU is housed, cleaned the wires and oil out as best as I could, replaced valve cover gasket, intake manifold gasket, crankshaft breather hoses, spark plugs, coil packs, VANOS, DISA valve, Idle air control valve, alternator, starter, and believe it or not much more! I apologize for such a long winded message, but the bottom line is that I still get occasional transmission faults, which will clear with shutting the car off and restarting. The transmission shop just told me that I need a new valve body and Techtronics module, but provided very little diagnostic data to prove that to be th case. Thoughts? And Thanks!
Liam

seanjordan20

These are notorious for gasket sleeves and bridge failure. If all they did was swap the trans I would start there and see it is makes a difference. It's the cheapest and most reasonable fix to what you just described

liamsmith33

Thanks for such a quick response! So you are speaking of the replacing gasket for the the o-ring were the connector goes, as well as the gasket for the bridge? Would this cause Fault: 5F2F DSC: Interface, Transmission Control? I also will occasionally get fault: 5088 EGS: Sensors, Transmission Switch L1-L4, which I had read in one of the forums was a small circuit board that attaches to the top of the TCM and connected the shifter to the trans. Thanks again for the help.
Liam

seanjordan20

I'm talking about replacing the 4 cylinder sleeves and bridge gasket in between the VB and transmission. No those would not cause the issue but for the 5F2F I would start with cleaning the connector and VB plug. The 5088 should be the mechatronic gearshift lever issue. I would also check the shifter cable and board before putting VB back in. It may have to come down to replacing the mechatronic itself but that's a worst case scenario.

liamsmith33

Thanks again! I will start with those and let you know how it works out. Greatly appreciated and thank you for your service!!
Liam

liamsmith33

Hey Sean so I removed the mechatronic and valve body. I had been getting an error code for L1-L4 sensors, Transmission switch which I thought was part of the mechatronic board and "attempted" replacing and soldering a new circuit into where the old one was. I replaced all of the seals, put a new cover/gasket on, filled it with transmission fluid and attempted to start the car.....with no success. I have additional codes now, so I am assuming I will need to find a used mechatronic now? Thanks again

seanjordan20

Man before you did that I would of recommended sending yours off to ZF to get it refurbished. eBay should have some used ones for you but then you will need to have it coded to the car.

liamsmith33

Yep, I definitely clew it on this one! My final thought has been trying to determine whether or not this mechatronics can have the Gear Selector Position Sensor changed out? Otherwise I will be searching for a used one. Thanks again