peachykonan

I've been dealing with a 2-1 downshift jerking issue on an older '04 525i w/ 85k miles.

After bringing it to a mechanic that was mentioned on this site, it looks like the transmission fluid is fine, I have a very minor mechatronic sleeve leak (no drips), and the mechatronics (valve body) and solenoids appear to be fine.

Due to a transmission fault code in the car, they've traced it down to an issue with third gear in the transmission resulting in slippage. He's recommending a transmission replacement as the best fix for this issue with a quote above 6k.

The software is also out of date and adaptations can be reset. They'll try to reset both on on Monday and see if it gets any better (the mechanic doubts it).

Is this price quote normal for a transmission replacement?

abdkhan1

Is the $6k including labor? If so then yes that seems about right on.

peachykonan

Labor not included ;_;.

smurf520i

I am in the UK and recently replaced my transmission.
I decided to order my own from ZF but through a distributor in the UK.
Then took it to my mechanic who replaced it, including reseting the ECU through fibre.
The total cost was exactly half of what BMW quoted me after a goodwill discount.

My mechanic still thinks that there was no slippage (gears 4 & 5), that it is a generic error that the gearbox throws. My car had after all done only 21k miles from new, I am the 1st owner.
He thinks the issue was with the magnetic 'plate' that controlls everything that goes on and that had I had more time and wanted to experiment for longer, he is confident that he could have sourced one from a scrapyard and fixed the issue.

ncsugrad2006

Please post the exact error code that was found.

I had an error code about some kind of speed mismatch on mine, which basically pops up when things are slipping. I even got so far as to get the "Transmission Malfunction" message on the iDrive a few times, where the transmission went into a "stay in one gear and hope you can get home" mode. I was able to pull over and turn the car off/back on to get it going again, but any time I hit the gas much at all, I would get the same error.

I have a feeling the code your mechanic found is either the same as mine, or the same type of code but perhaps for a different clutch pack.

I only replaced the solenoids on the mechatronics and all is 100% better. This is on a 545i with 188K miles. Yes, 188K. I have no more transmission issues.

I have not heard of any shops being too big on changing just the solenoids, but for the bill you're looking at, it's worth a shot in my opinion. Swapping the whole transmission is the easy way out for the mechanic, and the most expensive route for you.

Also make sure you're updated to the latest software. I'm not sure of the version, but there were all sorts of transmission quirks in the early versions that cars were shipped with.

All parts are available from thetctsc.com and I paid around $400 for the solenoids + whatever 8 quarts of ZF fluid goes for. I did this in the driveway in a few hours, so any mechanic shouldn't have any trouble doing it.

Just be sure to reset adaptations after doing this, if you do end up doing it

Another option is to replace the entire mechatronics assembly. Personally I highly doubt any of the hard parts in your transmission are the problem, it's most likely related to the mechatronics/solenoid section.

I took a video of doing the work. It can be found here:

Bimmerfest - BMW Forums - View Single Post - 05 545i Transmission Surging Issues help!

Video:

ncsugrad2006

Also, to answer your original question, yes that's in line for a full transmission replacement. These things aren't cheap and for some reason nobody wants to work on them.

All parts for them are available and I have a copy of a ton of manuals about them, so they are very fixable, regardless of what BMW or your mechanic tells you.

peachykonan

Sorry for the delayed reply - I was driving my rental around to several dealerships today looking at alternatives .

Thank you so much for posting your details! I only got the transmission gear error once on the iDrive when using steptronic to avoid the 2-1 downshift. I was decelerating from about 50 mph and downshifted through multiple gears a bit too fast. I immediately pulled over and restarted the car which resolved the issue. This is what led me to bring the car to the mechanic. I've had the jerkiness 'build' for about 6 months, but I've been driving more conservatively (slower and measured stops) which seems to have reduced the kicking. This iDrive error was the final straw.

My mechanic said he is confident that my 3rd gear slippage is the result of all my transmission issues. I did ask about a mechatronics or solenoid replacement as fix options and he said he doubts those services will fix anything. A transmission replacement seems excessive given only 85k miles, but he apparently has seen cars with only 20k when the transmission went bad. I'm not sure to what extent he went to investigate my problem, and I do worry that he's just focusing on the iDrive error given your success.

I have seen the video you linked and I didn't know it was you that made it! I actually showed it to my previous mechanic (WC Motors) who said he's never done it. I brought my car to Bimmer PHD after Tim mentioned on the phone that he had done solenoid replacements before and I gave him the link to thectsc.com.

Many thanks for posting it, I'm just not confident about my skills to perform the fix. The most intensive service I've ever done was spark plugs replacement following a DIY post here. I see in the other thread that Vapiano is currently doing a solenoids swap and am paying very close attention.

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...401524&page=21

Before I get the car back he'll update the transmission software and reset my adaptations. Do you recommend that I just ask him to replace the solenoids in my valve body anyway (+ trans flush)?

Thank you!

Johnny2271

Hey maybe this will help you out for i know what you are going threw right now. I had a problem very close to yours. My car also was jerking when it was coming to a stop tho, rather then from 2 to 1 ? maybe it the same problem. What i did was i had the o rings adapter and gasket change with also a software update on my car and the problem was fixed.

ncsugrad2006

yep, that's me, in my parents driveway haha. I signed up with a different username on this forum for some reason compared to bimmerfest.

Is there any way you could get the actual code that the transmssion computer had? Then I can at least tell you if mine had the same one (or very similar one)

I'm inclined to say try solenoids first, just because the cost is so much lower. I am hesitant to push people that direction too hard, because there just haven't been enough people (that I know) that have actually done it to prove it works. There's someone else on bimmerfest that is trying it (actually you already mentioned this, hopefully he chimes in today or tomorrow) so maybe that'll be another success story. When I was emailing with Klaus @ thectsc.com about my symptoms, it seemed like it was a very common problem and changing the solenoids usually fixed it.

Curious--have you changed the oil in your transmission before or no? Klaus was telling me that the EDS (pressure regulating) solenoids tend to go south if the fluid isn't changed often enough (and with BMW's recommendation of it being a "lifetime" fluid, almost no one changes it enough)

I'm almost sure that changing the whole mechatronics would fix it. Solenoids are about $400. Mechatronics was something closer to $2K for the whole assembly. I decided to gamble the $400 and try changing just those first before I did anything more drastic.

Personally I'd have your mechanic quote doing just solenoids and see where he comes back at before throwing down $6K+ for the whole thing

edit: actually, it looks like the mechatronics are more like $1600, so I was a little off there.

edit2: I didn't realize the mechatronics kits came with all of these parts. That's a better deal than I remember..

H F

Red many posts on this issue..... Where dealers and indys say " new tranny ", I too had issue with my trany coming to a stop and my trany would serge forward.. an update fixed the problem. been bout three years now and problem gone..Also ive read that a bad crank shaft position sensor will trigger a trans malfuntion error ,, and lock ur tranny in gear...after replacing it the problems were fixed,,( an dealer was saying new tranny ) I ve also read people have reset thier tranny by holdin the accelerator down for25 seconds with the key on and has fixed some shifing problems... selinoid repacement too. these items ive mentioned have actually solved thier trany problems,,,,, I would really think twice before getting new tranny ,,,,,