FRONJONI

Did quite a bit of searching and learned a lot about different problems about the transmission but could not find an answer to my specific question.

My car is currently at the dealer for what I feel is rough shifting in the car. Let me describe the shift, then if anyone could give me feedback as to whether this is normal or not, it would really help.

When shifting through all gears, I can feel every shift. By feel I mean I can feel the car give off the gas, perform the shift, then get into the next gear. I feel it to the point where the car is borderline SLOW jerking between gears. I don?t want to say jerking because it does actually get into gear, but going from 1-2 2-3 3-4 both the driver and passenger can feel these shifts. From my experience, I don?t think this is normal but I could be wrong. I always thought this car would be smooth during shifting (me not feeling it shift), but on the contrary I feel every up shift and downshift.

The car was in last month for a very rough jerk from a 1-2 shift, and was confirmed and fixed with a tranny reset. The problem now isn?t a rough jerk, just can feel every shift like I said.

The response I got from the dealership on Monday was that they confirmed my feeling on the trans and are awaiting BMW's response. Yesterday I was told that there was miscommunication and they in fact cannot feel anything abnormal with the trans and asked me to go for a drive. I did and the shop foreman was really defensive and denied anything abnormal, though he could feel my shift concerns. Told me my concerns are not necessary that this is normal operation. I even had him drive in sport mode which enhances the roughness of the shift and had him shift manually so he could feel every shift when he wants to, and still he said it?s normal.

I bought this car CPO in December; original warranty ends in May and extended till 2012.

I had a similar problem with my e46 323i that at 88000 miles turned out to be a bad torque converter which couldn?t be replaced in fear of causing the transmission to fail. I just need to know if this type if shifting is normal for this car because it is underpowered, or if I actually am experiencing something abnormal. The shop foreman got upset with me and said he doesn?t want to discuss this with me anymore and won?t make the call on it; he wants to schedule a drive with the bmw rep which could take weeks to get an appointment. He then proceeded to tell me that it could be due to oversized wheels which change the gear ratios. While it might do that, I don?t think its enough to cause this problem, plus the problem existed far before the wheels which went on two weeks ago (20" 275/30/20), which he of course doesn?t believe.

Please provide any feedback because I don?t want to make an ass out of myself at the dealer when the shifting is in fact indicative to the car.

Thanks in advance,

PS. Yes I am new to this forum and will post pics of my car that is ALREADY modded after just 1.5 months of ownership because of THIS forum...lol

Car specs:
2007 525i stock suspension. No engine mods.

chadld

Do you have an SMG transmission? They are known to be jerky. I find the shifts in my Steptronic 525 to be quite smooth, though you definitely know when they are happening. I want to know what's going on mechanically in a BMW though.

KAF

Shifts on mine have always been 'noticeable' occasionally a bit 'rough', it is not unusual, some will be more sensitive to it than others.

IMHO it is not the best transmission in the world.

Krozi

Can you define "feel the shifts" more?

It might be the megatronics unit...

Ceenit

The shifting on my '04 525 is mostly buttery smooth, although I do notice the occasional harder shifts at unusual times. I don't drive like a granny, but I typically don't do much gunning of it either (nothing to gun on a 525 anyway, no offense, I've got one, but just sayin I didn't buy it for the power)

On slight hills (not gassing it), it usually revs and extra 500-1k before it hits the shift, because of the higher revs, the shifs are harder. Never thought this a real issue though and just attributed it being the smaller engine needed higher revs before the sensor would engage the shift.

Also on cold mornings, I feel the infrequent 'slip' of a shift between 1st and 2nd (meaning it feels like it engages then disengages revving the engine higher, and then engages again).

Again, while the tranny does always behave 100% as expected, I've never considered it a big enough issue to warrant needing a fix. I think on mine it's more a function of the design of the tranny combined with the smaller engine.

I agree w/KAF's comments, it probably not the 'best' tranny in the world, but still better than most.

Note: Not sure if the tranny on your '07 is the same as on my '04 525. (about 67k trouble free miles, knock on plood)

FRONJONI

Steptronic trans.
Feel the shifts would mean just that. When the car shifts you feel a a slight rock and feel the actual gear change. as opposed to not feeling anything regarding the gear change, but watching it occur on the tach. The latter would define buttery smooth to me, thats what i experience in my sl500, xk8, even my camry.
I accepted that its indicative to the car, especially since theres a couple of you who know waht im talking about.

what is the megtronics unit?

JetCFI

i have the same problem with my 525. I had brought it in about a month after i bought it with a bad 1-2 shift and that was fixed with a transmission reset. now i am experiencing the same symptoms you speak of in your post above. i plan on taking it in this next week so i will let u know how it goes. during my first visit the foreman drove it as well. just curious, which dealership do you bring your car into? my service advisor is a great guy, real class act, and always helps me out.

FRONJONI

So is mine! Hes been our sa for 10+ years. Took it to Center BMW in Van Nuys. The shop foreman drove it and said it was normal. So if you have better luck somewhere else, PLEASe let us know!!!!!! Trying to get my things done before May