locomotiveBart

My beloved 05 545 has been at the dealer since the last week of June. While driving aggressively one day it made a big slip going from 4th to 5th and the trans malfunction warning came up on idrive. Took it in (one year power train warranty came with the car) and they said the tranny needed replaced. As it is not CPO they put a used tranny in, picked up the car and anytime it is in 5th gear it would surge and if you drove it hard the idrive warning would come up. Took it back and the dealer opened a puma case with BMW and were given "special" permission to completely erase and reflash the mechatronics unit. Picked the car up and it was worse than ever... Hard shifts, surging in 5th, and idrive warning if driven hard. Took it back and they said the tranny was bad and needed to be replaced. Replaced with yet another used tranny, did the whole magic reflash thing again and called my wife this morning to come get it and that it was fixed. She picked it up and immediately noticed that it still surges, she went back and took their tech for a ride and he felt the surge as well so they put us back in a loaner. They called her this afternoon and claimed that they called a "specialist" in Michigan who says surging is completely normal and told her to come get the car. She argued that the 3 different loaners we had didn't surge, her X5 does not surge, nor have the last 3 BMWs we've owned. They again said it's normal and to take the car. I have the service history of the car and the original owner complained about the transmission while it was under factory warranty but nothing was done about it. Is there anything at all I can do? I've requested that someone from BMW corporate contact me (part of the dealer survey) but not sure if that will go anywhere or not. This thread was mostly to rant but if anyone has any decent advice or experience I would appreciate hearing it. Thanks.....

Sublime

Sorry to hear about this, I can't believe it has been going on since June, crazy. Hopefully you don't give up because at some point something has got to budge. What if it's something totally overlooked like a shorted wire? Anyway - speculation aside, I wish you luck in this and hope you get to enjoy your v8 e60 soon.

locomotiveBart

Thanks man, on top of that they undo all my coding every time they touch it

flyingpuck

I had issues with my old 545i transmission too, and the ONLY thing that really pays off is to be AGGRESSIVE! Do not let them give the car back, talk to the service manager, call BMW corporate yourself, do whatever it takes to get them to do what they SHOULD be doing! I was SUCH a pain to my dealership, they eventually replaced the transmission and basically waited for me to "sign off" on the car before they closed the case! It can be done, but you must insist and continue to bring it back for repairs! Corporate will also give you a chance to have a bargaining chip that you currently do not hold. They will review the case and if there is a safety issue, they will most likely replace the transmission or whatever is causing the problem. Just DON'T let them wiggle off of the hook!

locomotiveBart

Thanks for the advice. The trans malfunction screen came on this morning and the dealer said the only way they can look at it is if she brings it in with the screen actively on (which I find it hard to believe that the computer will not store the fault) so now she gets to drive it 55 miles to the dealer with it locked in 4th gear so if anyone sees a woman cruising down the freeway at about 50mph this morning cut her some slack

DavidF

Surging is definatley NOT normal. My '04 545i does not surge even after 99k miles. Like others have said, make them prove that the surging is normal and stay on top of them until it is fixed. Saying something is "normal" is such a cop out and standard line when they are stumped and hoping you will go away.

locomotiveBart

My wife contacted bmwna this morning and filed a formal complaint against the "specialist" who told her it was normal and told her to take the car. Dealer has the car now and were back in a loaner.

flyingpuck

Now THAT'S more like it!

locomotiveBart

Well........... This is getting quite annoying. The dealer just called and said that BMW sent them a "special additive" that they put in my car. Claim they drove it 150 miles and it's perfect. While I would love to believe this, I'm not much of a sucker for snake oil salesmen.

rctmthouse

if possible, can you find out what kind of additive it is? I've never heard of any "special additive" that can be added to the tranny to help smooth it out.

This is getting more interesting now...