karolinka

So my 04 530i has the infamous automatic tranny issue (Trans malfunction, brought it to munic motorsports in CT, found out it had a bad leak, had the seal replaced and did a tranny flush, tranny is still slipping, especially going down hills and trying to merge with traffic on the highway) This is my first automatic in a long time, and I only went for it because I had a very long commute to work, with several traffic stops in between.

Its official that I would need to replace my transmission. I wanted to know if anyone had any advice on how hard it would be to convert my 04 530i to a manual. I was told the cost would be pretty close to do a manual swap vs getting a refurb auto trans, and I'm thinking that if I go with the manual swap I won't have to worry about the refurb auto trans failing in the future.

Would love to hear everyones thoughts on this. :-)

seanjordan20

What is the reason for a new transmission. What codes are you getting? I definitely do not think it would be around the same price because you have to change computers (possibly) and do a lot of coding. If you are omitting that then it probably will be around the same but when its all said and done it will not.

I could be wrong. How many miles do you have. A lot of us on this forum have had issues with our trans and have fixed them with a fraction of the cost of a reman which was suggested by dealers. You could be having the same issues we were having. Have they brought up valve body issues (solenoid) while doing the tests. It could be very well done but I like to explore all options before spening that much money.

karolinka

Basically the car had a leak due to a bad seal, so when I brought it in to get it checked out they said there was NO transmission fluid in the transmission, which would easily be the cause for the malfunctions. So what they suggested was to replace the seal, do a flush, and basically i would have a 50/50 shot of this working to fix my problem. About a week went by and i had the same issues again, was told it could be solenoid, it could be anything, we could rip out the trans to find the problem, re build it, replace it, or maybe do a manual swap. I am at the point right now where reverse stopped working for 40 minutes, i shut off the car, and waiting till everything went back to normal. My car is currently parked until I can figure out what to do basically.

I had 104k on the car when I started having this issue. (I bought the car from a dealership about two weeks prior without a warranty mainly because I worked for them and thought they would do right by helping me out but that never happened) Live and learn

seanjordan20

Ok. The no trans fluid is definitely a killer. It seems that the failure is in the D-clutch drum – clutch retainer snap-ring groove. So your only option is a reman or used. It sucks and I know how you feel. Me personally would not do a swap because there is a lot that goes with it and a lot that can go wrong. If your munic motorsports says they can do the swap for around the same price with no issues and its what you really want then do it.

karolinka

Im thinking in the end I will probably just get a used or reman tranny. Just sucks, and part of me misses having a manual as well. I just wanted to see if anyone else did a manual swap on their e60, and what was the cost, and how labor intensive? I can be without a car for a few months is need be, and I'm sure getting an auto tran would only take a week or so to swap it out. Just curious on the manual

seanjordan20

Ok. I know the programming might be intensive in itself. There has been a couple of posts of people inquiring on the swap. Hopefully some one will chime in to tell you there experience.

This link will show you when some one did it to there 550i. A lot of work.