Hello everybody.. i am an owner of a 520d 2006 with over 220000km on the clock. already replaced auto tranny at 180000km due to unfixed problem (they couldn't find the exact problem on my tranny bad behaviour so i checked through ebay and managed to find one used for only 1000 euros) First 2 days were just fine but then the same problem came back. i tried adding gear oil but didn't work. the diagnosis finds nothing not only now but even with my previous tranny. seems like it's not coming from the tranny itself. i checked through this forum that there is a big issue about swirl flaps on these engines. i have to mention also that i have a burned glow plug for over 50000km now. Could anybody advise me on that? i mean is there any possibility that this issue is been created by a worn swirl flap on the intake manifold? thanks in advance.

What is the problem like?
So there's a problem, but what kind of is it?

- Antti -

It's the classic problem of these zf 6hp tranny.. You slowly stop behind a car and the gear changes from 3 to 2 and 1 are very noticeable and when you come to a complete stop you feel the car start shaking from underneath something like torque converter problem not continuesly though just for 1 or 2 seconds stops and comes again after 3 to 4 seconds. If it was the torque converter fault it should do the same thing on every stop but this doesn't happen every time. Also another thing is that when you drive the car on it's limit the gear shifts a lot better than driving in town with low speed. I think that the swirl flaps work have to do with the auto tranny behaviour specially when driving at low rpm and since this issue (swirl flaps on m47tu engines) is a fact of descussion i could have removed them after all. Don't you find it right?

It doesn't sound like a swirl flap problem to me, but I would recommend removing them anyway. Have you tried resetting the gearbox?

Sounds more like the gearbox firmware needs to be updated, may be worth investigating how much the dealer will charge you to update the gearbox software

I have tried many times in the past specially on my previous tranny. last reset via diagnostic method took place 2 months ago. first day seemed that something had changed but every day after worse and worse. i forgot to mention also that at 130000km my mechanic took out the intake manifold and cleaned it as brand new and told me that these engines get easily lot of soot in there. at the same time i replaced my second vibration damper (common issue on these cars). First problems on my previous tranny started with a leak at the sealing sleeve witch was not easily noticeable. Another thing witch still acts on my car is when you accelarate parked in the point between 1800rpm and 2300rpm you feel a big hesitation on the engine and a bit of shaking on the whole car.
To tell you the truth in my country i dought that there is anyone who knows all of that. Diesel was forbiden in big cities and so it seems that even bmw mechanics don't have any knowledge or experience on these problems.
I hope i get some answers through the forum from members who share the same symptoms like me.