locomotiveBart

I guess it depends on your financial situation with the car. If you owe more than it's worth you could get destroyed with negative equity. Supposedly, the mechatronics is an updated unit but who knows. I tried to convince the dealer to replace it but they claimed that BMW wouldn't provide them with one and that the only way to get one was in a new tranny. Not sure I buy that, but whatever.

umichchris

UPDATE:

dropped the love of my life (im not married yet lol) off at the dealership this morning. today was my appointment to have the car diagnosed by BMW corporate all while getting a free loaner...i just had to wait a few weeks to get her in there.

but in the interim, i took it to a local indy shop and had them perform a trans flush/refill. of course we only were able to exchange roughly 4+ liters of fluid....but the results were immediate. the stutter/slipping/hesitation of the trans in 5th gear was immediately better. it was pronounced by only 50% now....and gradually over the past two weeks has gone all the way down to non-existent.

but things like this are never that simple.


so right now its at the dealership getting a full examination. i pray to sweet baby Jesus that its not the trans or torque converter. its an '04 and way out of warranty so i definitely cannot afford a transmission replacement

please please please keep your fingers crossed for me!

Shlooky

I will keep my fingers crossed and hope all goes well for you. BMW was not able to diagnose the problem for me, but after the indy shop topped off the tranny fluid, and after my recent 2000km trip to Indianapolis and back, things are running smoothly again.

So we'll see how it goes.

umichchris

stuck in the middle of the process...

my battery needs to be replaced....they want $300 for a new one which is highway robbery. so i have to go pick it up, put in a new battery then take it back to begin the diagnostic process all over again. i seriously think im just gna keep driving her until the problem gets better or worse on its own.

no sense in me wasting more $$$ trying to figure out the problem for now.

anyone have thoughts on where to find a good replacement battery?

louveres

I've been experiencing the same symptoms with my '08 535 xi, and I thought it was the HPFP, but from what I'm reading here, a transmission flush and fresh transmission fluid is most likely to fix this problem. Anybody else went through this and got the same results?
I'm ready to get this done, any additional input would be appreciated.

locomotiveBart

Honestly, I'm not sure if my brand new transmission fixed my car. No surging or slamming into 5th but 3rd seems like it shifts twice. It goes into 3rd then a few seconds later (still in 3rd) it feels like it shifts again and the rpm drop.

umichchris

update:

i had them top off the transmission fluid off right before i took the car back. also got a $135 oil change (smh). right now the car is running like a champ.

honestly after giving them back their dog of car 328xi beige sedan and jumping into my (approx) 400hp beast....i fell in love all over again. when i put my car in sport mode, turn on those bright orions, turn up the booming logic7 CIC sound system and stand on the gas pedal....all the woes of the world cease to exist.

ill keep my fingers crossed that she's going to continue to act right (transmission wise). i still need to replace the battery this weekend though...

@locomotivebart....did you get a full software update? perhaps give your SA a call and make sure that they gave you the latest software for your transmission...maybe a full software update vehicle wide would help?

locomotiveBart

Been updated numerous times.

Shlooky

When you say them, do you mean BMW or your indy? And how did you convince BMW to top off the transmission? They keep telling me it's a sealed unit and that no one should ever touch it which seems odd based on my experience.

umichchris

this was at the dealership.

i dont know who told you 'sealed unit' that doesnt make sense...you need to do routine maintenance like trans fluid swaps/dilution. hmmmm....