BMWing

I have had problems with my 2005 545 Steptronic transmission since the day I purchased the car. The transmission alone is ruining my driving experience. :thumbsdown: I have had all of the CIP updates and it has been in the shop 6 times over the past 18 months and still can?t get rid of the SLAM and hesitation when accelerating from a rolling stop. Is anyone else still having this problem? :'( I think we need a support group for this.

katheikia

And to think they discontinued the SMG

papereyes

hi BMWing,

i'just brought a 545 which i'm collecting next saturday,
can you tell me what the SLAM issue is, so that i know what to look out for (and get fixed by them) before i pick it up

thanks


paper

andy545

I had a slight issue with this, but it was resolved way back with CIP version 14 or 15...

Surprised they haven't offered you to change the box altogether.

Oaktree

I believe it is referred to as a California stop. It happens when you roll through a stop sign at 2-5mph and get on the gas faster than normal. You will know when it happens because it is a horrific slam.
I went into the dealership and they confirmed I had transmission error codes - they updated my software and since then I haven't had a major issue with it. Try a search for it.

homerrs

I took my 545i in for the transmission slam issue. It appears that the local service department had to have a laptop sent to them from BMWUSA to reprogram the computer. This created having my car in the service department for a week due to the laptop not arriving as planned.

Something related to reprogramming the shift patterns? Invoice also noted that CIP 23.02 was installed. 23.02 is the version that takes away the eyebrows.

After the 23.02 was installed and the reprogramming with the laptop the slam was gone.

So......... I took the car in to have the eybrow issue corrected. They tried 24.01 and that didn't have the fix. They than installed 24.00 and the eyebrows are back. This was the last week of December 2006. Last week the slam happened again. I have had this slam happen 3 times before and the 1 time after the fix. All 4 times it has happened at the same location, slowing down and not coming to a complete stop and accelerating. Knowing this, I approach this location differently and it hasn't happened again (only been a week).

I hope this 24.00 upgrade didn't eliminate the slam fix.

octee

Can we make it two fold? The slam and impossible to stop smoothly? I just took the car in for service for the slam and so far it hasn't happened but I did lose the eyebrow (hopefully I can get it back next week when I take it in, yet again) but the one thing that just won't go away is that stuttering stop. It's beyond annoying. Sorry to hijack your thread BMWing but it's even worse than the slam, it's impossible to come to a normal stop. The car just stutters. Of course there are numerous work arounds but dammit, I don't want to work around it. I want it gone. I'm taking the car in Tuesday to see if they can figure out what the heck is wrong with it!

BMWing

Hi Octee,

I also have the same problem with the downshift "lunge" from 2nd to 1st when I come to a stop. IMO the transmission is just plain crap. :thumbsdown: I just got a call from my dealer (Crevier) and the service manager stated that unless I can make the SLAM happen while he is in the car then BMW will not acknowledge the issue. I simply cant make the SLAM happen at will, but the lunging is "by design" and I have to live with it. I will probably not buy another BMW unless they change manufacturers. My 2005 X5 has a tranny problem while going up hill...it shudders and on occasion will not up-shift if the RPM's are too low for that gear. Thank goodness for Steptronic so I can shift both cars manually.

GP550iSport

I have the slam issue with my tranny as well on my 545. It only happens to me on cold starts and when the car is not fully warmed up. I haven't made a big deal with my service dept. because it goes away after the car is at normal operating temperature. Yes, I would want it corrected if I were keeping the car.

As technology advances so do the issues!

octee

BMWing, my new service guy says that he'll ride in the car with me to try and figure out what the problem is.. hopefully that help to diagnose the problem. The slam can be a b!tch of a problem.. it happens when it wants... scares the crap outta me that's for sure.

It's more annoying than anything.