E60Japanese

Hello
I thought I would write quickly about a neighbor’s 2008 E60 transmission I was able to help fix and maybe this post can help others in the same situation.

A few weeks ago I received a knock on my door from a guy who lives near me.
I had seen his E60 parked and collecting dust in his driveway for a little while but had not really paid much attention.

He had seen me working on my E60 and was wondering if I was a mechanic (but I’m not)
He said that his transmission went into safe mode about a month previous and BMW had told him he needs a new transmission which would cost in excess of $10,000

I was able to remove the fault codes and take the car for a little test drive.
It really banged into gear when we slowed down and during 1 and 2 it sounded as if it was slipping as the motor would rev before changing

I spoke to my trusted Transmission friend seanjordan20 and we decided what to do.
We changed the mechatronics sleeve and the 4 tubular sleeves.
We also fitted a new filter and fluid.to test if the transmission was still okay

The transmission had a huge improvement. There was no slipping between gears but it was still banging a little when changing up and down esspecially from 1 to 2.

Although he was really happy to be able to drive the car again I suggested that he have the valve body reconditioned and new solenoids fitted if he was going to keep the car.

He agreed so out came the valve body again and sent to have rebuilt.
I got it back about one week later
The report was the solenoids for 1 and 2 were hardly working and the others were clogged from old fluid and some worn transmission sludge.
The valve body also was dirty from the old fluid.

We put it back together yesterday with new fluid and another new filter.

The good news is that now it is perfect!
The gear changes are smooth and quiet.
No slipping revving or banging between gears changes whether changing up or down.

In the end the transmission cost about $1,000 for everything.
I hope he will be able to help others do the same thing now, or at least give then advice on how to save $9,000.

///M-Power

im in the current situation did the pan replacement tranny got a little better still bangs from 1 to 2 but my tranny also when I'm cruising this what happens rpm jumps and revs
can you please help me out

E60Japanese

This is the second transmission I have fixed but both had different symptoms

Both transmissions improved with the fluid change but it wasn’t enough to repair the transmission to how it should run.

First I would check what error codes your car has. If you know please post them and we can check it or them for you.

The best advice I can give you is to have your valve body rebuilt including all new solenoids a new mechatronics sleeve and the 4 tubular sleeves.

New fluid and filter.

Just a fluid change and filter is not enough but the improvement is a great sign that transmission may still be okay.

Where do you live? Let us know and someone may be able to give you a suggestion as to where you can get the valve body rebuilt

Don’t let it daunt you too much
It is not a hard job
Just go slow and you can do it

There are a lot of people here to help and give you advice

Let us know the error codes and where you live and we can go from there.

I hope this helps

///M-Power

appreciate the reply i live in los angeles brother the mechanic told me 4th and 5th gear

slickrick

That is some awesome work... My previous bimmer was an 2008 535xi e60 which I bought brand new. I had complained a few times to BMW about the trans slipping and at times slamming. They fixed it about three times. On the day after my warranty expired I had 36,000 miles on the car and would you believe the transmission would not go into reverse. I had the car towed to BMW and it turns out the trans went bad and I needed a new transmission. Because I had complained before and the transmission was fixed at the dealer they gave me a good faith repair at no cost to me. Total was about $11,000..

I'd hate to think that it could have been something similar to your situation and they changed the tranny just to charge BMWNA. I always wondered and still do. After that I never had another problem with he trans or the car except for the occasional rough start because of the damn high fuel pressure pump which I had changed twice already. I dealt with it like that and the car never really gave me major problems again.

I sometimes wonder if repairs are not done correctly intentionally so you can be a repeat client.. So many issues during warranty and none after. Makes you think....... By the way my sig is my old car. I now have a 2014 f10 550i xdrive m sport.

Michaelmajorana

Hello Sir,

I have read your post about helping a friend car trans issues. My car has the trans error and I have not checked codes yet need to take it to a friend to get his Maxis to read the codes. Here is the symptoms it appears to be stuck in a high gear because it is very sluggish to take off from dead stop. The car is my sons car and he is basically washed his hands of it. I have fixed cars my whole life and they don't scare me at all. I will get the codes this week and report back.

Michaelmajorana

I would like to ask the form a question what would happen if the forward pump quit working? Does the E60 have an electric pump as well? I worked at Ford Transmission for a season and learned a lot about their 7 & 6 speed they had the main pump and a secondary pump electric.

E60Japanese

Hello
It appears your sons car is now in safely mode and won't change unless you remove the error codes or fix the problem.

In my experience the problems have always been related to the valve body and solenoids.

I would first check that the car has the correct fluid level in the transmission. There are many posts to show you how to do this.

I suggest this because in my car when I bought it, it was very low on fluid. I filled it and removed the fault code and was able to drive the car working properly if I drove it like my wife does.
But if I put my foot into it, it would click back to safety mode again. I would then remove the fault code and drive like my wife again

Please check your fluid, remove the codes and see what happens
If still faulty then the next step will be your valve body, solenoids, filter and fluid.

I'm not aware of an electric pump In These transmissions

seanjordan20

Someone correct me if I'm wrong but I believe the SMG transmission is the only one that has an electric pump

Michaelmajorana

Thanks I will take your advise I plan on doing a filter and oil change