This is one of my first posts on here. So, here here is the present senerio....

My girlfriend has an 06 530i and the car has been great. We bought the car from Towson BMW about 6 months ago. About a month ago we got the "Red Gear of Death" on the gauge cluster and the tranny downshifting to second gear. Of coarse, the failure clears when the car is restarted. The had happened when the car was in stop and go traffic.

Well, it had happen again a couple days ago and took it to the transmission shop to see what the issue is. They only were a able to find two codes for the clutches. That's it and a rebuild price of $5k (Um?, isn't a new one about the same cost?).

So, the question is, what is the common failure for these transmissions? I see stuff about the solenoid/valvebody, to the battery, to the fluid, but all are somewhat vague.

 

I dont know about vague but probably greek to you if you dont know what you are looking for. First you need to start with the codes. Without the codes there is no need to ask any questions. Next look at the 4 that I know of recent threads that has covered transmission issues I am sure one of them is exactly what you are looking for if you know the codes.

For the price that you were given will give you a reman trans at the dealer. search for specifics. If you are doing a vague search then your responses will be vague. Get the codes and im sure you will get your answers

 

DIY section of this forum. Look for a 6HP19 thread I created. Welcome to the club. ZF should be ashamed of themselves (they're probably not).

 

Thanks Kyle! I'll check it out....

 

Good luck.

Towson BMW is a nice dealership. I bought a MINI from them back in '04 when those cars were hard to come by.

 

Yeap, the trans is shot. Not sure to keep the car or sell/trade for a newer one.....

Off, hand, is there a date stored on codes that are in the computer?

 

No their isnt. How did you find out that the trans was shot?

 

No date that I recall, but the mileage at which the fault occurred is logged and will display in INPA.

 

There was a 4-5 clutch error code and clutch bits in the pan. We are seeing if it's worth to repair or go to the new body (gf wants a HUD in the car),,,,

 

I would say it is definatly getting close to being shot. Trade it in. Hurry!! Just delete the errors in INPA and they will not know. I would wait to delete it in the parking lot.