VHHDT

I am the owner of an X5 4.8 that has been experiencing similar problems..... have been lurking on the board as I was looking at trading to a 550 to eliminate this c#@#$.

It seems we share some trannies and engines in the 4.4 and 4.8 models and a number of us are having issues with being caught in the wrong gear/not selecting uphill/towing mode, inappropriate downshifts....

wowe

So in that case all auto trannys are affected We should have compensation for this.This is my 5th Bimmer but I never been so unhappy

pedrollo

I'd forgotten about the A6.

I tried a 2.7 diesel auto, only a short hop with the salesman (subject of other threads!) but it banged into gear twice. Looks like there is no escape

My car has arrived at the dealer, I pay for it Friday

KAF

Despite being badly affected by slam myself, let's keep a perspective.
We have 5000+ members on this forum, maybe some 20 have experienced problems with slam to the point of needing to vent.

Others either have cars that do not seem to exhibit it, or have drving styles that do not cause it to be an issue.

As is posted above, and it backs up what the ZF guy told me, the new A6 has a similar problem.
So lets not write off the whole marque over this issue. There are ways to mitigate the effects, if you need to take off quickly, flick it into DS then back to D again, the selection of DS triggers 1st gear.

I know it is not perfect, but the advent of the 6 speed auto box puts the ratio's of 1st and 2nd close enough to enable a move off from stationary in 2nd. This would have been unheard of a few years ago with 3 or 4 speed boxes !

As a result, the close ratios give acceleration in an auto pretty close to a manual, consumption numbers only a few % worse and much smoother changes.

I have no doubt from what the man from ZF told me, they are acutely aware of the problem and the next generation of Transmissions will react differently. They just dare not say this publicly.

If rival makes are prone to this problem as well.....................then you will need other reasons to abondon BMW

gwf545

I appreciate all the comments thus far and especially the ZF explanation / summary provided by Keith. However, I'd like to point out that the slam experience I had was while I was in DS. This is counter to what everyone here seems to be saying, which is that you should avoid it by being in DS. I am beginning to think that ZF & BMW don't really have a clue about what's going on and I am not at all happy about that. Is anyone else in the U.S. with a 545i experienceing this problem or is it just me, gomac, and the guys in the EUC with Diesels?

Analogs

I am here in the States and experiecne the same problem - not as often but in stopping in DS - it seems to me to be an indecision about sport and extreme sport programming in the transmission. As each driving mode has a builtin programmed dual nature in both D and DS. The shift point or rather tipping point between programs seems to me to be the trouble most of us are experiencing.

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pedrollo

Met a friend yesterday who had an early S Type jag, 3.0 Petrol. He was telling me that no matter how carefully you rolled to a halt, there was always a significamt jolt as it changed to first. Over many attempts, the dealer could do nothing.

This is more like what the Americans are experiencing, not new with this 'box it seems.

I still don't think the ZF guy told you everything.

Your point above is very valid, a few have it while many (presumably) do not. If you put this together with the technical explanation it makes no sense, everyone should have it.

The common element in all this is not the car make but the ZF gearbox, there has to something deficient about it to make it behave as it does. MB I believe have a 7 speed auto, and I can't find reports of theirs doing it.

Cabrio330

I am in the US, have a MY2005 545i (build date 3/05), I always drive in DS mode and I too have experienced the slam effect. So it is not just occuring in D mode.

tab545

If I were BMW, the slam would be unacceptable. I think it has to be re-programmed NOT to downshift into 1st at those speeds, and just accelerate in 2nd. Not as fast, but a better alternative than this slam. It should go into 1st only at a full stop, or 2 mph or whatever. It is just ridiculous that this fine, world-class setup includes as an admitted failing a dramatic, shocking failure like this.

This is just the perspective of an outsider, having a manual myself....

gwf545

I'm with you! The slam at it's worst is a real heart attack inducing event. It only seems to happen when I'm creeping up to a stop sign or freeway ramp meter. If I really need to go to 1st creeping along, I can do it manually myself. And besides, there's plenty of torque to start out in 2nd from a slow roll or even a stop when I'm driving mindlessly in DS or D. BMW / ZF please fix this!

BTW, I just sent this e60 thread link and a request for action to BMW AG and ZF Group. I don't think BMWNA is going to address it and it doesn't sound like the BMW or ZF U.K. people are either. If everyone else who has this problem were to contact BMW AG about this directly, maybe they will pay some attention. Here is the link to BMW AG: http://www.bmw.com/com/en/general/contact/contact.html

Here is the link to ZF Group:

http://www.zf-group.com/am/pc/pt/ampcpt01.phtml