I was dealing with a family situation that was far more important than worrying if the car was going to burn an extra ounce of fuel.

 

I did the reset on the tranny yesterday, I did not hear a "click". I took it for a drive, it still seems to shift out ok now. I came back home and tried the reset again, that time I almost think i heard a click, though could have been the suspension settling or something.

Question...

If the reset took, does that clear the fault codes, or can the dealer still see them?

 

There really is no "click" to hear, and it will NOT clear any fault codes, just smooth out any adaptations! Glad to hear it worked, I do it with every fill up just to keep that smooth shifting goodness going!

 

Ironically, in my 2005 530i, 107k miles, I just had the same type of things happen to me last spring/summer. It began as I was on my way to Mardi Gras, I accelerated to get on the interstate, and about 3rd gear, the transmission fault screen came on my screen, and the car locked in 2nd or 3rd gear. I pulled over, turned the car off, and turned it back on, and the fault cleared, so I continued on. On the way back a few days later, I had the same thing happen. Trying my best to ignore the problem, it happened about once a month or so (VERY minimal driving). I tried the 'transmission resets' and hoped they did something. Finally in June, I started to leave town for a long distance drive, and the transmisson fault came up again, but it wouldn't clear no matter what. I had to drive back home in 2nd or 3rd gear (limp mode). I took my car to the dealership in town, and they told me I needed a NEW TRANSMISSION! Really? At just a tad over 100k miles? Not believing that, I took it to my independent mechanic, and they went through some flushing and cleaning and exchanging parts, but in the end after about 3-4 weeks of trying this and that, they ended up replacing the transmission as well. At about $4-5k for everything, I was a pretty disappointed that no one could find the problem. I just can't believe that after only 100k miles, the only way to fix it was to 'replace the entire transmission', but to each their own.

I would recommend selling the car before the failure shows it's full face. If it's still clearing itself, consider it your last warnings (my opinion).

 

tayl428, was your 530i transmission serviced (like fluid+filter change) prior to the transmission error?

 

I had the same prob with my 2005 530 at 120k miles. My mechanic who works at the dealer highly suggest i sell the car and not waste time with a new transmission. Who knows what other gremlins lurk beyond the transmission.

 

How do we reset the transmission? Mine is a 525, auto, year 2007.

 

Put key in ON position engine off, hold accelerator to floor for 25 seconds