You also have to question the stupidity of people who pay that much just because the dealer said so. You can buy a rebuilt unit for about $3500. It doesn't cost anywhere near that to swap it

Also, the valve body/solenoids are a more common problem than any of the hard parts, yet it seems no one actually diagnoses issues on these transmissions. They just throw a new one in and say "yep, fixed it!" Well no crap, buying a new car would have fixed it too.

 

Well car was driving fine without errors for the last few weeks. Then all of a sudden, we went to start it up the other day and it started, but would not move. Neither reverse nor drive works. When trying to put it in reverse or drive it makes a loud slam/jerk under the car. And just won't move.

It's very odd as there was no gradual problem occurring that has lead up to this. It simply won't driver or reverse after we parked it the other day.

Not quite sure what to do here. Anyone have any insight?

 

Have the car towed to a shop that is well versed in ZF transmission service. There are several manufacturers that use the same ZF transmissions in their cars (Hyundai, Ford, Jag, Rover, Chrysler, etc)

If you take it to the dealer, they will recommend transmission replacement. They are not trained on repairing the transmission at the dealer level.

 

Can anyone recommend a good ZF transmission shop in Southern California. I'm around temecula, so my areas would be Orange County, San Diego, Riverside

 

Found these guys linked to ZF's main page:

BMW Repair by Dose BMW Service in El Cajon, CA | Bimmershops.com

I have no affiliation or experience with them. I was just poking around ZFs site and did a search for authorized ZF service in California. Hopefully someone on this forum can offer some input for you.

good luck with the car, please keep this thread updated when the car is fixed so we know what the problem was. Sorry you're having trouble with the car.