http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...ng-post-2.html

Bottom of page 2 of my post shows what you would see laying under the car looking up into the trans. Solenoids are to the right with wiring harness in that pic.


You can test through the harness with an ohm meter. Attached here are the specs. 'Twas me I would test from the trans harness connector at the trans control module. Under the hood, passenger side, remove the plastic cover. Done be intimidated by all the wires, find the applicable connector. You would find that disconnecting the harness at the trans itself, tucked way up in the tunnel, is a bear and really hard if not impossible to test at that connector on the trans itself (accessibility issues).

If not comfy then enlist a pal who is. It's not difficult. But a false positive or false negative result can lead you down lonely expensive paths.

Other option is to drain the fluid into clean container, remove the pan, disconnect the harness (just unplugs from each solenoid) and test them directly. This is a messy job, that can be explained by the mathematical formula: oil + gravity =
Go here: http://www.bmwe34.net/E34main/Troubl...ch%20Guide.pdf
go to pages 120 and 117 of the .pdf. Never mind the title of the document; you have the 5hp24. I think.
Go to YouTube, and in the search box, type: 5hp24 solenoid testing