New Transmission?

[Bill Valley]

I have a friend with an '04 X3. He indicated that the car had shifting issues from the time he got it, downshifting on slight inclines to maintain highway speed. He had it in to two different dealerships to complain, while under warranty, and was told nothing was wrong however they did update the software.

He was driving a couple of weeks ago and started experiencing significant problems shifting, dash lights came on, and he immediately pulled over and had the X3 towed to the dealership.

The verdict from the dealership is a bad transmission. They have offered to cover the cost of the labor but they are asking him to pay for the transmission as the warranty has expired.

Has anyone else experienced transmission failure?

It seems odd that two dealers could not find any fault and the transmission fails right after the warranty expires.

[AzNMpower32]

How many miles does the vehicle have? There have been only very isolated accounts of complete transmission failure in the 5-speed GM automatic for the earlier X3s. This definitely isn't a widespread failure kind of issue. Automatic gearboxes in BMWs (sourced from ZF or GM) usually have a lifespan of around 100-120k miles (200tkm); some get slightly fewer and others get more.

I drive a lot in mountainous and hilly terrain so I do put more strain on the transmission than most flat-landers, but I'm at 87,5k miles and the transmission shifts fine. Yes, it does downshift 5-4 frequently to maintain speed since I have a 2.5i but it's needed to maintain speed.

[trapdoor]

I had my Transmission changed under warranty at about 40k miles (late 2004 E83). No hard 'failure' as such but had some symptoms such as 'rattling bag of spanners' noises and slow selection of reverse when cold, and also some very harsh upshifts under acceleration. The issue of holding gears on incline was initially improved by software update, but it still seems to shift down far to quickly even at motorway speeds when it hits a slight hill.

Anyhow, I really had to fight to get the tranny changed under warranty - they were very reluctant to progress with BMW UK even with a copy of a SIB about some of the problems. New tranny and much improved shifting (you can barely feel it has shifted) and none of the noises/slow reverse selection/slam shifts although the 'hill climb' program in the box still isn't right and I find I have to select M5 when I'm on the motorway to stop it shifting at the slightest incline

[Bill Valley]

He has the 2.5 as well. I believe it is around 55K on the odometer. He is certainly soured on BMW. My wife and I have 8 years of BMW's with no trouble other than a window regulator.

[AzNMpower32]

The AT shouldn't be failing that early in the lifespan. There might be other factors at play, or it may also simply be manufacturing defects. It's the same AT used in the E46.

[bmw5]

My 05 model transimission will be replaced by bmw.Total cost 5500 euros but despite not under warranty will be covered by them.The gearbox changes gears not smoothly (the car shakes) and also i can see the revs down but no up/downshift, it holds the selected gear for a few seconds and then roughly changes the gear.The mechanic hasnt found any faults in the cpu.

[nosoule46]

Too bad. I know of many failures for the E46s. It's not really a software but rather a wear issue imo.

We plan to keep our '05 X3 (Auto) for a long time. Thus, I paid the dealership $350 to Change the filter and fluid at 54,000 miles. They thought I was nuts.

Had the fluid for the transfer case and diffs changed too but by an indy.

The "lifetime" fills are crap. BMW knows this and is happy to take your money to install a rebuilt tranny.

Originally Posted by Bill Valley

I have a friend with an '04 X3. He indicated that the car had shifting issues from the time he got it, downshifting on slight inclines to maintain highway speed. He had it in to two different dealerships to complain, while under warranty, and was told nothing was wrong however they did update the software.

He was driving a couple of weeks ago and started experiencing significant problems shifting, dash lights came on, and he immediately pulled over and had the X3 towed to the dealership.

The verdict from the dealership is a bad transmission. They have offered to cover the cost of the labor but they are asking him to pay for the transmission as the warranty has expired.

Has anyone else experienced transmission failure?

It seems odd that two dealers could not find any fault and the transmission fails right after the warranty expires.