My New To Me 2003 X5 4.4-With ATX Issues

[tempest411]

Hello,

After researching these for the last five months I happened across this one that appealed to me. It's got the tan interior, NO navigation, and...it's not black. The engine is also perfectly quiet from cold through warmed up which hopefully tells me the guides have some life left in them (it has 114k miles). It looks unmolested mechanically, electrically, and had NO warning lights illuminated on the dash. It does have a transmission issue. According to the seller the transmission goes into limp/failsafe when it warms up. According to paperwork given to me a shop that looked at it says it needs a new valve body, as more than likely a solenoid was ceasing to operate at warm temperatures. I've only driven it a few hundred feet and I notice it goes into forward and reverse gears just fine, but there is a delay in actual forward motion when you step on the gas, just as if it were low on fluid. One anecdote I read said this is a pressure regulator issue, the same one that can cause the 'A' drum to eventually fail. Either way that's a valve body issue. What I want to do now is to try and eliminate any issue within the transmission that would require swapping the who transmission out. One bad scenario would be where I replaced the valve body at $1000.00, then found out the issue required transmission replacement at $2500.00+. Does anyone have any suggestions how to best go about diagnosing thithis issue? The seller had a scanner which he connected to show me any codes which might be stored, and only two TX related codes came up. I forgot to write them down, but they were both related to 'speed'. Turbine speed, and something else...I'd replace both speed sensors and the harness while I was in there if that's the direction I go.

Thank you for reading my rambling introduction to X5 ownership!

Rick

[bcredliner]

I would take it to a well recommended transmission repair shop this is familiar with BMW transmissions for diagnosis. Several transmission issues generate similar symptoms. More than likely it will save you time and money pinpointing the problem rather than potentially chasing it with parts.

[amancuso]

When I first read the title, I thought the car didn't like Texas.

[tempest411]

Originally Posted by amancuso

When I first read the title, I thought the car didn't like Texas.

I fixed it

[upallnight]

Originally Posted by tempest411

Hello,

After researching these for the last five months I happened across this one that appealed to me. It's got the tan interior, NO navigation, and...it's not black. The engine is also perfectly quiet from cold through warmed up which hopefully tells me the guides have some life left in them (it has 114k miles). It looks unmolested mechanically, electrically, and had NO warning lights illuminated on the dash. It does have a transmission issue. According to the seller the transmission goes into limp/failsafe when it warms up. According to paperwork given to me a shop that looked at it says it needs a new valve body, as more than likely a solenoid was ceasing to operate at warm temperatures. I've only driven it a few hundred feet and I notice it goes into forward and reverse gears just fine, but there is a delay in actual forward motion when you step on the gas, just as if it were low on fluid. One anecdote I read said this is a pressure regulator issue, the same one that can cause the 'A' drum to eventually fail. Either way that's a valve body issue. What I want to do now is to try and eliminate any issue within the transmission that would require swapping the who transmission out. One bad scenario would be where I replaced the valve body at $1000.00, then found out the issue required transmission replacement at $2500.00+. Does anyone have any suggestions how to best go about diagnosing thithis issue? The seller had a scanner which he connected to show me any codes which might be stored, and only two TX related codes came up. I forgot to write them down, but they were both related to 'speed'. Turbine speed, and something else...I'd replace both speed sensors and the harness while I was in there if that's the direction I go.

Thank you for reading my rambling introduction to X5 ownership!

Rick

Did he show you the readiness cycle for the engine? If the readiness was incomplete that means the computer was cleared of any trouble code recently. The codes that did showed up could be hard codes.

Many new owners has been burned by buying an X at a low price only to be shocked when it came to fixing a simple issue.

My advice since you are afraid of a big repair cost, is to take a walk from this X. Plenty of X out there and the price is coming down every day. The ZF tranny cars are known for problems so unless you want that BMW V8, I would look for a M54 engine X and if you know how to drive a stick look for the manual tranny X.

[tempest411]

Originally Posted by upallnight

Did he show you the readiness cycle for the engine? If the readiness was incomplete that means the computer was cleared of any trouble code recently. The codes that did showed up could be hard codes.

Many new owners has been burned by buying an X at a low price only to be shocked when it came to fixing a simple issue.

My advice since you are afraid of a big repair cost, is to take a walk from this X. Plenty of X out there and the price is coming down every day. The ZF tranny cars are known for problems so unless you want that BMW V8, I would look for a M54 engine X and if you know how to drive a stick look for the manual tranny X.

It's a little too late for that; I own the thing. I know this is a bit of a gamble, but if it needs a new transmission after all, so be it. While I'm trying to be reasonably intelligent with how I spend money on this, I'm not afraid to do so. Right now I'm thinking if a new valve body (well, rebuilt from Sonnax..) doesn't do it, I'll pull it and get it rebuilt. I may even try it myself.

With all the issues that these transmissions suffer from, has anyone fitted a GM 4L80E into one of these? It would also require a transfer case swap along with it.

[upallnight]

Originally Posted by tempest411

It's a little too late for that; I own the thing. I know this is a bit of a gamble, but if it needs a new transmission after all, so be it. While I'm trying to be reasonably intelligent with how I spend money on this, I'm not afraid to do so. Right now I'm thinking if a new valve body (well, rebuilt from Sonnax..) doesn't do it, I'll pull it and get it rebuilt. I may even try it myself.

With all the issues that these transmissions suffer from, has anyone fitted a GM 4L80E into one of these? It would also require a transfer case swap along with it.

I would suggest you view all of Gary Ferraro's Youtube videos on taking apart a ZF5HP24 trans and valve body.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWa...yLyQ7zjW9LF-xg

[X53Jay4.8is]

Originally Posted by tempest411

It's a little too late for that; I own the thing. I know this is a bit of a gamble, but if it needs a new transmission after all, so be it. While I'm trying to be reasonably intelligent with how I spend money on this, I'm not afraid to do so. Right now I'm thinking if a new valve body (well, rebuilt from Sonnax..) doesn't do it, I'll pull it and get it rebuilt. I may even try it myself.

With all the issues that these transmissions suffer from, has anyone fitted a GM 4L80E into one of these? It would also require a transfer case swap along with it.

Just get a OE remanufactured trans from ZF and call it a day. Then you can begin to enjoy your X5.

[bcredliner]

You started this thread asking for help to diagnose transmission issue. Did I miss the post that determined the root cause is the valve body?

[upallnight]

Originally Posted by bcredliner

You started this thread asking for help to diagnose transmission issue. Did I miss the post that determined the root cause is the valve body?

I think he's loading up the parts cannon and firing it in the hope that it will fix the problem. Not a very good approach to fixing a problem in a BMW. Sometime the only way to fix a trans problem is to tear the trans apart and determine why there's a problem.

Mismatch Turbine speed as reported by the sensors could be cause by more than one thing. You'll won't know until you open up the trans and inspect all the parts.