E53 4.6is X5 transmission valve body

[Rich8]

I'm looking for a specific Transmission valve body for my 2002 4.6is E53 X5. Does anyone out there have one, or know of someone breaking one of these cars?

[grey535i]

Is the valve body different from 4.4? I thought the vb would be same & would be tcm program would be different.


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[Henn28]

Originally Posted by grey535i

Is the valve body different from 4.4? I thought the vb would be same & would be tcm program would be different.


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That is my understanding too. I thought the only mechanical difference between the two gearboxes is the extra clutch and the larger torque converter in the 4.6is transmission. The bell housing is different to accommodate the larger torque converter, but the bolt pattern and profile is identical on both.

What does realoem say?

[Rich8]

I have the last 7 of the VIN from my car, but cannot compare it to the 4.4 version VB, because I don't have a number.
Was there a 'Sporty' version of the 4.4 and can someone share the last 7 of that VIN so we can compare numbers on RealOEM.
My car is LN78101

[Rich8]

Let me sum up whats happening with my reverse....


If I select R and immediately give some gas, the car will back up normally. But if I select R and then hesitate to see if anyone is behind me, then go to the gas, the revs come up but the car doesn't move. If I tickle the gas, then after a second or so, the car starts to move backwards slowly. If I give too much gas, the car slams into reverse.
This problem is worse if the car is parked nose down. If it is parked nose up (in the driveway) then the problem is almost UN-noticeable.
I've had the car for almost a year, and I started to notice the problem soon after I got it. So as with my other BMW's, I changed the trans oil and filter. Yes, it does have the correct (expensive) oil and yes, the level is good.



Today, I was told by someone who should know, that the problem is almost certainly inside the box and not in the VB.?
This may be, I don't pretend to know as much as him about this particular box on the 4.6, but it seems to me that the VB controls the oil flow to the internals. It would only take a small piece of dirt stuck in the reverse solenoid, or a worn/broken O ring in the VB to cause this lack of consistent pressure.
This car has 188,000 miles on it, but it is in really great condition, except for this.

[EODguy]

Originally Posted by Rich8

Let me sum up whats happening with my reverse....


If I select R and immediately give some gas, the car will back up normally. But if I select R and then hesitate to see if anyone is behind me, then go to the gas, the revs come up but the car doesn't move. If I tickle the gas, then after a second or so, the car starts to move backwards slowly. If I give too much gas, the car slams into reverse.
This problem is worse if the car is parked nose down. If it is parked nose up (in the driveway) then the problem is almost UN-noticeable.
I've had the car for almost a year, and I started to notice the problem soon after I got it. So as with my other BMW's, I changed the trans oil and filter. Yes, it does have the correct (expensive) oil and yes, the level is good.



Today, I was told by someone who should know, that the problem is almost certainly inside the box and not in the VB.?
This may be, I don't pretend to know as much as him about this particular box on the 4.6, but it seems to me that the VB controls the oil flow to the internals. It would only take a small piece of dirt stuck in the reverse solenoid, or a worn/broken O ring in the VB to cause this lack of consistent pressure.
This car has 188,000 miles on it, but it is in really great condition, except for this.

Before you go this route.....

What codes is it showing?

Did this issue happen after a bunch of rain, pressure washing or driving through good sized puddles?

Do you have any transmission leaks?

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[Henn28]

For what it is worth, RealOEM shows different valve bodies for the 4.6is and 4.4i cars.

[Rich8]

No Codes
No water damage
No leaks

[EODguy]

Originally Posted by Rich8

No Codes
No water damage
No leaks

What scanner are you using?

I'm not sure it's possible to have the failure you have without having a code show up on your scanner.

If you aren't using a bidirectional scanner like foxwell nt-510 or 520 etc but are using a generic scanner you may not get the full picture.

What you described is probably the 4e21 error and it's easily fixed by replacing the parts listed below.

You could also have L1-L4 error in the magnetic switch inside the mechatronic valve body or at the interlock cable.


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[Henn28]

I looked in earnest for the 5HP24 sub-variant from a 4.6 when I was planning the motor swap in my 2002 E53 and had zero luck. I also looked for the torque converter thinking I could at least use that in my 4.4 gear box. I came up empty on both accounts though. Fortunately so for the TQ situation as I later learned that the 5HP24 in the 4.6 has a different bell housing to accommodate the larger diameter TQ that comes with the 4.6 transmission.

After picking the brains of several 540 guys on the other forum who have done the 4.6 swap I decided to just bolt up the new 4.6 to the 4.4 gear box, squirt the 4.6 data into my 4.4 DME and get on with it. Hopefully your fix will be easy and inexpensive, once you find out the cause. But if worse comes to worst, you could do the same as I did since 4.4 specific 5HP24's are readily available. I even saw somewhere info on a shop in NJ (I think) that has a big torque rebuild kit for it. Although, I'm not sure what they do for the TQ since the amount of torque a TQ can handle is a function of diameter.

At any rate, my E53 is running great with the 4.6 motor bolted to the 4.4 ZF. Who knows, it could fail tomorrow, but there are guys who have been running this combo for years with no problems.