Trans Failsafe Prog

[amacman]

Originally Posted by BMWX54.4

I had that problem and brought it to the shop fixed the little things and now it came back but this time worst i have no 1st gear ( so i have to start off in 2nd) and i have no reverse at all ( so i have to put it in reverse and get out the car and push to get out of a parking in NYC)

not recommended to put car in reverse and then get out to push .
leave it in neutral and you can push .

[royemaun]

Originally Posted by Essam Khafagi

royemaun, are you in Riyadh or Jeddah?

Riyadh

[royemaun]

my never ending Trans Failsafe Prog saga, come on.....
it was raining for the past week and i don't understand why is it always during rainy days that i experience this Trans Failsafe thing. 2 days ago i've sent the X5 to a BMW Service Center (not the dealer) to replace speed sensor turbine in the trans. found out that the sensor itself is loose and they have tighten up the connector, the X runs fine for the rest of the day. following morning trans failsafe again, once restarted never came back, why it's only in the morning? (i'm always getting this every morning atleast once before). today same issue but this time my alternator died. replaced it with the new one (Bosch) but i'd thought would solve the issue as i've read some post that it could be an alternator. scanned it with the GT1, now the DSC module seems to have an issue but why it's not showing prior to this? did a quick delete and did not appear again. now i'm getting an intermittent trans failsafe. any suggestions? is this a sign of serious problem with the tranny?

thanks.

[vsx05]

I saw this message today out of no where. I just recently upgraded the exhaust on my 2004 3.0d. I dont think the exhaust upgrade can create any tranny problem to the car. Strange... Will see what BWM says when i take it into service in a few weeks.

The car has done close to 90,000ks and has never had the transmission fluid change coz dealership said u never need to change it. Better change tranny oil too i guess when im in in 3 weeks time.

[davidachoi]

Royemaun,

I found this website because of my problem with my 2004 X5 4.4. I'm having the same problem as you, except that I also get a "engine failsafe program" signal as well. My problems are that sometimes when I'm on the freeway cruising at 60 mph, my cluster will ring and I'll have three lights turned on, on the cluster. The 1) service engine soon, 2) the 4X4 hazard light in the center with the half arc arrow, and 3) a yellow brake light. Then my car will only stay in about 2nd gear.
I called a local guru and he said that the car is going into safe mode so I can exit off the freeway. But he told me he's uncertain what the problem is and that it may be some type of metal shavings that are shorting the DME (Digital Motor Electonic control module).
My car is at Savage BMW right now and their diagnosis is that first, they need to replace the DME and only then they can tell me what's wrong with the car. I don't know why, but that already sounds expensive, since they've asked me for $2,133.15 just for that. I think that's absurd. Let me know if you find a fix. I hope soon because I'm thinking about trading it in for a Toyota.

[royemaun]

Hi David,

The last thing i remember (back in november last year), after replacing the alternator, the transfailsafe prog was never fixed, but when i replaced the harness and 2 valve sensors in the transmission the message didn't showed up since. but when it's raining hard the transfailsafe prog appears in the cluster and i assume that there is some sort of short circuit somewhere because when i send the car for a wash the same issue appears. my remedy was to reset the car by removing the battery for an hour (when the car is dry).

I suggest you scan your car with a GT1 as it will give you more details about the fault, it could be something else. Don't replace your DME yet.

cheers,
royemaun

[davidachoi]

Royemaun,

I think it's some kind of short, too. I've read on this forum that the dealer often times won't even open up that ECU or DME box and often times there's some water or debris in there. Some guy used a blow dryer and cleaned it out and I guess that worked for him. It's worth a try since he spent $10 on some sealer rather than $2200 on the DME. Thanks. I definitely will not be spending 2K on this problem. It can't be that complicated.

[royemaun]

David,

You might want to do a reset after cleaning that box to clear all the codes. and yes, it is a cheap fix.

cheers.

[Rockmelon]

royemaun, so the problem was with the harness and 2 valve sensors in the transmission? how do you do a reset? disconnect battery for an hour?

[CharlieHustleX5]

Originally Posted by Rockmelon

royemaun, so the problem was with the harness and 2 valve sensors in the transmission? how do you do a reset? disconnect battery for an hour?

Resetting all transmission adaptations can be done through a GT1 diagnostic interface.