Transmission issues 2004 X5 4.4

[jlanzone]

I have a 2004 X5 4.4 and I just went off of CPO with 100,00 miles. For about the last 15,000 miles I have been having issues with rough shifts both up and down from 1 to 2 with the automatic, particularly when the car is cold. It seems to be getting worse as the miles pile up on the car. The great majority of the miles have been highway driven. I have had it evaluated by the dealership about three times while the car was under warranty and they said there was nothing wrong. I had done a search on this forum and someone suggested a transmission fluid and filter change but the BMW mechanic/adviser recommended against it and did not do it despite my request that it be done. it is the original fluid. My guess is that I will have a catastrophic tranny failure withing the next 20K miles now that it is off warranty. My question is this: How much is a new transmission for a X5 4.4, both new and rebuilt? I am looking at ballpark figure. My service adviser said that he recently replaced the transmission in a 750iL and it was $8K ! My second question is how many of you would trade this car in at this point while it is still running before ? The car otherwise is in pretty good shape and meets my needs well. Any ideas appreciated.

[Black5]

Trade it.
Mine exhibited similar behaviour at 70,000 km and transmission failure occurred soon after. It was rebuilt under warranty luckily. Cost was approx. $7K AUD.

[TwinsPoppa]

Trade it ASAP.

I don't think the dealer did you any favors when they said its normal for the tranny to do that - if in fact it was doing the same exact thing now.

[TheKingSim0n]

Keep it, Locally it can be rebuilt here in NY for around 2k. besides that TRUST me, if you find yourself a GOOD BMW indy, go over there and get yourself a transmission tune-up, should be fine....

[TwinsPoppa]

Originally Posted by TheKingSim0n

Keep it, Locally it can be rebuilt here in NY for around 2k. besides that TRUST me, if you find yourself a GOOD BMW indy, go over there and get yourself a transmission tune-up, should be fine....

Yeah but he's not in NY .... and I doubt there are many places that can rebuild trannies for $2K, regardless of location. Just my opinion.

[cheappc]

So what do you guys think should be the final resolution to this? I have a 2004, I just bought it... and it sounds scary....

[Hit Redline]

New Tranny from BMW, which is rebuilt is going to run 7K. Rebuilt seems to be in the ball park of 3K from my experience and other posts here.

Depends on your situation, but trading in and getting new would give you the most peace of mind. But...

My vote would be to have the tranny flushed and filter changed. Unless you want a new car payment.

Or what about extending the warranty? Not sure of the cost, just a thought.

[Black5]

I had my transmission serviced as suggested by the selling dealer after i kept insisting there was a problem. (He also suggested this is all it needed - probably to save him costs.)
It went into failsafe mode almost immediately afterwards and stayed there until the rebuild.

It's not the first time I've heard of a dealer suggesting this sort of behaviour from the transmission is normal. It isn't. My E39 with more than double the K's, (And admittedly a different transmission), has NEVER behaved like this.

My key symptoms were rough shifts between 1-2 and 4-5 and a pronounced delay shifting into reverse. It also was exhibiting a constant "jerk" like it wasn't sure what gear it should be in at a steady 1500 pm which equates to 60Km/h here, (which also happens to be the local road speed limit), and anything more than a half throttle kickdown was accompanied by violent clunks.

All gone after the rebuild by a specialised repairer. These transmissions CANNOT be rebuilt by your standard auto trans repair shop and require specialised knowledge.

I repeat. Trade it so that it becomes someone elses problem.

EDIT : Extending the warranty is a good call, but probably won't cover pre-existing issues. Insurance investigators are good at finding out things like you had already complained about the tranny prior to extending insurance.

[amacman]

Originally Posted by Black5

I had my transmission serviced as suggested by the selling dealer after i kept insisting there was a problem. (He also suggested this is all it needed - probably to save him costs.)
It went into failsafe mode almost immediately afterwards and stayed there until the rebuild.

It's not the first time I've heard of a dealer suggesting this sort of behaviour from the transmission is normal. It isn't. My E39 with more than double the K's, (And admittedly a different transmission), has NEVER behaved like this.

My key symptoms were rough shifts between 1-2 and 4-5 and a pronounced delay shifting into reverse. It also was exhibiting a constant "jerk" like it wasn't sure what gear it should be in at a steady 1500 pm which equates to 60Km/h here, (which also happens to be the local road speed limit), and anything more than a half throttle kickdown was accompanied by violent clunks.

All gone after the rebuild by a specialised repairer. These transmissions CANNOT be rebuilt by your standard auto trans repair shop and require specialised knowledge.

I repeat. Trade it so that it becomes someone elses problem.

EDIT : Extending the warranty is a good call, but probably won't cover pre-existing issues. Insurance investigators are good at finding out things like you had already complained about the tranny prior to extending insurance.

you said 2 times , trade it , pass the problem onto someone else , what misery are you knowingly passing on to an unsuspecting person , have you no conscience .
a lot of people buy these cars using as much funding as is available to them and you suggest crapping on them by knowingly selling a defective car .
a defective car should be sold as a defective car and priced according to condition .
to sell a defective car and not declare the defect is wrong .

[Black5]

Originally Posted by amacman

you said 2 times , trade it , pass the problem onto someone else , what misery are you knowingly passing on to an unsuspecting person , have you no conscience .
a lot of people buy these cars using as much funding as is available to them and you suggest crapping on them by knowingly selling a defective car .
a defective car should be sold as a defective car and priced according to condition .
to sell a defective car and not declare the defect is wrong .

In an ideal world I'd agree with you.
Unfortunately we don't live in that world and caveat emptor applies.
Note I said trade it, I didn't say sell it. I'm sorry I don't understand the NA consumer protection laws but in my market a dealer is responsible for providing a roadworthy vehicle that is fit for purpose and statutory warranty requirements apply that cover this sort of thing. It then becomes their problem to protect the next owner. If they are the ones telling you there is nothing wrong with it then serves them right, if they are smart enough to recognise the problem, the trade in price will reflect this.

That's why vehicles purchased from a dealer here are priced at a premium to private sales.
Anybody who spends this sort of money buying this sort of vehicle without understanding what can go wrong, being fully aware of the possible implications of what the potential costs involved were, and using every bit of funding available to them without a warranty is stupid.

I bought my vehicle with similar transmission problems, and have to date forced the dealer to spend nearly $10K fixing things. (I'm not at all popular with him and I'm not done yet).

If he didn't sell it to me, he would eventually have sold it to someone else who even if they knew nothing, would have been protected by the same consumer laws that protected me.