Common Transmission Problem again

ognjen · #1 05-27-2011, 05:13 PM

I know this is all over the forums, but I cant seem to find my issue since transmission has been rebuilt a year ago. And now its giving me problems again. It shifts goood at start while the X5 is cold but when i drive it for a while, first gear and second gear are acting up when shifting. The rest of the gears are OK, I have no fault codes showing, which is the worst part because I dont know where to start to fix it. I personally dont think its the transmission because SUV wasnt hard driven at all ( my parents drive it)

BMW dealership says i need a new transmission. The SUV is 2000 BMW X5 with 249 000km.

Any help would be appreciated because my parents need the SUV for work, and its sitting on BMW dealership because I dont know what to fix..

Thanks guys

JCL · #2 05-27-2011, 05:42 PM

BMW dealers usually don't do much in the way of transmission diagnosis, and very little in the way of repairs. They don't have the parts, they don't have the tooling, and they don't have the training. BMW offers their dealers exchange transmissions, so that is likely to be a dealer recommendation.

Take it to an independent shop familiar with your model of transmission. If a shop did it a year ago, you need to decide if you are going back to the same one or trying another. What was the warranty from the overhaul a year ago? Was it overhauled, or just repaired?

ognjen · #3 05-27-2011, 05:50 PM

It was just repaired, I bought the SUV of the person that rebuilt it, I have no contacts with him anymore. What I've read online, it could be a coolant hose that goes to transmission that keeps it cool?? Im not familiar with this

X5Sport · #4 05-27-2011, 06:11 PM

Sounds like it needs a proper overhaul this time. There shold be plenty of shops who can rebuild the ZF tranny for a lot less than a replacement. You may still be looking at $3k though, depending upon what has worn out. The labour charge is the killer as it takes about 17 hours to remove, strip, rebuild and refit the box. Parts will be around $1k for the OEM service kits - clutch packs, oil filter, gaskets etc.

I had a catastrophic premature failure 18 months ago and with a new Mechatronics Unit added as well the total was just over £3,200. BMW price was £10,000!! You should not need that module though unless something really nasty has happened. In my case part of the torque converter fractured and bits of metal were spread via the now also damaged and then broken oil pump (jammed) into the whole system causing consequential failures in two clutches and a brake pack when the hydraulic pressure suddenly dropped.