Hey guys Long time no talk! my transmission is acting up

cheappc · #1 06-10-2011, 10:06 PM

I have a 2004 x5 3.0, if you search my posts, I posted something the day before I bought it and right after I bought.

Its been great since I fixed my window regulator, I bought it with 55,000 miles and it now has 71,000 miles.

Ever since I got it i have had a weird issue with my transmission. After a lengthy drive, or going uphill towing my boat. My transmission feels like its "slipping". Just like 2 weeks ago, I went to Laughlin Towing my boat, we arrived fine, then I drove about 1 hour and a half to Las Vegas, as soon as we got to Las Vegas, and we reached a stop light, my transmission totally slipped, we put it in gear and it wouldnt go at all.

I thought maybe it was overheating, since it has happened to me on a couple of occasions I just turned it off, waited a second, and restarted the car and everything was back to normal..

It feels like my transmission is about to die right? or please let me know.. thanks

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albarran9 · #2 06-12-2011, 02:04 PM

Had about the same problem with mine except mine hesitates to go into drive from reverse only after a cold start. Find a good transmission shop that works on bmw's and have them take a look at it. The dealer wont touch the trannys and all they did for me was to reprogram my EGS. That didn't help and a transmission shop said that it was just a bad transmission solenoid that wasn't building pressure. The solenoids get worn out or dirty and stick sometimes. I ordered all three solenoids and pressure regulators along with a new trans fluid filter and gasket with fluid. Getting this done as soon as the parts come in. This is only for GM transmissions and doesn't work for ZF trannys

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cheappc · #3 06-23-2011, 09:32 PM

So how can I tell which transmission I have? also how much to install this?

albarran9 · #4 06-24-2011, 02:02 PM

There should be a sticker on the bottom of your transmission that tells you. It depends on where you live and what the shop rates are. I got quoted 300 but that may differ from what you get.

logle · #5 07-10-2011, 12:51 PM

Albarran9, What happened with your transmission repair? I am haveing the exact same issue on my 04 3.0 with 75k miles and wanted to see if the new parts fixed your issue or if it turned out to be more serious? Mine takes about 5 seconds to engage in Drive after revesing out of my driveway. Only happens on a cold start when the car is left overnight. I am hoping its not something more serious that would need the transision replaced. Thanks!

albarran9 · #6 07-10-2011, 03:25 PM

Logle, I've only had it back from the transmission shop for a couple of days and havent had that much time to drive it. I changed all 5 valves, the 3 rear and two front ones along with new OEM fluid and filter. Its definitely better. This is my first all wheel drive car and from what I've heard it take a moment for the transfer boxes to engage so the initial shift into drive will take a bit. I hope that's true. My transmission would hesitate from 5-10 seconds on cold start going into drive. Now it's only 1-2 seconds which is a lot better than before. I'm also going to change the transfer case fluids just to make sure it's not them. I don't think its bad enough to mandate a transmission change. If it really did need a new transmission, that problem would occur all the time and not only on cold starts. If you haven't had your EGS reprogramed, I'd start there and see if that helps before spending more money in troubleshooting. I'd feel better giving you a response back in a couple of weeks after testing it better.

logle · #7 07-10-2011, 04:04 PM

Thanks abarran9, I’ll give the reprogramming a try but would also be very interested in your impression in a couple weeks. Mine is not bad enough to warrant a replacement trany (as long as the issue doesn’t get worse) but i would consider a replacement valve body if I thought that would correct this issue and make overall response a little smoother. By that I mean that sometimes accelerating from a dead stop can be a bit jerky, almost like it hesitates before kicking in. This is my first all wheel drive BMW as well so maybe i just need to get used to it.

Thanks again for the response

jst2878 · #8 07-11-2011, 11:08 AM

if your towing with a 3.0 your probably doing a number on your torque converter. you should have it checked and change your tranny fluid and differentials too.

logle · #9 07-11-2011, 11:41 AM

Thanks but she has never towed a day in her life. I am strongly thinking its the valve body since this only occures in cold start conditions and is identical to the problem Albarran9 had. I think rebuilt valve body's are available for $500-600 which is far less than a new transmission.

RRPhil · #10 07-11-2011, 07:06 PM

With the GM 5L40-E transmission a common mode of failure stems from the malfunction of the torque converter lock up clutch solenoid

which allows the LUC to wear away its lining until metal-to-metal contact produces large amounts of metallic debris in the fluid

This debris then causes further problems in the valve block. It’s essential therefore to check if the fluid has metallic debris in it before replacing any solenoids otherwise the fix will only be temporary.

Phil

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