x5 E53 N62 - transmission failsafe error question
 

Hoping somebody here can help point me in the right direction. I changed my transmission oil this weekend. I bought this kit. I have 124K miles on my X5.
https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/top...i-moly-lm20032

got the oil changed out and used 6 quarts to refill. Drove the car a few miles last night, no issues. This morning about half mile from the house I get a trans failsafe error. I have not plugged it into INPA yet to search for codes. Does anybody have idea what this could be or what I should look for ? Thanks all.

Dennis

What procedure did you use for the fill? Did you reset the trans adaptations after the service?

For the filled as much as it would take without starting 1.5 quarts. Then I started the engine switched gears while stepping on the brakes and then put it back on park and kept engine running. I then filled it with another 2 quarts of oil then again again swithed the gears. With the car continuing to run I filled it up till the fluid came out the bottom fill hole. It took about 6 quarts.

I did not reset the trans adaptations after the service.. any links on this process? thanks!

The fluid level needs to be set with the fluid at 35-40Deg.C - so you need a way to measure the fluid temp (INPA etc.)

Also, you probably don't need to reset the transmissions adaptations for a simple fluid change - only if you change any internal components (seals, solenoids etc.).

Having said that, if you changed the fluid to a very different type (more viscous etc.) then resetting the adaptations might be a good idea. But in your case, I think the LiquiMoly fluid you used is very similar to the (thin) LifeGuard 6 fluid from ZF?

I didn't reset the adaptions on mine after doing three drain and fills with Valvoline MaxLife. I did use my Foxwell 620 to monitor the temperature. So far so good after almost three years, though less than 5k miles.

At least when I click on it, the OP's link is not to a kit that includes the filter, magnets, gasket, mechatronic sleeve etc. My problem was that I was losing fluid through the seals on the sleeve.

When I was getting intermittent TFS errors on the 4.6is it was the trans position switch on the side of the trans.

I pulled the switch and checked continuity at various positions and it was out of spec.

Known issue on the ZFs and there are DIYs online to open up the switch to clean the contact points to get it working again. Followed the instructions and it thankfully fixed the problem.

As long as you did it at the correct temps, you should be good. Trans adaptation would require a Foxwell, ISTA, INPA, or other BMW specific tool. But as posted, it isn't strictly necessary. I always do it, but YMMV.

Read the current codes coming out of the EGS when you can. g300d's suggestion is solid, but get the current codes so we can see what the trans module thinks is going on.

thanks for all the good advise. Very frustrating but also part of the fun. Will try and get to it before the weekend and let everybody know.

I had the identical issue of faulty shift position switch but with 3.0 the switch is inside the xm!

I was really not looking forward to remove the pan to get to the switch when [mention]srmmmm [/mention] mentioned I should check the connector for water.

It was full of rusty water. Cleaned it out, reset the codes and good to go.

I don't know if there is a similar connector on the V8 but definitely find out and if so clean it first. I think there might be a separate connector just for the position/selector switch since it's external.

This weekend I dug into this:)
couple of errors I realized I did
1 I did not check trans temp during the initial fill. Pretty sure it was to hot as it took a while to get 6 quarts put in.
2 when the oil started coming out of the bottom I went and shut the engine off first then put the oil plug back in. Realized that a lot of hot oil can come out in a few secs.

I did a refill and followed procedure engine running, shift gears in place,30-50 deg C using INPA to monitor. Added a whole 2 quarts. Plugged the drain when oil started dripping before shutting the engine off. Put it all back together all the other lights turned off except for the engine light. I checked the codes and it was error D358. Only other thing I messed with during this procedure was the trans position switch on the side of the trans. I put in the new seal since it was leaking oil. My hands were dirty and probably caused a connectivity issue. Took it out, sprayed with electronic cleaner and re-installed. Reset all the codes. So far so good and will continue to monitor. Thanks for all the suggestions.