Sign of my transmission going?
 

I drove around for 30 miles just "chilling". Very normal driving.

I could feel it shifting a lot in the lower gears. It downshifted sometimes hard too. Sometimes from a stop when I wanted to go it hesitated then kicked.

So my real question is this. What would cause the transmission to act that way? Many people here say that when the transmission fails it has to do with internal failure and not with the transmission fluid (not being changed, wouldn't have made a difference).

2001 3.0 103,000 miles.

If it does fail, will I be able to drive it home in the transmission safe mode?

I want to add that I did a 100k service myself.
Spark plugs, air filter, changed oil.

My intake camshaft and exhaust camshaft sensors were also replaced because I had a check engine light.

Performance is not a problem. Car performs great. Just when I am casually driving it shifts hard. When I want to go fast it goes as fast as the day it came out of the factory.

Lucky
 

Yes you will make it home in trans. safe mod. I did 90 miles like that! Consider your self lucky to go 103k mine went at 72k! Good luck and if you get some can you share with me!:goodluck:

Yes, I experienced the same thing and hoped it would be something else but turned out as bad tranny. Sorry, my friend but take it to stealer or experienced mechanic. Talk to a Stealer and BMW may change it under GoodWill warranty. I got mine changed although it was out of warranty.

I had a similar wierd shifting pattern and my fairfax BMW said that it was a tranny software issue so they did a re-mapping in the computer (at least that's what it said in my receipt) under CPO warranty and everything was good to go again.

I gotta ask this question again are the new trannys improved or are these failures likely to occur again??? Anyone know?

You will get a rebuilt transmission usually with 2 year/24,000 mile warranty. If they do not offer warranty check other places. I know the BMW dealerships offer the warranty.

while the word "rebuilt" might scare people, I have heard it is basically as good as new. You would pretty much be getting the same transmission. Nothing different about it so a failure will probably occur again. However, since most of the failures occur around 70k+ I would expect you would have gotten rid of the car by then.

Software
 

You should check into having your transmision software upgraded/reprogrammed first. That takes care of many transmission shifting issues that X5 owners have. Your's may be a more serious problem - but it doesn't hurt to check....

Was there a transmisssion software fix for 01 3.0?

What gets me is this French made GM junk costs $2.5K more than the higher rated German tranny.
If and when I need one I'll go for a US reman with the 36K/36 month warranty.

All the X5's use software to control their shift points. The software takes in to account the engine/transmission temperature, the driver's driving habits, etc. These programs can sometimes get out of whack for whatever reason. For example, my X5 was shifting pretty hard upon initial start up. Once the car warmed up, it shifted fine. I had the latest version of software installed and the hard shift went away.

If you search through the forum, you will see that the majority of X5 owners transmission issues have been solved by either a software reinstall, or an upgrade to the current software version.

Since your transmission has over 100K miles, it is possible that the transmission could be having physical problems. But, it is also possible that reloading the software can fix the problem. Obviously, this is something your local BMW service department will need to look at to determine the problem. However, I just wanted to make sure you are aware about the software that controls the transmission and that it possibly could be the source of your problem.

I have an '02 4.6is and have never had an update and for the hell of it asked my mechanic to check my trans software and he told me its all up to date...is this possible?

thanks!

I am going to call the stealership right now.

Yes, that is possible. It's not that the software changes each year - rather it's a mater of making sure your software is functioning correctly. Software can get corrupted for various reasons. You really only need to be concerned about refreshing the software if you are having shifting issues. If you want to clear out/reset the transmission learning function (that adapts to the way you drive) there is a forum on this site that explains how to do that. I think it is something like turning on the key to position 1 and pressing the acellerator all the way to the floor for 30 seconds. You can search the forum for more info.

I've never heard about a trans learning function before??!! can someone elaborate on this?
How do I find what my trans software ver is (I don't have Nav)?

Do a search in this forum on adatptive transmission and you will find all this info. I am simply repeating stuff that has already been discussed several times. If you want more info, contact your BMW dealer. They can explain what this is. (F.Y.I. Other auto manufacturers have adaptive transmissions too.)

As for the version, I have no idea how many versions there are. As I indicated above, there is no need to worry about what version you have if your transmission is working smoothly. In this case, you won't receive any benefit from "upgrading" your software.