Lit up like an Xmas tree - transfailsafe
 

Seems as if i'm the newest recipient of the transfailsafe award. I believe moderator: Michelle was the last member to receive this award. On way home form out of state snowboarding trip, the battery light started flickering for a few minutes then stopped just about as fast as it appeared. Moments later the entire dashboard lit up with every possible warning light, including the ever-popular "transfailsafe". Just about every electronic function in the X became possessed. Fortunately for me, i was part of a caravan of friends returning to the city. I pulled over to power down and restart. No start, so a friend jumped my battery and she started...we didn't get very far till the X became sluggish. At this point i pulled her into a safe spot off the hwy and contacted BMW Assist for, well, an assist. Tow company will drop her off in the morning at Park BMW in Maywood NJ.

This seems to be a common problem and could be potentially dangerous while driving :confused:

Could be as simple as a bad battery. Fingers crossed that it is not too serious.''

im pretty sure i have your answer. this is exactly what happened to me last sunday coming home from the new york motorcycle show. i was gonna make a post but with everything going on i had no time. i have a 03 4.6 that just hit 102k. about 15 miles before the transsafe i got the battery light. once all lights light up the foot pedal was dead and once i turned it off, trying to restart it sent all electronics into freak mode. luckily i was only 5 miles from home. So i had it taken to the dealer for a diagnostics. what they came up with was no egs faults stored but various low voltage faults. trans program may have been set by low voltage. first thought was alternator. they offered a bosch rebuilt one with a 2 year for 1200!! sounded a little crazy to me so i had one overnighted to the dealer for them to install. i found someone in florida with a bosch rebuilt one with a 1 year for 400 plus a 160 core charge. dealership charged 383 to install and 121 for the diagnostics. it runs perfect now. i was bummin big time though when i saw the transsafe come up. so overall it was around a grand to fix. oh well. good luck with your situation. really sounds like an alternator to me though.

I agree, definitely alternator related not transmission. Voltage issues cause electrical havoc with BMW's due to the level of highly integrated electronics. Just expect a high price on that beast of a water cooled 180 amp alternator. Maybe get with 03MstyleX5 on where he got his replacement from.

I just realized all 3 of us have 03 4.6is, and I believe all black on black as well (with the exception of Ucrew who has the 3.0i)

Weasel!!! just they guy i was hoping would respond. It sure is assuring to have a BMW tech on-board... :D ... So these issues seem common on high mileage X5's, at least from what i've researched so far, i'm at 60k and haven't read any experiences yet on this happening to X's with such mileage (is 60k considered high mileage?)

Thanks for the feedback UCrewX5. 03MstyleX5, good thing you were close to home when this happened. It really bites to see the X in such a helpless state, being towed away. I usually hit the slopes in your area at Bear Creek and sometimes stay at the Four Points across the street from Allentown Airport. Perhaps we'll get a chance to meet at a future meet.

I was really hoping to hold out for year or two before pulling the trigger for the next performance X5. If it turns out to be more serious than expected, i may consider upgrading to a low-mileage 4.8is in the meantime. Either way, will provide an update for those interested.

I'm sad to see you're the newest member of this club. But I'm sure you're glad to know that the warning is not strictly for a failed tranny. I was terrified until I read the threads!

:goodluck: chilliwilli and keep us updated!

YOU have been dethroned!!!!:D Mine lit up this morning on the way to the shop!! But mine is definitely a tranny and/ or torque converter issue because it was driving like crap!!! I only had the trans failsafe light.

Tranny was rebuilt last year, so all repairs should be under warranty.

That is why you called " Damn Thing" :D

:thumbup:

Hopefully it's just the alternator. The battery will flicker if it has loose connection or loses juice while you are driving. It happened to my friend's 740. Keep us updated.

Service adviser just called to inform me that the issue is due to the following:

-water-cooled alternator (main issue) - 1,695 part & labor
-battery (receiving overnight charge)
-water pump
-valley pan gasket leaking

Quote comes to approx 4,500USD...hopefully, Warranty Direct will come through.

Just got a call that the X is ready - tech said they had to totally rebuild the tranny again. Stated the torque converter had "grenaded" inside.

Does that make me the only one that has had 3 trannies???!!!

Lets see here. Why does X5Dawg's X keep eating the trans?

A - It is possessed
B - It was built on a Friday
C - Just a fluke
D - The driver beats the living crap out of it

Idunno, what do you guys think?

Damn straight they better come through .. why else did you pay for the damn thing!

It's like friggin insurance. They love you when you hand them a check every year but when it comes time to make a claim - they make you jump through hoops!


E - None of the above.

He likes to disassemble them and learn how to rebuild trannies like swissfrank. However, after putting them back in something is not quite right! :D :rofl:

:confused: Not sure what you were implying here. Although I probably "use" my X more for the utility part than most do, I sure as hell don't abuse it. My first tranny lasted until 130K miles - about typical from what I have read on here. The torque converter on the rebuild went out in less than a year - shop stated it must have been a defective part. But the good thing is they stood behind their 2-year, unlimited mile warranty and covered all repairs. The only reason the whole tranny was rebuilt was because the torque converter shot metal shavings throughout the rest of the tranny.

I always wondered about that water-cooled alternator. Why did they do that?

remove me, some reason it double posted.

same issue here, X was possed! (@ 50K miles mind you) i got a bosch alternator from a local shop who happened to have one. 400$ or so last year. i believe the bosch part number is in on the BMW alternator. its a bit of of pain to weasel in and out of there but its possible. this is a good time to change out your water pump because you will have drained the coolant. i didnt change my water pump, cause i've become a aint broke dont fix it kinda guy.


why water cooled? it's bigger than any alternator i've ever seen in a car/truck. 150Amp or so, and that engine compartment gets pretty toasty, (my 4.4 does if im behind the wheel) i dont think an alternator put in that situation would last too long if it were not cooled. (you could prob design one, but it would be much more than 400$):thumbup:

I assume it's necessary for performance-based vehicles :dunno:

Well...just as i've been researching, Warranty Direct have become tighter than 5 virgins in a Volkswagen. They claim you can take the X to any repair facility of your choice but debate the dealer over their labor rates and are only paying a portion of labor. They're also fussing about a water-cooled alternator from Napa Auto as opposed to one that is BMW-backed. The dealer refuses to install anything that is non-BMW so it looks like i'll be $1,800 out of pocket :confused:

Needless to say, i'm not too happy with my 3rd party warranty company. At first, repairs were never questioned but now, i assume they're tightening-up wherever they can to cut costs.

Just a friendly little survey, that's all. ;)

Just picked up the X from Park Ave BMW in Maywood NJ. Per SA, water pump, valley pan and battery were replaced...fault memory was cleared, she was test driven and all systems are a go. Well, not even 15 minutes after my departure, the SES light re-appeared. What could this possibly mean? :dunno:

Had it not been for an engagement i was committed to, i would've turned right back around to drop her off. I will drop off first thing Monday morning...and they better not even consider charging me a penny or it's on like donkey kong!

They shouldn't give you any problems when you bring it back, most of us stand fully behind our work. ;) The only way they could try charging you is if it is a fully unrelated problem, and just happened with bad timing. But from the sounds of it, likely not.

Crossing my fingers and toes :( ...

On another note...was going to do some detailing today including lightly washing and wiping engine components. Should i stay clear until SES warning is diagnosed?

I don't see where that would hurt anything. Even if they ask about it you just tell them you washed it down after the light came back on so it is unrelated to that.

That sucks dude! I have WD as well and never heard of such things until now. I guess it's their way of cutting cost like you said.

Word of advise...read your contract carefully so you're prepared to debate if necessary. They even tried to charge me a $300 deductible when my contract states that it's $100. Bottom line, they'll do whatever is necessary to cut their costs. Fortunately for me, i work in the media industry and i'm constantly reading and reviewing contracts.

Update: Returned the X to the dealer first thing this morning. After diagnosis, the SA said the SES light was due to the torque converter :dunno: . He says, sometimes if the SES light appears after service, keep driving and it may clear itself. Anyhoo...all is clear and i'm glad to have Simone back (the X).

Thanks for the heads up! I've combed through the contract and review the contract before each visit. I've heard mixed reviews here but haven't read much lately especially with this economy. Luckily I haven't had any big ticket items and I'm still hoping it does not come to that.

Well...nearly $4K of stealer service later , "Tranfailsafe" light appears again! The X was allegedly serviced at stealer exactly 1 month ago. All sorts of things went wrong after stealer's service, including pulley belt system. Fortunately, I was on my way to my indy for an SES light and thorough inspection as i'm considering selling the X to a potential buyer.

Just glad it happened in the city instead of during our recent weekend in the Katskills. Has this happened to any of you within such a short period of service? :confused:

Yikes! I'm sorry to hear that you're still having probs ... especially after doing pretty much all you can do. I mean, if the pros can'tfigure it out, what else to do? :dunno:

So, I assume its gone back into that mode where it has little power?

Yup..from a stop, felt like it was in 4th gear. It's at indy now...afterwards, it may be time to say goodbye :(

I'd be curious as to what faults were stored when you had it in the dealer a month ago, when you spent $4k. You could call the dealer and have them fax you a copy of the diagnosis report, then you would not only know every fault that was stored in the vehicle, but also what the tech did when in tester diagnosis.

The indy reviewed my service invoice and says the dealer did zero to address the "trans failsafe" issue. It seems they addressed other matters but not the main issue. The faults the indy is pulling are for MAF and transmission control module (EGS). Any thoughts? I'll post the fault codes when the indy sends to me.

:wtf: Does that dealer know what they're doing?! I love it when you take it in for a rough idle and they say $4K later ... your transmission has now been rebuilt! I'd be in their face like .. like ... ayayai! :shakehead: :chair:

novastar has rebuilt alternators or will rebuild yours for 166. Not too shabby

Wish i knew about this earlier...already went with the Bosch alternator.

Dealer just called and said they shred all diagnostic records when cars are picked up. How convenient :confused: ...however, here are the codes the indy is pulling with their scanner. It's not the OBDII...

- (048)30 Converter lockup clutch excessive slip
- (002)02 Pressure actuator II

They're gonna do a full diagnostic and circle back tomorrow.

So it seems the following are potential culprits that "may" need replacement:

-Torque Converter
-EGS
-MAF

Tech said she hasn't been driven hard so the trany "may" be ok but one or possibly all of the above "may" have to go. For those of you that care i'll update.

So after a thorough diagnosis and a number of test drives, they were unable pinpoint the source of the trans failsafe warning. They checked fluids and internal components and all seems fine :dunno:

However, there was an issue with the MAF so it was replaced. The MAF issue started with the stealer...they left the MAF loosely connected after service... :confused: ...I found out after a 4 hour trip to Boston, when i checked under the hood for a mysterious whistling sound. One of the MANY reasons i'll never return to the stealer unless i buy a new model. Anyhow, they performed a final test drive when dropping her off at my parking garage and still couldn't replicate the trans failsafe issue. They suggested i monitor and communicate any odd behaviors.

Yea I bet they shredded yours, kinda fishy to me after spending $4K. Hope you don't go back to this dealer any time soon.
GOOD LUCK!

You'll be glad to know that this happened on my 740i too. After a certain mileage, the M62 kills the alternator and does that. I think its b/c it runs so fricking hot! I had the same issue.

OH, I didn't read this part.

UMMM, some bad news. You're tranny is DONE. Its smoked. I had the same codes come up "excessive slip" and it eventually went kaput. I drove it in trans fail safe mode for a while trying to figure what to do. It eventually burned out the remaining clutches and I had to find another HP22 tranny. Which btw is a SORRY GM tranny. I hope to never have to do that again. You should start to call junkyards for this tranny from a wrecked car. I got mine $900 delivered. Make sure you change out the filter and oil too with ESSO or whatever they recommend now. Its probably the only course you have besides getting a brand new tranny or a rebuilt. Which BTW were running 2.5k-3k 3 yrs ago when I had this done on my 740i.

Be glad you went with the BOSCH. I had to change my alternator 2x in 3 months b/c the rebuilt FAILED. WTF! I was pissed. I was stranded 2x!

I went and bought a brand new BOSCH OEM for $500 and had the company that sold me the rebuilt one compensate me for the labor and the cost I paid for their rebuilt due to it failing so quickly. Oh, all these bad things happened to my 740i. Hope the 4.8is is more reliable than my 7.

Thanks for your experience. Not sure if your 740i shared a similar trany as the 4.6is or your mileage at the time. I'm weighing several options at this point but having it monitored by the indy for the correct diagnosis and it seems we may replace the torque converter.

Bullshit!!! I can say that (at least my) dealer does not shred any diagnostic paperwork, it gets stapled to the repair order and put in the file for that vin number. In fact, the diagnostic paperwork is what we fall back on if need be. Sounds like the service advisor is covering for the diagnostic report not making it to the repair order to file... otherwise they could have told you that to begin with.

And from the sound of it from the fault codes, the clutch material is worn and suspended in the fluid and the fluid viscosity is breaking down... Causing the pressure fault and slippage fault. Unfortunately the odds are that you will need the transmission rebuilt or replaced soon. :(

I'm just out of vocabulary regarding my service experience @ the stealer (pardon the pun).

So you don't believe replacing the torque converter will remedy?

In my experience more times than not the torque convertor lockup clutch excessive slipping fault has lead to trans replacement, usually from slipping clutchpacks and seal bypassing leading to lower hydrolic pressure, etc. I believe swissfrank's trans rebuild thread showed pics of the usual culprits and gave some viable info.

I was afraid so...Forgot about that thread by member swissfrank. I even considered a chilliwilli sponsored swissfrank all expense paid trip to NYC to drill down and repair the root cause of the issue, as one of my options. An indy would even allow me access to their garage and tools. Unfortunately it may be time to part ways with my beloved 4.6is. She seemed perfectly capable of holding-out with me till the second year of the X5 ///M. I'm now heavily leaning towards a trade-in for a 2006 4.8is with very low mileage at a nearby dealer.

I may put up several mods for sale, including OEM hitch, or i may swap onto the 4.8is. I'll keep posted those of you interested.