To KingSimon:

Can you give me names of those transmission shop? I might need it soon.

Here's the latest in my drama. My Indy BMW Mechanic took the car for a ride today he doesn't think the transmission is bad even though I'm having all these problems. he thinks the trans fluid is not flowing the way it is supposed to. on Tuesday he wants to put it on the lift and pull the pan. he said there are tests they can do...

Question; I have the GM transmission he says that one is a problem. I asked what he meant and he said to wait til he pulls the pan. So I wait, wondering will I spend $600 or $2500... What makes the GM trans a problem?

I also have a guy in the BX that is great with tranny's. He did my E30 tranny swap and about 3 weeks ago rebuilt my tranny for 2k. so paying 4k or even 3k is ridiculous.

Hey many thanks for this forum. It has saved me a lot of money so far and it looks like it will save me another $1000 just for putting the question out there... If it needs a tranny then I will go with having mine rebuilt.

I,ve probably saved $4000 in the last 18 months in repair bills between all the DIY's and the advice about what to fix.:thumbup:

I'm not far from you. If you don't mind me asking, who's your indy BMW mechanic?

Zygmunt Motors, Doylestown, Pa Specialize in BMW for over 50 yrs.

Nothing really. The same could be said about the ZF transmission under the same circumstances. The reason why you have a GM is because you have the 3.0L engine while the ZF is found on the 4.4L and larger engine e53 models.

He's waiting to drop the pan to see whats in the fluid. It's a start in determining if your transmission is toast or still ticking.

Interesting. Since I posted that I did a Google search on the GM Trans (in the X5 application). And most comments were that the GM Trans was as good or might even be better than the ZF... so, I don't really know why my Mechanic said that.

thanks!

The transmission is almost the same as the one found in the Cadillac CTS, SRX, and one other model. Those have been pretty reliable transmissions. The only small issue is the valve bodies on these transmissions do wear down and usually need to be replaced or refurbished at some point if you plan on keeping it for a long time.