Double trouble
 

Since 10 days my SES light is on and since three days there is a horrible grinding sound from under the car. Ofcourse since the noise started it has been parked.

Today I tried to find the source of the noise and and seems to come from the area where the flywheel is. I am wondering if the starter gear is not fully retracting and touching the flywheel.

It only sounds when it revves up, not when idling and it does not seem to come from the TC or the transmission. Unfortunately I am now also due for the valley pan gasket though the leak is minimal it is no longer dry under the manifold.

I have decided to have the dealer check why the SES is on and what the noise is about. Once we have identified those problems I can decide what to do next. (I will do the valley pan myself and do the chain tensioners, etc, but that is one step away still.)

If there is something wrong with the transmission I am considering removing the entire engine/transmission so that I can redress the engine and fix the AT in one go.

Here is the question I have, today I took the fill plug out and some trans fluid came out. It is quite black, is this normal? What color was yours if you have done the AT service? (The AT shifts just fine, absolutely trouble free 5-speed AT.)

What are those water drops?

Do you have a 3.0 or a 4.4? My 4.4 trany oil is grey-ish. Which is normal.

It is a 4.4. The water drops came from the garden hose by accident before I could take a picture,, nothing to do with the car.

Car is starting to shift a bit clunky, seems like it might be related to the TC or the AT afterall.

So,you've flushed the fluid or just removed the plug and got that quantity without refilling to the proper level?

Anyone who changed their AT fluid have a view on this?

The trans fluid is supposed to be "lifetime" according to BMW - that said, you can tell more about the fluid by smell than by look, as fluid used for even just a few thousand miles will collect all the necessary contaminants to look like motor oil. How did it smell? A dead giveaway that it's time to flush and fill is if your trans fluid smells burnt.

Good luck!
E

Just did the smell test. Smells like oil but not very strongly, no hint of burn. However, the car has well north of 90k miles and I am considering changing the AT filter with the partial replacement of AT fluid.

My trany was replaced about 3 months ago. Before it threw my hands up and had it replaced I tried a trany flush.... I looked up the correct oil and put it in....... Well my mistake I must have looked up oil for a 3.0.... made the trany 10X worse, almost instantly, believe it or not. So I feel correct clean oil compared to dirty and/or incorrect amount can give you gremlins.

I did get to see what the proper trany oil looks like when its new. It was like a hazzy grey. No where close to the jet black you are showing. You could get it flushed and filled new oil, but SOME TIMES if your trany is on its way out, a flush can dis-lodge debris and hit your control valve like a stroke!

The starter motor is off and so is the AT pan. The AT oil definitively smells normal and no metal bits anywhere other than on the magnets but that seems a normal amount. It would seem the AT is ok.

I can't see any thing wrong with the starter. It turns normally and the gear clicks in and out normally as well. Only thing is, the teeth do look a bit strange to me so I will change it.

When I jacked the front of the car up I got coolant running down the back so clearly the valley pan is toast. Bought a code reader today and hope to see what is wrong for the SES to come on.