Indicators of Transmission Issues?
 

Okay,

We have an '06 3.0i w/ 5 speed auto transmission. We've experienced intermittent issues with extremely hard shifts for no apparent reason, both in normal and sport modes. We are not accelerating hard, or pushing the car in anyway when it happens (in fact the shifts are harder than full on, pedal-to-the-metal sport mode shifts when they do happen).

The other issue is also intermittent, but often times after putting the car into park, and taking your foot off the brake, the vehicle moves slightly and settles on the parking pawl (as normal), but then moves yet again before settling in to a stop. It feels much like parking a manual transmission vehicle on an incline, without the parking brake, and feeling the engine 'turn over' a couple of compression strokes before holding the load.

Dealer claims (multiple visits over the ownership period) they cannot recreate either issue, and I have been unable to recreate it for them (Murphy's law I guess). The car has 84K miles on it, and I have always been concerned about the 'sealed for life' (okay, I guess they are 100K intervals now) fluid intervals for the transmission (and drive line for that matter). It is still under CPO warranty at the moment..

Any educated thoughts or similar experiences?

First, all the usual qualifications about diagnosing problems over the internet.

A thought comes to mind. You have a distrust of the transmission, fair enough. You also have a problem with the car not holding when the park pawl is engaged. But the two are very different. The park pawl is a mechanical ratchet that holds the car, and has nothing to do with the various hydraulic and electronic issues that X5 transmissions can have. It is on the output side of the transmission. What is in common between the two issues is the driveline after the transmission. That is to say, the driveline holds the vehicle when the park pawl is engaged, and any looseness could produce a hard shift or a bang. I just wouldn't be looking in the transmission for that problem, I would follow from the output shaft of the transmission, to the wheels. Items to inspect would be the transfer case, drive shafts, and so on. Sometimes the amount of focus that gets put on the transmission diverts people from where a problem actually is. It is worth some inspection time and diagnostic effort, anyway. Good luck.

I see your points, but I'm not entirely convinced, but appreciate the input, something else to put on the 'list' to look at..

bmw has software updates for 06 e53. go to dealer

Is there a TSB or some other documentation I can arm myself with? It's been to the dealer three different times, each time asking them to address, but they have never mentioned any available updates..

Some posters claim low fluid level can cause hard shifts. I know it did it my Grand Cherokee (many years ago now thankfully :-).

So the truck is at the dealer (yesterday and today), and they can't reproduce either of the issues (big surprise, since they never can). Dealer claims that while there is a software update, it is not covered under the CPO warranty. Dealer thinks $250 is an appropriate fee for the upgrade :wow:, personally I don't agree...

I would still love to see some documentation and/or additional info on this upgrade and what it specifically is suppose to address, thanks..