Mine does this too, but no problem on the transmission at all up to now. Touch wood!

Does the vehicle have less than 75,000 miles on it. Have you consider bringing the vehicle to BMW and asking for Goodwill gesture. They may offer to take care of the parts bill, but you are responsible for the sales tax if applicable in your state, and they may split the labor or charge the full labor if at $140 @ 9- 10HR would be around $1400 plus tax lets say @ 10% ($5870.24) $587.02 would be around

$1987.02 with 2 year parts warranty.

I have not taken my X to the dealership for this specific problem but I did call them and explain the situation. I was basically told that nobody there had heard of such an issue and was forwarded along to BMWNA. I spoke with them about it. No offer was made to remedy the situation.
I am well below 75k miles right now and feel like I'm running out of options other than dropping it off at the dealership and hoping for the best. A policy claim would be ideal for my situation but I wonder if a trans replacement is truly required or if it could be as simple as a sensor or solenoid problem.


killcrap - I attempted to PM you but your box is full. Would you please PM me with a way to contact you? Thanks, Dan

they cannot help you until your vehicle is actually looked at. no offer can be made until the car is diagnosed. if you work as a service manager, you should of already known what i'm saying is true. speaking from experience, if 4F8A is stored, performing the test plan with ISTA/D will state to replace the transmission. If it were as simple as a sensor of solenoid problem, BMW would of issued a Service Bullitin to prevent unnecessary transmission replacement.

Here is what you should do. Make an appointment with the dealership to have the vehicle looked at. Leave the vehicle there, dont wait there for the diagnosis. Agree to the diagnosis charge usually 1/2 hr to 1hr of labor. If anymore time is requested above 1hr of labor from the service advisor, ask to speak with the shop foreman and ask what else would be done for the additional time. 1/2 hr of time would be ideal to interrogate the fault memory, and perform the test plan to state to replace the transmission. Going further for an additional 1/2 hr would be to remove the transmission fill plug and check fluid condition and level. So it is fair to pay up to 1hr of diagnosis. You should never have to pay to have a someone send a PuMA case for recommendation of transmission replacement.

Let the line on the RO say "Customer states transmission fail safe light comes on at times, usually when shifting from 5-6 gear, check and advise."

Tell them there is no rush on the vehicle that you have another car to drive at the moment(even if you dont, consider a rental), but if extensive repairs are needed, then I may need a loaner. Do not keep contacting them about the status of the vehicle. If it takes them 2 days to look at it and report back to you, so be it. Remember the nicer you are the more likely you will succeed in recieving assistance.

When they call you to tell you that the vehicle needs a transmission. Tell them that you want to have the vehicle repaired correctly, but I will need assistance. Would you be able to contact BMW and see what options they can offer to me if any. Dont forget to say thanks.

In the meanwhile you will need to contact BMWNA and do the same. What the dealer is doing is contacting their Marketing Team. Most likely Aftersales Market Manager. Who is usually at the dealer once a week. What s/he will do is check your service history with BMW and your relationship with BMW(1st, 2nd or 3rd BMW, where the vehicle was originally purchased, Original Owner, CPO status(if you have had CPO on the vehicle, and it has expired, they cannot help you), Service surveys, etc.) Additionally if the vehicle has dealer plates on them they cannot help you. Then s/he will submit the offer to the Service Manager of the dealer, and then present it to the Service Advisor and they will call you to let you know if any offer is available.


It does help to have your vehicle serviced at the dealer sometimes. Idealy you would of taken advantage of their oil change's usually at $99(bring coupon), have them do the brake flush every 2 years, etc... BMW would have no problem assisting a customer with an issue with their transmission at 100,000 miles. If they bought all the BMW recommended services over that amount of time, and always have had their vehicle serviced at BMW. So remeber your milage will vary, if you dont like the offer, and decline to take it, the only thing you might loose in this would be some time, and up to 1hr of diagnosis time.

I assume you are in the Midwest area, so I have included a directory for the Central Region.

Killcrap -

Thanks for all your assistance here. I have contacted the SA at the dealership and let him know I need an appointment.

I don't live anywhere near the dealership so its a bit of an undertaking getting there for a normal appointment and usually requires at least one night in a hotel. This will be even worse since I plan to follow your advice and leave it there.

I hope to be able to drop it off on a Sunday and pick it up the next Saturday or something of that nature. Should give them plenty of time to check it out without me sitting in the lounge waiting.

On the same topic:

I pulled the code for the SA while discussing the appointment. It's logging 4F86 [20358] "Ratio-Monitoring Symptom Circuit-Monitoring".

Anybody know what that means???

Dan

who cares what it means, let the dealer handle it. the car already needs a transmission. and why did you pull the code for the SA? the idea here is to let the dealer handle it. they are equipped with far superior diagnosis tools than you are. you really think they care about the codes you pull? if you come at them with too much information they will think you are a pain in the ass customer that thinks he knows more than them, and they will probably try to ass rape you because of that!

I have a pretty good relationship with these guys. I don't fear any raping and they know that even though I'm knowledgable I won't be in their way.
As I stated, the nearest dealership is hundreds of miles away from me and in an effort to keep my visits to a managable timetable we usually go back and forth a bit before I get there (including providing codes). This is true not only for my vehicle but also my wifes car and the several members of our team who are driving BMWs.

Can the hard left/slip problem be related to the transfer case at all? I never studied how the Tcase works but it just seems odd that the transmission would go out this early.

It now happens in straight line & right turns as well. Was just coincidence that I felt it while making the same turn the first two times it happened.

Purevil, any updates on your situation?