01 4.4 Weird shifting stuck sport mode?
 

hey guys, first time poster long time visitor.

I have an 01 x5 4.4 sport with an automatic transmission. Every once in a while it shifts oddly. What I mean by that is it wont shift gears until it hits 4500 rpm then shifts to the next gear. When its doing this, it wont ever shift into 5th gear. I put it in the sport mode and try to force it into 5th but on the display it highlights 5th for a sec but then goes back to forth. On the street I end up only in 3rd and wont go to 4th. This goes on 75% of the time I drive this. Any ideas, I am pretty handy so if you guys have any ideas of what to focus on I would help a whole lot.

Thanks,

Pete

One more thing
 

forgot to mention this and do not know if it is related, but about 3 times in the past 3 months, I would start up and drive off and when the trans would shift, it would kick into each gear quite hard. It would go into every gear as if everything else would be fine only that it would kick into every gear even reverse.

Sounds like it's gone into an emergency mode - are there any warning messages being displayed or warning lights on?

I agree with X5sport. Your X is asking to see a doctor badly!!! I would avoid driving till you take it to a shop.

If you aren't getting a "TRANS FAILSAFE" error message then you might want to try resetting the electronic throttle control. See http://www.xoutpost.com/showarticle-187.html for how to do this.

Wow.. thats what I call SUPPORT !!!

Thanks for the info UCREW, I will try that. I have no error messages or failsafe msg. I know what you mean as far as fail safe msg, dealt with that last year. I found it to be from a weak battery, replaced and went away. When that happened, the trans was stuck in failsafe and took off in I think 3rd all the time. I know that this trans had a recall the bmwNA said looked like they already took care of on mine. I'm wondering if this can be the same issue, build up on the sensor.

Funny thing, my 03 range rover is in the shop, error msg went from "slow down" when I would start it then "select neutral". This came up after dropping it off for a failed alt and the dealer said bring it back later and not to worry. A week went by, took it to the car wash and they had to push it out. The transmission wont even engage. Stuck in neutral? Range rover dealer is scratching their heads. This X5 did the same thing last year when I was driving through heavy rain. When I turned it off then back on, it was stuck in neutral. Dont know what the heck is going on but this problem seems to be following me.

All Fixed, Thanks Ucrew
 

UCREW, just want to say thanks! I tried that and bingo, perfect. I wish I had asked a lot earlier. Simple fix,

:thumbup: