transmission on 2003 vers 2004 x5's
 

Can someone tell me if they changed the transmission in 2004 for the bmw x5. What was the transmission before and after?

My mechanic may of mentioned to me that the 2003 and older transmission was older and prone to failure. Is that true?

and what about the replacement transmission in the 2004? Will that one last?

Might be true, but I don't think so. Ive seen all the years fail on these forums and can't say one is any stronger.

Pre 2004 X5's had the GM 5 speed transmission, 2004 onward E53 had the ZF 6 speed, unless you're one of the lucky ones who has a manual trans.
Both are prone to different failures, but overall it appears the ZF ones have less issues, although they are generally more expensive to repair.

From what I've been told, my 03 4.6is has a ZF transmission and it has to go under the knife before winter comes.

pre-facelifted E53 were equipped with 2 different tranny manufacturers. The 3.0i came with a 5 speed GM tranny while the 4.4/4.6's were equipped with a 5 speed from ZF. The entire model line up did not have a 5 speed from GM set up. Only on the 3.0.

But to answer the real question, There is no correlation between which tranny goes first or which one is more prone to failure.

The only thing I can think of is this. Now more and more manufactures are making it harder for the DIY'r to work on his/her machine. Some are going so far as to remove the Engine oil dipstick. Now they do this because there are some DIY'rs that go rogue and put in anything they want and are ignorant to what their rides need. Manufactures were probably sick and tired of doing warranty work because of rogue DIY'rs. So they eliminated the Dummy Stick and put in a sensor and MADE you take it into a dealer to have them do it.

Now from being around on this forum for years, I have never come across a post that was titled "Low trans fluid level" message. I have only seen "Trans fail safe". Most of the post I see regarding trans fluid is because a poster will come on and say, "Thrans is slipping, roaring, bucking..." By the time they crack the pan open, the trans is toast because the fluid level was too low. So what I am thinking is, the reason why the trannys may fail, in most case atleast is because maybe the gasket on the tranny pan has give way. It starts as a slow drip and one may not notice or may think, "Oil from the OSV." As time goes on the leak may get worse. As this time goes on the fluid level is getting lower and lower until "BANG" you get some slipping and it is too late.

This is just my opinion. Is this why most tranny's fail, I don't know. But if you take away too much fluid and the clutch packs have nothing to use, then yeah, my theory makes sense. But if the tranny was just neglected all the time, then that would fry a tranny too.

Five speed up to 2003, six speed from 2004 onwards.

GM on the 3.0, ZF on the V8 models (and some diesels)

No difference in likelihood of failure IMO, but older models naturally have higher mileage so more have failed.

Has anyone heard of a zf transmission going 200K? a mechanic told me I have a 1 in four chance of getting to 150K with the zf. Does that sound right?

Also, on the ZF 6 spd, another possible cause of fluid leakage is the sealing sleeve.

For all 3.0 engines including pre-facelift and facelift models, only GM made 5-speed automatic gearbox used. For all 4.4i, 4.6is and 4.8is, all equipped with ZF made 5-speed (pre-facelifted) or 6-speed (facelifted) gearbox used.