Help - transmission slipping
 

So I have 177,000 miles on the X but the transmission, driveshaft and torque convertor are all only 2 1/2 years old with about 60,000 miles on them.

I gave it some gas the other day in normal driving mode to go around a vehicle and the rpm's jumped to redline and then dropped into gear. I was only about a mile from home but at the next stop sign it jerked into gear so hard I truely thought I had whip lash. I have parked it and not driven it again until I find out what is wrong.

Any help or comments are greatly appreciated as to try and narrow down what is wrong. Is there a place to check the transmission fluid. Sorry this is my first BMW and I am still learning the truck.

Thanks,

Shawn

If you want to check for low transmission fluid the fill hole on the side of the transmission is the place. When full fluid is supposed to barely run out when you remove the plug. That said, unless you have been seeing fluid dripping when parked or obviously on the undercarriage it is not likely a low fluid issue. If you are CLOSE to a dealer or preferably a BMW indy shop you can take a chance and drive it there with transmission in manual in one gear. The highest you can go is 3rd as the transmission will down shift on it's own. HOWEVER, best and only safe route is to call the local towing company, especially if you have not checked for low fluid. It is hard to troubleshoot transmission problems. We can give you are experiences of what was wrong when that happened but it may not be the problem you are having.

Thanks for the info. Is there a normal trans fluid fill area under the hood to check with a dip stick? What side of the trans is the fill hole.

No check or fill area under the hood. I think it is on the driver's side. Anyway it is hard to miss.

I am pretty sure you have a 5hp24 ( 5 speed ) transmission in your X5, made by ZF.

You will want to look up the fill procedure for that specific transmission and I am sure you will find the fill hole. If you crawl under there and do not see any signs of transmission leakage, I would suggest trying to reset the driver adaptations and see if that does anything.

You said it had a new transmission put in 60k miles ago. Was it a "New" transmission or a rebuilt one?

Bigblack48is...it was put in by BMW just before I purchased it. That was one reason I considered it as it still had some warranty on it of which is now over. I am assuming they put in a new one but I would have to call the dealer to find out.

How do you reset the driver adaptations...thread?

Thanks for the info, I will look up that transmission.

Your problem sounds like the torque convertor is not locking up. It doesn't sound like anything that will be corrected by a reset. The driver adaption reads how you drive and sets the transmission shift points for economy and performance, matching to your driving style as much as is reasonable. Even if the feature is not operating properly that should not allow the transmission to disengage to redine. FYI-Depending on where the transmission came from there may be a separate warranty. How far is the dealership?

There may be a variety of potential reasons for your "slam-bang" experience. When you say it jerked into gear from the stop sign, was this almost as if you did a neutral drop or something? That's not converter related.

There is a problem that many here have dealt with that presents with symptoms consistent with what you describe, although the only surefire method of narrowing down most of the mechanical issues is trans disassy and inspection, by which time you may as well re-assy with new parts.

If you try and drive it, and it's fine for awhile, but then exhibits slip-bang once it heats up, that would be useful info indeed. Do a few searches, read about mine, some of RRPhil's posts, etc. and you'll perhaps be able to put what you have happening in context.

This is the location of the filler/level plug on the RH side of the casing towards the rear :

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/i...idFillPlug.jpg

If you are going to check/set the fluid level :

• Only use Mobil ATF LT71141 fluid (branded by ZF as Lifeguard Fluid 5) for topping up
• The engine must be running*
• Engage each gear selector position for a few seconds before returning to Park*
• The transmission fluid temperature in the sump must be between 30 and 50 deg. C.

*to ensure that the torque converter, clutch circuits, cooler lines and valve block are all full. For this reason, if you remove the filler/level plug without the engine ticking over, you should get over a litre of fluid pouring out and running down your arm.

Phil

As I posted- it one or more of several problems that show these symtoms. A probable cause of transmission slipping to red line can be a bad torque convertor. Depending on the circumstances surrounding the slam/bang (which are not clear) that could have been the torque convertor finally locking. It can also be a gear in the transmission or a valve that is not operating properly etc. etc. Whatever it is it is not good and should be diagnosed by a transmission expert ASAP. If it happens every time the transmission upshifts or downshifts I would not drive it but that's your call.