Help on X5 E53 Salvaged
 

I recently bought from an auction a 2001 bmw x5 e53 4.4L.

About 120k miles on it.

I changed the battery to a new one, the car starts but a few days later the battery is dead. What could be the cause?

Also the tranny seems to be messed up, does not take first gears, but it will take reverse. I have read this is a common problem with this cars.

The mechanic change the oil and filter from the engine and so it did with the tranny. THe car will only take gears from the M not from D. THe computer scan came up with only an error of speed sensor or something.

Where do I start from this point? Try to get it fix or seek for a mechanic that knows more about bmw trannies?

I have own vws and audis but its the first one I buy with tranny issues.

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When the mechanic replace the trans filter and fluid, was the engine running and did he monitor the temperature of the ATF? Engine has to be running and the trans in neutral or park when adding trans fluid. Also trans fluid can't exceed 40C or else the amount of fluid added will not be adequate since ATF expands with Heat.

As for the dead battery you have a parasitic draw. You need to determine what circuit is draining the battery dead. Typical circuit includes DVD changer for the Nav system, bad FSR.

Thanks for your information. It seems they changed the oil with the car running, dont know about the temperature. Regarding the parasite I will check that, the car had changed the radio and has two dvds in the headrest and one cable is in the floor disconnected, that might be the cause.

Now a few days later we tested the car after the tranny oil was changed, and the car has almost the same symptoms, but in M mode the car will take all 5 gears without problems, it shifts on time, same with reverse, so Im thinking if it be good to change the transmission solenoid valve and the wiring harness with temperature sensor.

Wednesday comes a mechanic from BMW to check on the tranny see what he says. I just dont want to go and swap the tranny and have the same problem, if you know what i mean.

I dont get faulty codes from the ecu regarding the tranny.

What kind of scanner are you using to scan the EGS module? A generic OBD II scanner can not scan the trans module. You will need to get a BMW specific scanner or program.

if you have a code for the speed sensor...why not start there and replace that.

makes since that you have gears in manual but not drive when the speed sensor is bad. its most likely one of the inputs the transmission computer uses to know when to shift up/down.

So I got the wiring harness temp sensor and the speed sensor for the tranny. There were two of them on the inside, I only replaced the one near the torque converter.
The error code was 59 stalling speed. After they replaced the wiring harness and the speed sensor they deleted the errors from the ecu and it did not came back.

The car had the same problems, drive and sport will engage the gear but it will rev but will slip, until you force it. Manual works fine all gears.

Any advice before I go to the dealership to do a better diagnostic with the computer?

If it revs before engaging the gear sounds like a hydraulic pressure issue. The faster the engine revs the more the trans pump is spinning and the greater the pressure is until it builds enough pressure to BAM engage the gear.

Sounds like a L O T U S problems Lots Of Trouble Usually Serious.

Either one of the drum is cracked or you have some bad o-rings, which is causing a transmission leak inside the trans. If the PO kept driving like that, probably you will need to replace the clutch packs when you open up the trans.