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Save up to $379 on Your Auto Insurance. Compare Quotes from Top Providers Now! Find the Best Deal and Apply! - Adv.
Handel of Yonkers NY (01/05/08)
On 01-01-08 my 2000 323i w/100k, reverse gear failed, without warning. No check engine or transmission lite to warm of any pending problem. I'm the original owner. THE ULTIMATE DRIVING MACHINE has a car ultimate defect, LOW MILAGE transmission failure. Google- reveal that premature reverse failure is a problem with BMW 3 SERIES.
Charles of Decatur, AL January 5, 2008
Charles of Decatur AL (01/05/08)
This may help many of you with 2000 BMW 323i's that are experiencing the no-reverse problem. BMW will not repair the car and many transmission places are not familiar enought with this transmission to diagnose the problem. I have a 2000 323i which lost reverse. The car ran fine in forward gears but when put in reverse about 50% of the time would rev and go nowhere. My car has the GM made 5L40E transmission. I took the car to a local transmission shop and hopefully the problem was a TCC & PWM solenoid. The solenoid can be changed through the pan. Total cost of the repair was 225. It has only been 2 days since the repair but so far no problems it has gone backward every time. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this was the solution. I'm sure several 5L40E transmissions are having the same problem or total failure. He showed me in a repair manual where this was a problem area with this transmission. Hopefully this will help some of you. Charlie
Dan of Hinsdale, IL January 4, 2008
Dan of Hinsdale IL (01/04/08)
Brand new 2006 BMW X3 repeatedly fails to properly shift from 1st to 2nd gear from a dead stop to entering traffic. The hesitation in 1st to 2nd gear shifting is serious and is a life and limb safety issue. My X3 was serviced more than 4 times and received a completely new transmission the 3rd time after a complete transmission failer on the road computer-locked out the gear shift and had to be towed. The new transmission still had the same hesitation failures. Eventually BMW refused to continue accepting the car for service and refused to acknowledge the transmission still had a hesitation that rises above the level of customer preference dissatisfaction. they specifically tod me I could not use the Illinois Lemon law beause they will not acknowledge the car still has a defect. I got rid of the car 3 months after leasing it (and right after that conversation) and with almost no use of my own on the car. I fear for the poor soul that got it next. Upon asking in a puzzled manner why in the world the smartest engineers on the planet could allow this problem to exist, I was told face to face by the regional field service manager of BMW NA itslf (during a road test) that the trans shifting had to be adjusted against engineering design in order for the car to meet EPA fuel mileage targets. It was one of many modifications made for EPA not engineering reasons for the US market. I believe it was a frank answer. It also means that ALL X3's are a danger to life and limb. How many have died when trying to enter an intersection or traffic from a dead stop and then the car hesitates and causes the accident??? I fear for the answer - it could be tens of thousands! I wish I had the power to save those lives -forget my ongoing silly money fight with BMW over the early lease termination. I now drive a Lexus and am very happy with it. I will never ever own lease rent from an airport nor recommend a BMW to anyone - not in my lifetime.
Mark of West Hollywood, CA January 3, 2008
Mark of West Hollywood CA (01/03/08)
I bought a 1998 BMW 740i as a used car in early 2003. The car had approximately 70k miles on it at that point in time. I immediately took the car into the dealer in Beverly Hills to have a check and tune/oil services, etc. I asked about transmission service and was told that the unit was sealed and never required service. This mantra was often repeated at every BMW dealer I've ever visited from NYC to Los Angeles and points inbetween. After paying dealer rates for the routine services and repeatedly asking about transmission service on the car - my transmission has failed completely at 130k miles. The cost of the new transmission varies between 2900 for a rebuild to over 5000 for a new part installed by the dealer. Subsequently to the failure I've learned that indeed the sealed transmission does indeed require service at regular intervals and doing so can extend the life of the unit many hundreds of thousands of miles. While servicing the unit is not easily accomplished it is done every day at independent BMW shops across the country and is in fact recommended by the manufacturer of the transmission (ZF of North America LLC.) Bottom line is that BMW lies about the transmission in these cars in an attempt to lull the owner into neglecting this service item, until the unit fails when the car is well out of any possible basic or extended warranty. Then the choice is buy a new one or fix the old one at a hideous cost. A cost that could have been avoided if they (the BMW Dealer Network and BMW North America) had simply told the truth and allowed the units to be serviced by the dealers all along! This is not some Ford or Chevy econobox car = this is BMW's top of the line Luxury Class vehicle for heaven's sake! Do they assume that because one can afford such a car that they have the right to lie and rip off their customers? I'm appalled! This is something that should be addressed in a class action suit. BMW falsely telling owners that the transmission needs no service when in fact it does, sets the unit up for premature failure and a huge bill to repair or replace it. Last time I heard of such a thing it was called consumer fraud and cost the perpetrators many millions of dollars to settle. Any other BMW owners of the E-38 series having or have had this same problem? I have the smoking gun reports from ZF Manufacturing to BMW telling them that in fact the unit should be serviced at regular intervals of about 30 to 45k miles, and fluid and filters changed more often than that!
Brian of Palm Harbor, FL January 3, 2008
Brian of Palm Harbor FL (01/03/08)
The transmission on our 2001 BMW x5 with 102k miles on it just went out last night. My in-laws purchased this vehicle new and we bought it from them 12/05 with 82K miles on it. We have had nothing but problems with it since. All services since original purchase have been done. A month after having it we put new brakes and rotors on it plus a service, about 2,000...chalk that up to normal wear and tear. Last year there was a leak which happen to land directly on the stereo amplifier ruining it. 1,500 parts and labor just for the amplifier (no aftermarket one will fit per 2 stereo shops). The dealer could not find the wear the leak was even after doing special water tests. They replaced the amplifier and about 2 months later it happened again. This time it would be about 3,500 to fix the leak because they had to take apart the sunroof since they determined this is where the leak was coming from. I could not justify the money basically just to have a functioning radio. After checking the internet I found that the leak problem was not just a freak thing...it has happened to many others. AND NOW, the transmission craps out, or at least that's what it has to be after reading all the previous posts knowing my experience was just the same. Driving along on cruise control and I go to accelerate and it redlines. Just high revs...fortunately I was able to safely pull off the road with my wife and two young girls in the car. It would not move forward or in reverse. Going on the assumption it will be at least 5k to replace, we will be getting rid of it somehow (once I have it towed to my house from where we left it last night). We also had another BMW 1997 328i that had its own issues, but that's a story for another day. I would never even think of purchasing another BMW. The Ultimate Defective Machine
Mike of Goshen, NY January 3, 2008
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