Was he too late?

[demarpaint]

I've been hounding my son to service the Automatic Transmission in his 00 BMW 323i for quite a while now. For what ever reason he's put it off. Typically I would do all his maint when he lived home, so don't blame me guys. He owned a Blazer back then.

He called saying he feels something odd, uses more gas, higher revs, long delay in reverse. I told him sounds like the transmission is slipping and/or not getting enough pressure to operate properly. He took it to two local shops who won't touch a BMW transmission.

He is bringing it to a transmission shop this morning, the guy plans on going through it. He'll run some diagnostics, and do a pan drop. I'm hoping it is only in need of a pan drop filter/screen change and a line flush. Hopefully dealing with a transmission shop in WA is not like dealing with a transmission shop in NY. I feel bad he didn't listen to me, and hope he doesn't learn the hard way. He has 120,000 K on the car, bought it with 95K miles on it. This will be the first transmission service for him, prior history unknown. He bought it then told me. LOL

I don't know much about BMW, only that they are expensive to fix, and a great ride. Are their auto transmissions any good?

 

[Johnny]

They are good transmissions if you service them.

Tell him I said he would have known better if he had joined the army.

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: Johnny

Tell him I said he would have known better if he had joined the army.

Coming from you Johnny I know that is NOT the case. Send your daughter my very best wishes!

Frank

 

[hate2work]

It could be as simple as being low on fluid. Did he check the level? Years ago I had a car with those symptoms and it was just low on atf.

Good transmission shop in Wa? I do know of one, but transmission shops in general have a iffy reputation. I suppose it's just like other shops, there are good ones and bad ones.

 

[demarpaint]

Here's the rub. The two repair shops while honest in not wanting to get involved said they didn't have the tools to even check the fluid level. I found that odd, but I don't know the car. The only service I did for him was a brake job, while visiting him. OTOH my Jeep has a plug on the transmission fill tube with no stick saying dealer service only, so maybe his BMW needs something special to check the fluid?

He is bringing it to a shop run by a former Navy vet, my son is active Navy and felt comfortable with the guy. The rest will unfold later today I guess.

 

[d00df00d]

Originally Posted By: demarpaint
I don't know much about BMW, only that they are expensive to fix

Only if neglected -- and even then not all the time.


Originally Posted By: demarpaint
and a great ride.

Check.

Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Are their auto transmissions any good?

For the most part, yes -- but like most things on a BMW, you HAVE to be proactive. If your son's car is at a transmission shop now, it may be too late already; it certainly is not a moment too soon.

Worst-case scenario, a good used or rebuilt auto transmission shouldn't be too expensive for that car (although I guess that depends on your perspective).

 

[Burt]

I thought I heard that GM supplied the transmissions for BMW. True?

I had heard the same thing for Rolls Royce some years ago. Maybe an urban myth, but I doubt that all manufacturers design their auto transmissions from scratch.

 

[d00df00d]

Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Here's the rub. The two repair shops while honest in not wanting to get involved said they didn't have the tools to even check the fluid level. I found that odd, but I don't know the car. The only service I did for him was a brake job, while visiting him. OTOH my Jeep has a plug on the transmission fill tube with no stick saying dealer service only, so maybe his BMW needs something special to check the fluid?

Those shops may be thinking of a completely different car, or else getting cold feet just because of the badge on the hood.

I've found two write-ups on changing ATF in an E46 (2000-2005) 3-series; one is for a GM transmission and one is for a ZF, and I'm not sure which one your son's vehicle has, but either way the procedure looks pretty straightforward and doesn't seem to require any special tools:

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=438667 (GM)
http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=166135 (ZF)

I can't imagine checking the fluid would be that difficult. Is there anything in the owner's manual?

 

[SteveSRT8]

I also own a vehicle with no dipstick on the trans.

There are easy shortcuts to allow you to do it yourself.

Most simply require an accurate temp reading and a calibrated (in mm) stick. I own a Miller trans stick which is 49 bucks, but you can use a long white zip tie.

Get the service manual online, handle it yourself.

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: d00df00d


Worst-case scenario, a good used or rebuilt auto transmission shouldn't be too expensive for that car (although I guess that depends on your perspective).


For some reason I have a feeling a rebuilt unit is in the very near future, as in today. Expensive? Since he's paying it's going to be a lot. I just hope he doesn't get taken, this 3000 mile distance between us sucks!

 

[shanneba]

You might want to look at this thread on BMW transmissions-

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=706809

 

[demarpaint]

Thanks, his is a 323i, and my guess is it is a ZF transmission after a quick read at the link. If that is the case then he's SOL, since he's having a major problem with Reverse. Or maybe he's lucky and it is a GM transmission.

 

[Ray Garlington]

Taking your car with an ailing transmission to a 'transmission' specialist is asking for trouble. It's quite likely they will want to rebuild it.

As an example, my son took his ailing 91 honda accord to an Aamco shop. After keeping his car all day, they told him the fluid was burned and the transmission computer was throwing 'all the codes in the book'. Furthermore, rebuilding the transmission would cost at least $1800 and maybe as much as $2300 "depending on what was wrong". He did not get the rebuild done. Instead he replaced the transmission control module with a used one off ebay at a cost of $50. Problem solved.

 

[punisher]

Originally Posted By: Burt

I had heard the same thing for Rolls Royce some years ago. Maybe an urban myth, but I doubt that all manufacturers design their auto transmissions from scratch.


Nope, true. For decades Rolls used GM transmissions. TH400s were used for most units made from the late 60s through the mid 80s. One of our Ford techs worked at a Lincoln/Mercury/Rolls dealer in either Dallas or Houston. They had 1 Rolls Royce Tech in the shop (an old f*rt in his 60's who spent most of the day sleeping or reading the paper, pulling down his guaranteed minimum). Every bolt he pulled out of a Rolls had to be reinstalled and marked with special paint to verify no unauthorized personnel had touched it. Anyway, for whatever reason this Rolls tech hated to stack transmissions so my Ford tech buddy ended up benching/stacking all of the transmissions that went in the Rolls'. All of the trans internals were purchased from the local GM dealer with Rolls picking up the tab.

 

[Jim 5]

This situation is in my view the exact reason people say "Don't change your ATF if you've long exceeded the proper service interval. It causes your transmission to fail!!!"

Early and obvious symptoms of failure are present, which triggers the owner to attempt a "hail mary" pass, hoping that changing the fluid will save the transmission. It doesn't.

Then the next post is "I changed my ATF on a long overdue automatic transmission, and a week later the transmission failed!"

Anyhow, sorry to be off-topic, and it's not what I think the OP is doing.

 

[hate2work]

Originally Posted By: Jim 5
This situation is in my view the exact reason people say "Don't change your ATF if you've long exceeded the proper service interval. It causes your transmission to fail!!!"

Early and obvious symptoms of failure are present, which triggers the owner to attempt a "hail mary" pass, hoping that changing the fluid will save the transmission. It doesn't.

Then the next post is "I changed my ATF on a long overdue automatic transmission, and a week later the transmission failed!"

Anyhow, sorry to be off-topic, and it's not what I think the OP is doing.


Good point, I've long believed this myself. Let's hope this young Navy man's transmission is not that bad and can be repaired fairly easy.

 

[PandaBear]

The 2 transmission specialists that refuse to touch the car knows something: it is failing and if they even touch it or change fluid and it failed, they get blamed.

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: PandaBear
The 2 transmission specialists that refuse to touch the car knows something: it is failing and if they even touch it or change fluid and it failed, they get blamed.


The only thing that confused me was one guy w/o actually looking under the car said it was a sealed for life unit, the other guy said it didn't have the proper dipstick to check the level. One of them is wrong. Hopefully the shop he took it too gives him a fair shake.

I told him to call me after the diagnosis. No news yet.

I'm of the fix it before it breaks school, and change ATF ~ every 30K. I seriously doubt his transmission has ever been serviced, and today may very well be pay day.

Thanks for all the replies

 

[mechtech2]

Your trans options are limited.
A good fluid and filter change is about it.
I hope it fixes or attenuates the problems.

Of course a solenoid or other mechanical problem should be fixed, but that should throw a code.

 

[demarpaint]

CEL is off. I told him as you said outside of a pan drop fluid and filter change there are not many options. IIRC he has a little over 120K miles on it, bought used. It was the first car he bought w/o me checking it over, he did well, and nothing lasts forever. I added, sometimes you get lucky.