Was he too late?

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Local private bmw-only shop. Well-regarded. Will NOT change the ATF unless you make them. Two BMW master techs run the place. say those units are factory built and filled in a clean room environment and are extremely susceptible to contamination. Said that they have seen 3 series ATs reach 250k miles on oem fluid, and admitted that more times than not, their personal experience is that even when they have done the fluid changes themselves, the trannies have come back 30-40k later munched. That's a pretty honest tech to say, if I do this, which I do not want to do, it may kill it.

I don't think they were referring to the gm unit.
 
They won't get to the diagnostics today, my son just called. He is certain it is a GM unit and not a ZF, so that might be a plus.
 
You should get off cheaper with the GM unit.

And no way is every trans shop going to 'rip you off'. That's baloney.

Just like dealerships, there's good ones and bad ones.

Too bad it's a BMW, the price goes sky high right there!
 
Well as it turns out it is a ZF transmission, no reverse, slipping in forward gears burnt fluid. I spoke with the guy, he said he has to really get inside it. Worst case could be $5,000 for a complete soup to nuts rebuild. Please note very worst case. It could be less but I don't think much less. Sounds way high to me.

I'm going to suggest to my son he sells the car as needing a tranny, take the $5000 worst case for the tranny, plus what he gets for the car and buys something else.

He told me he bought a BMW after the fact. Great cars for people who can afford them, on his Military pay he had no business buying it!
 
Originally Posted By: demarpaint

I'm going to suggest to my son he sells the car as needing a tranny, take the $5000 worst case for the tranny, plus what he gets for the car and buys something else.

An '00 323i with 120K miles in good condition is worth about $5K, which is the cost of putting in a new trans. He might be able to get a thousand or two for the car by selling it to someone who will be able to get the trans put in for less that what your son is being quoted.

I'd suggest posting a for-sale ad on some bmw forums - guys there will know what putting in a new trans entails, so they may be more inclined to take it off your hands for some cash. Otherwise, a typical craigslist buyer will most likely not even consider a 10 year old BMW that needs a trans.

Alternatively, go to those forums and ask for a reputable BMW mechanic in your son's area - someone that would be willing to put in a replacement trans for less. But if you get a cheaper tranny from a junk yard, chances are, it may fail soon, too.
 
Quattro Pete- We seem to be on the same page. I told him about selling the car, maybe he'd pull $2000 out of it. BMW near him is quoting $7000 for a rebuilt unit, insane IMO. We'll see if he can get a friend to swing a junkyard unit, and then maybe sell the car.
 
My son decided to put the repair on hold, and sleep on it, he took the car back, and is out $100 for diagnostics. He has buddies that can take him to and from work.

Anyone know anything at all about the class action suit against BMW, for cars that had the ZF transmission?

How about junkyard units in a 2000 323i? My only fear is he'll get another ZF unit with Reverse issues. As it stands now the car has little value. I told him I'd help him with $$ but he doesn't want the help. In that case I'm arming him with knowledge he won't refuse.


Lastly, most of the local repair shops where he's stationed shy away from the car. Assuming he was able to get a junkyard tranny is swinging it any different than a Ford, Chevy, or any other domestic RWD car?

Thanks for all the replies!
 
I think getting a used ZF transmission and installing is too much of a gamble. Especially if you are paying someone for the install. It likely has the same issues or will develop them soon. I'm sure if you got a late model/low milage one that came out of a wrecked car it should work OK, but unless you can read tranny codes you probably won't get that no matter what the junkyard claims. I don't know what an updated replacement one runs but a rebuilt and updated one is the real fix. It might be too much money to sink into the car.
 
Originally Posted By: mechanicx
I think getting a used ZF transmission and installing is too much of a gamble. Especially if you are paying someone for the install. It likely has the same issues or will develop them soon. I'm sure if you got a late model/low milage one that came out of a wrecked car it should work OK, but unless you can read tranny codes you probably won't get that no matter what the junkyard claims. I don't know what an updated replacement one runs but a rebuilt and updated one is the real fix. It might be too much money to sink into the car.


My thoughts exactly. They also used GM transmissions, I wonder how hard it would be to convert it to a GM tranny?
 
That's a good question. I'm not sure. But if the GM transmission is a bolt on in place of the ZF and at most meant just swapping minor things like cooler lines, shift cable etc and you could get a good cheap used one with those parts thrown in, that might be a decent way to go. My guess is the GM swap would not be simple and might require a different wiring harness and PCM programming and no telling what else.
 
I don't think the GM swap would be that easy, just thought I'd toss that out there.
 
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