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Auto Gearbox Failed at 42,000 miles

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E53Sport View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote E53Sport Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Auto Gearbox Failed at 42,000 miles
    Posted: 01 Jan 2010 at 3:26pm
Not a good end to a pretty awful year (been laid up following major spinal surgery) and now the 6 speed auto transmission on my 2005 E53 3.0D Sport fails with no warning or explanation.

Gear changes suddenly got very erratic and harsh mid-journey, then it would only work in 3rd.  That cleared to a certain extent in that it would select the gears from 3rd to 6th but no lower and then reverse failed!!  Had to be winched onto the recovery vehicle as it could not drive itself up there.  Little or no power from engine getting to the wheels.  The only indication from the car of anything being wrong was a brief appearance of the 'TRANS. FAILSAFE PROG' flag.  Check control reported everything as 'OK'!!

Car now in with the dealer for investigations but it's all pointing towards a new gearbox being required as the oil smelled 'burnt' when it was drained.  It's not clear what has actually failed in the box, but at less than 42k miles I'm hopping mad about it.

Have to wait and see if there will be any 'goodwill' given the low mileage for the age, but has anyone else suffered this kind of problem on their E53?  Did you ever find out what happened, or was the box 'spirited away' and a replacement fitted?  I assume the dealers are not allowed to tear down the boxes to find what broke.  Could be approx £6k GBP to fix - ouch!

EDIT 18/01/2010 - BMW GB refused goodwill as they said I had not shown them any goodwill by buying an extended warranty - not that they offered me one of course!!  Two dealers I have spoken too have both expressed surprise at BMW's attitude, but that's the way it is.

The gearbox is now being refurbished by a company who provide a national service to Warranty Direct.

It appears that the failures are torque converter, oil pump and B & D clutch assemblies.

This particular X5 may be a pleasure to drive, but is it ever unreliable.  I can see a new car coming over the horizon at this rate.  I'm sorry to say that it is extremely unlikely that it will be another BMW - shame really, but customer care is important and seems to have been forgotten (in this case at least).

EDIT 23/01/2010:  Car returned follwing transmission rebuild.  Parts used:  New Torque Converter (it was a plastic part of the sprag clutch that failed and wrecked the box), Oil Pump, Major Overhaul Kit, Fluids and Testing.  Came to just over £2k - or about 30% of BMW's price.  Seems to be fine now.  Repairer says they are seeing a lot of X5's so this is not an isolated incident.  If BMW do ever read this site, Guys (and Gals) you have a problem that needs sorting!


Edited by E53Sport - 23 Jan 2010 at 4:31pm
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AndrewE View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote AndrewE Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 Jan 2010 at 9:45pm
The gearbox is these is made by General Motors and they can be a bit iffy. The main issues are caused by oil pressure control solonoids of which there are three. The rubber diaphragm inside splits causing low oil pressure and gearbox failure. It's not too expensive to have these solenoids replaced, about an hours work up on a ramp and the parts including oil and a new sump gasket are around £150.
A similar type of box (RWD only) is fitted to E39 530d's but they are generally more reliable in these.

Edited by AndrewE - 27 Jan 2010 at 9:45pm
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E53Sport View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote E53Sport Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01 Feb 2010 at 7:48pm
All 2005 3.0 Diesel powered E53s (M57N Engine) are 6-speed and use a ZF transmission - Type GA6HP26Z - also as used in the V8 engined petrol models.  From the comments made to me since the failure with mine, the torque converter failure is 'not unusual' and the number of failures on vehicles more than 4 years old is increasing, even with quite low mileage.  I can see the cost of the Warranty Direct Insurance going up somewhat if this is the case!!  I guess that maybe BMW replace the transmissions on those less than 4 years old but won't play nicely from then on.  The cover has certainly paid for itself this time around.

The 3.0i Petrol models have a the GM Type A5S390R which does indeed suffer the failures your described.  There do seem to be a lot of failures with those too - especially in the US where the Diesel models were not sold as their diesel fuel was not clean enough - and they do so love their petrol over there....  I think the US has only very recently gone over to 'ULS' Diesel, and even then it's only available in certain States even now.

I would have expected modern auto boxes to be almost bomb proof, but it appears not.


Edited by E53Sport - 01 Feb 2010 at 7:52pm
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I_MNL View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote I_MNL Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Feb 2012 at 6:57pm
Originally posted by E53Sport E53Sport wrote:

 
BMW GB refused goodwill as they said I had not shown them any goodwill by buying an extended warranty -
 
This was utterly outrageous Angry sorry to hear it
 
Glad you got your car sorted out in the end Smile
And the name is Marie-Noƫlle or nick name MNL! NOT Marie or Noƫlle alone

Citizen of Earth...Explorer of Life!
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