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2007-2010 X3 Automatic Transmission Problem Master Thread!

792K views 2K replies 282 participants last post by  hoppydidit 
#1 · (Edited)
I'm making this a sticky and merging all new AT threads from the main page into this one (I can not move older threads into this one because it will insert the previous messages above/before this post).

Thanks to AzNMpower32 for this summary:

The problem: A portion of 2007-08 X3s built between 9/2006 and 11/2007 my have possible faulty transmission software programming. This affects X3s equipped with the 6-speed automatic gearbox. The gearbox may fail to respond to throttle inputs, fail to engage a lower gear, or downshift very roughly in normal Drive mode. The problem is not exhibited in manual mode. Cold temperatures may or may not make the shifting quality worse.

The BMW fix There is a software update, this is the latest release as of 10/07

This Service Information bulletin supersedes SI B24 08 07 dated May 2007.

SUBJECT
GM6 - Various Transmission and Driveability Complaints MODEL
E83 (X3) with 6L45R (GM6) automatic transmission produced from 8/2006 up to 10/2007

SITUATION
The customer may complain of transmission shift quality or driveability issues, as described in the situations below:

1. There is a delay in throttle response through the 1-2 upshift when accelerating from a stop.
2. There is a lack of power or hesitation when reapplying throttle, during either a 4-3 or 3-2 tip-in downshift. This may occur after slowing with a closed throttle.
3. Harsh downshifts when slowing on a roadway with a rising gradient (EGS is in a hill program).

CAUSES
EGS software calibration DME software calibration

CORRECTION
In the event of a customer complaint, reprogram the EGS using only Progman V27.02.00 or higher. The latest X3 EGS software may be identified as: 0489RZ0RS450 R0FN10 using the following diagnosis path:

Control-module functions / EGS transmission control Diagnosis requests / Status, data reference

It is important that the DME is also at the latest software level. Refer to SI B12 17 07 for more information concerning the DME software identification and improvements.

DO NOT perform the transmission adaptation under Service Functions, as prompted on the Progman screen. This test module is not functional and will be removed in a future DIS DVD release.

Always refer to SI B 24 11 07 for more information regarding GM6 transmission terminology, adaptation functionality, and adaptation procedures. Important notes:

* The transmission must be in the "Park" position, otherwise the programming may abort with the following error:

EGS ***8211;Diagnostic trouble 2089 (COAPI) - Programming mode changeover faulty

* Only use an approved BMW battery charger set to PS (Power Supply) mode and properly configured for the applicable battery AH rating.

WARRANTY INFORMATION
Covered under the terms of the BMW New Vehicle Limited Warranty. Please refer to the latest KSD for all applicable labor operations and allowances. If the appropriate labor operation is not contained in KSD, then a work time labor operation should be used.

Defect Code 24 00 38 61 00
Please post all future complaints and/or attempted resolutions on this thread! Thank you.
 
#418 ·
I don't know why some people suffer from this and others do not.

I personally think it was a bad production run. Since some 08 models were made in 07 the later built models on order would not be. I am usually categorized as a cynic, I like to think I am a realist. I think it's realistic to say you are in the clear if you are getting it built, so you would be good.



However, neither of us were willing to risk a repeat with another AT so the MT was an easy option and we let it go at that.
 
#422 ·
I don't know why some people suffer from this and others do not.

I personally think it was a bad production run. Since some 08 models were made in 07 the later built models on order would not be. I am usually categorized as a cynic, I like to think I am a realist. I think it's realistic to say you are in the clear if you are getting it built, so you would be good.
All I can say is that the problem still exists on those that have a Feb 08 build date that my friend took delivery last month.
 
#421 · (Edited)
Good Idea

Cool idea--was thinking the black and white ones like hot croc got...but not a bad idea--:)would take some creative engineering and a kiln but could be done.

BTW If I am can order it I will be getting:

Heated steering wheel (really love that feature)
Comfort seats (my back really sucks)
Xenon Lights (swore I wouldn't blind others, but what the hey)
Tobacco leather ( never knew it was an option, and just has a touch of class and warmth)
Servotronic--( I just like it)
Black Sapphire
 
#424 ·
BTW If I am can order it I will be getting:

Heated steering wheel (really love that feature)
Comfort seats (my back really sucks)
Xenon Lights (swore I wouldn't blind others, but what the hey)
Tobacco leather ( never knew it was an option, and just has a touch of class and warmth)
Servotronic--( I just like it)
Black Sapphire
Well, when I walked through my options with my dealer, I ran into a roadblock on the Comfort Seats/Lumbar Support and Tobacco leather combination. Thus, on the fly I made an executive decision and went with the Sport Package and Sport seats, which can be done in Tobacco. Of course, this meant also giving up on the heated steering wheel - I too really love that $150 option on my current '07. Nonetheless, there were some really good posts talking about the "heated vs. sport" steering wheel choice that left me feeling it was going to be a 50/50 trade off (that, along with the fact I've driven my buddy's '05 Sport X3 with its fat Sport steering wheel and liked it just fine). The point of all this being you might prepare yourself for having to make this same choice.
 
#426 ·
Evl - Below is an excerpt from my original post re/ the seats and the steering wheel:

"I had not originally expected to go with the Sport Package (in large part due to my love of the heated steering wheel), but while placing the order for comfort seats with lumbar support (as part of Premium Package) I learned I could not have the Tobacco leather Priority One option with the comfort/lumbar support seats. On the other hand, I could keep the Tobacco leather with the Sports Package - so I said goodbye to the heated steering wheel.

As for the Sports Package, a few other factors helped me with the choice. First and foremost, this BB. I had participated in this thread and felt some very good points were expressed in support of the Sport Pkg. Also, the link therein to this post by Zeke77 left me more confident in this selection. On a more personal level, my other rig is a 2000 Z3, so I have a pretty good idea about what "stiff" suspension can be like - and I absolutely love the Z3's ride and performance. Also, my buddy has a 2005 X3 with the Sport Package, and I've driven it and feel its suspension is just fine. So I suspect I will be pretty happy with the stiffer suspension. As for the steering wheel, again Zeke's experience helped; although his '07 650 has a heated steering wheel his X3 has the non-heated M-steering wheel and he expressed a liking for the M-wheel. So there to I think I'll be happy with the choice."
 
#430 ·
Well, when backing out of a driveway in R, you have to stop the vehicle. Put it in D. Give it a second to change gears to D, then gently apply the throttle. If you slop it from R to D and floor it simultaneously, the gearbox will slip, shudder, and fail to respond because it simply cannot do what you ask it to do, which is do 3 things at once. A had a friend who was a terrible driver and never stopped when changing gears on his Toyota. He ended up stalling the vehicle on multiple occasions.

Folks, you gotta realise that the AT is an extremely complicated mechanism.
 
#432 ·
Folks, you gotta realise that the AT is an extremely complicated mechanism.
Sorry but that's just silly.

When I drive my wife's 2006 AT X3 there is no hesitation when accelerating from reverse or a dead stop. It's just quick and fluid power like you'd think of a BMW. You can barely even feel the gears shift. That's why I wanted one! But when you drive mine 2007 AT it's like something I'd expect from a Ford Explorer. It's not every time, but there are regular hesitations when accelerating where I can can count 1-one thousand, 2-one thousand aahhhh there it goes.

It may be complicated, but the fact that BMW got it so perfectly right in the older X3 means there's some sort of defect in the newer ones to account for the degraded performance. I don't know what, that's out of my league, but I know that's the bottom line.
 
#431 ·
ok, i've refrained for a while now.. AZN! you haven't experienced it so you don't know what you are talking about. please stop TELLING those of us who HAVE driven AND LIVED WITH IT what is going on. You've offered GREAT advice before, but on this case, you don't get it.
 
#433 · (Edited)
Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese



+1 There is one thing being informed, and sharing that info. There is another of being the "Authority" on everything to hear yourself talk.
AznMpower32, most of the people here have been driving longer than you have been alive. Please stick to the stuff you know. I think by now we can tell what is and isn't a decent shift between gears.I love hearing your perspective, but to chime in on everything is a bit much. Sorry to be so blunt, but sometimes enough is enough.
 
#434 ·
Silly Daddy

Well, I knew it was too easy.

I finally got a reply call from the dealership. It seems that have to, "Work out some numbers".

It's going to be ordered (which means a little more attention is given in the process of construction, I hope).

Guess this is going to be running back and forth to the manager scenario in the meantime.

As my daughter would say, "Silly Daddy".
 
#436 · (Edited)
Well, it is near perfect weather and it still does the search and find lurch.

I only mention this since I thought this was attributable to bad weather. It's not, just less pronounced.

Now just waiting to see on the MT. Will know towards the middle of this week........really looking forward to it.

Other thing I thought was odd when looking at MT specs.

The AT is more fuel efficient?

Will the MT owner's please chime in on this please?
 
#437 ·
...

The AT is more fuel efficient?

Will the MT owner's please chime in on this please?
I don't have a the MT but I believe the driver for the 6 speed was for fuel efficiency. The adaptive tranny "feature" was likely due to fuel consumption as well. Too bad for us this technology is unrefined!

ps the dealer "reset" the adaptive codes but after 2 weeks the tranny seems to be relearning it's bad habits.
 
#438 ·
according to the window sticker the AT was more efficient on this N52 engine.
 
#439 ·
Idle/tranny problem

I wanted to share an issue I've encountered with all of you, I don't think it has been addressed yet, but considering the length of this forum, I may have missed it...

I have a 2007 X3 (automatic transmission), purchased (leased, actually) in Oct 2006. It was the first X3 off of our dealers lot, and I have to say I love it. However-- I began having an issue, oh about two months ago, with the idle of the car. I noticed that occassionally while at a stop light, the car felt like it was going to stall, but only briefly. I know that the RPMs were dropping, but by the time I felt it and looked at the gauge, it had passed. It happened on occassional basis, like I said, but has become more and more recurrent to the point that it was happening two and three times in a row at a single stop light after driving for maybe 10 mins or so. It's important to note that while driving, the car is running fine and there is no issue with the smoothness that the car changes gear. Eventually, I convinced my husband that it was enough of an issue to warrant a service check, as I love the service department at our dealership (Fairfax BMW), and our service manager specifically! She was out sick yesterday, but the department called my husband at 5pm last night and left him a message that there was indeed a problem with the car, and that they would need to replace the ENTIRE transmission! My reaction was pure happiness, b/c
1. It meant I wasn't crazy and there IS a problem, and
2. Relief, b/c I didn't have to find out about the transmission going bad the hard way (i.e. breaking down on the side of the road with my 14 month old son in the back seat)

My question, since I haven't heard back from them yet, is what in the world could the problem have been with a transmission that has 21,000 miles on it that would need the overhaul, and has anyone else run into this problem? Like I said, I love my X3 and it has worked out very very well for my family, but I can say that if I had been considering buying out the lease at the end of the terms (I'm not, but it wasn't because of the car at that point, but the size of our family), that now I wouldn't be so sure....thanks for your help!!
~JB, driver of "MISTER X", Northern Virginia
 
#440 ·
Hey guys...haven't posted in a while because I've been busy with work but I have turned 5K miles on my '08 X3 and the transmission is still as bad as ever. I am counting the months until the lease is over and I can get a different vehicle. In the meantime I'm making it a personal challenge to dissuade as many people as possible from buying a new BMW. Cheers!
 
#452 ·
Havelcek,

What is the build date of your X3?

Thanks.

Jeff
 
#441 ·
May fixed?

I have just found that by allowing the fuel tank to drop below half, the transmission hesitation in my X3 has gone away. Previously I am of the type who always kept the tank nearly full.

Perhaps the evaporative fuel system gets overloaded and affects fuel flow.

If anyone else has the hesitation, please post if this fixes your problem.

Thanks.
 
#442 ·
I have just found that by allowing the fuel tank to drop below half, the transmission hesitation in my X3 has gone away. Previously I am of the type who always kept the tank nearly full.

Perhaps the evaporative fuel system gets overloaded and affects fuel flow.

If anyone else has the hesitation, please post if this fixes your problem.

Thanks.
Interesting...I had previously posted the possibility that the cause might be fuel system related, since some have the problem with hesitation while turning.
 
#447 ·
It's something - that's the main point of all of this. The X3 automatic transmission in my '07 and in many other folks simply falls far short of the "performance" BMW itself promotes in its X3 brochure - it is not "responsive" in any high performance sort of way for a number of us. For those of you who push the gas pedal and feel immediate response, all the time and as you would expect, all I can tell you is feel damn good about your X3 as it performs the way I suspect most of us expect a BMW to perform. The rest of us seem to have schizophrenic BMW's in our X3's, as any given moment we push down on the gas pedal and the vehicle has a big old fart prior to doing anything. It literally blew me away the first time this happened, and has only been a source of frustration every time since. My current '07 sits in my garage until I can take it down to trade back on my '08 manual transmission that now sits on a boat. I have a trip to Jackson WY scheduled for the end of this month. I will drive my Z3 if weather permits, or otherwise drive a rental if weather turns crappy - can you folks with responsive X3's even imagine such a choice?
 
#448 ·
The problem here is not so much about the X3 itself but the way BMW handles my case. The way the dealer and BMW's customer service really did not act like as premium car brand would. I felt like since I did not buy a more expensive model like an X5 or a 5 series BMW, this is how I should be treated.

I took my time and effort to write them complaining that after 8 months and 4 visits, the car is still not fixed. All I got is a call from the dealer saying they need to update the software one more time. I hope they would at least write something back to me explaining the situation, but no, I did not get any after 30 days. Although I like their cars (eg. the new M3), I cannot risk buying another one knowing how I would be treated if something will go wrong.
 
#453 ·
There must be a lot in common with the 3 and the X because we have had the same complaints about the transmission in our 07 328XI (lag, delay, hard down shifts,) as you all describe in your 07 and 08 X3's.
I did a search on the 3 series section and didn't find much but there is plenty of info here.

BMW tells us that it is programed to start out in second gear to save fuel and that this is normal operation? I'm thinking we need to say we don't accept this and we want it fixed now? Has anyone else heard of this problem in a 3 series car? I'm going to post this over at the 3 forum as well. Thanks!
 
#456 ·
E90 Automatic Transmission (GM or ZF?)



The problem with "lag, delay, hard down shifts" is not related to starting out in 2nd gear. I have driven different 3 series and X3's and they all start out in 2nd gear in the D mode. Not only should it save gas, it should give you a little more comfort by saving a gear change. It's completely normal. At the same time, having lag and delay is NOT acceptable.

By the way, interesting to note that your 328xi has the "same complaints"...

E90
323i 2006 GA6HP19Z or GA6L45R
323i 2007 GA6L45R
325i & 325xi 2004-2006 GA6HP19Z
328i & 328xi 2006-2007 GA6L45R
330i & 330xi 2004-2006 GA6HP19Z
335i & 335xi 2006-2007 GA6HP19Z

I think 323i not available in US?
 
#454 ·
The gearbox is programmed to start in 2nd if it is a short stop, i.e for a stop sign. If you've waited at a stop light, it should start in 1st gear. This isn't anything new; older BMWs did this as well.
 
#455 ·
Seems to me like it does it all the time but I will pay more attention at a stoplight to see if it does it there. It also has a huge lag when you step on it to pass. It takes it about 2 seconds to finally shift down. We also get some hunting between 30 and 45 mph on level driving. It's her car but I will drive it a little more to get a better feel of what it is doing. Thanks for the reply!
 
#462 ·
Ga6l45r



How can you tell? When you have a BMW 6 speed automatic transmission that is a mess and your dealer keeps telling you "no problems", "cannot duplicate" and "it's the characteristics", you have a GA6L45R GM transmission!

I think this GA6L45R is so much of a problem that's why even Vatkens' too scare to touch this subject. I have driven a 323i (07) loaner and I can swear it has the same GA6L45R because it has pretty well the same "characteristics". Too bad the dealers can't hide so they have to play along with this approach.

Ashes, I found a March 07 CNET review of the 328XI and this is what they say about the AT:

CNET:
Acceleration in the standard drive mode feels sedate, but greatly improves in the sport mode. We found the accelerator was difficult to get used to, and we could never really tell when we were going to get power. Sometimes there would be lag and sometimes not. Regular drive mode produced acceleration lag, while sport mode minimized it. But even in sport mode we sometimes got odd lags while cornering. We could never quite pin down how to use this accelerator to get consistent performance.
Link: http://reviews.cnet.com/sedan/2007-bmw-328xi-sedan/4505-10865_7-32329714.html

So, I think your 328XI most likely "normal".
 
#460 ·
AzNMpower32, once again stick to what you really know. What should happen and what does happen are two different things. If you wait at a stop light slap it over to SD and you will see it does not start off in 1'st gear , but 2'nd unless you force it down to 1'st. The 5 speed may have done this but the 6 speed AT definitely does not revert to 1'st gear.
 
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