05 545i Transmission Surging Issues help!

Originally Posted by stjoelax07

Update so far, dealer called yesterday said they were "working on it" and that they would be calling me within a day or two to let me know if they will be able to fix it or another no... One thing that they said to me was, "well the person on here who had it fix lived in California....They have different emissions there" But when I asked how they could have the same exact problem I was having, they couldn't answer that. Great huh?

Wow, how sad.

It baffles me how dealers act stupid when they are asked to fix a problem that they have never fixed. Don't they get paid for their diagnoses time if the car is under warranty?

Originally Posted by jagu

Wow, how sad.

It baffles me how dealers act stupid when they are asked to fix a problem that they have never fixed. Don't they get paid for their diagnoses time if the car is under warranty?

Thats just it, BMW is covering the issue since it is a pre existing condition, but they said they cannot go more in-depth without a code being thrown. This is the reason why I started this thread to see if someone else had these issues and imagine that THEY DO! so I printed all of this off and gave it to my SA so now I am playing the waiting game, they had to contact their rep to see what to do...it sucks! I really wish

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would have been more of a help too, the customer service, and customer appeasement has really went down the drain these past few years...Sucks to buy a car for so much money and get poor service in return.

Ok so update my SA called today and told me that BMW will not do anything about it without throwing a code...any suggestions? He told me I should call my after market warranty company and talk to them to see if they would be willing to do the work, but I think at this point im going on principal if BMW has replaced it for others, why not me?

Originally Posted by stjoelax07

Ok so update my SA called today and told me that BMW will not do anything about it without throwing a code...any suggestions? He told me I should call my after market warranty company and talk to them to see if they would be willing to do the work, but I think at this point im going on principal if BMW has replaced it for others, why not me?

I almost bought a car that had a similar problem according to the seller. He said that they had to replace the mechatronic unit or soemthing that sounds like that.

Don't know if any one has any other suggestions, but so far dealing with BMW NA has proven to have failed me. Ive been in contact with a representative who has been trying to help me all the way up until last wednesday(10/28/09). She told me that the "area manager" is saying no to looking into this case, that if I want my transmission fixed I should have my local dealer replace the part that everyone is saying is the issue, and "if" it fixes the surging issue, BMW NA may consider paying a percentage of the repair. I don't think that this is right since this surging problem has been happening since about 42k miles... She told me she would try and see if she could go above the area manager and see what could be done, but I haven't heard back from her, and I have called her back thursday, friday, and today, left messages each time, and still no call back... Any suggestions on what to do?

My 05 545i sport is doing the exact same thing. When you get something to happen with BMW, Please let me know what the solution or resolution is. My car is out of warranty now...ouch!

Same or similar here, I jsut bought and '04, and I didn't notice the issue on the test drive, but it became present later. I am out of BMW warranty, but purchased a well-covered third-party warranty.

I am not sure if I have experienced surging, but the transmission is hesitant, like flat when it comes to shifting up, around the 40 mph range.

BMW should pay for this to be fixed. It's a defect.

Rep called back today, well after I called her, she was out sick and really is trying to help me still, she is going to have the diag fees covered so we can keep moving on this issue...I guess it really does go to show if your polite to the person they are more willing to help you.... I guess it would be really good if we could get as many e60 preferably 04 to 06 owners if they are having this same problem, to speak up the more evidence we have of this the more they will be willing to help!!

Sure tell me what process to follow, and I'm willing to help. Like I said before though, I'm out of factory warranty.

I got lucky with mine, when I bought my 545 it was still under factory warranty, and I felt it then so it has been an on going issue, and they have to look further into it. I guess the best advice right now would be to take it to the dealer and tell them what it is doing, see if you can get them to ride with you to see if it does it while they are in the car, and then the next step would be if they are not willing to help you, or they wont continue with diag time with out you paying for it, call BMW NA, and talk to ext 7792 her name is Mandy, she is one of the best reps I have ever talked to through there, and being polite to the reps is the best thing to do, but first go to the dealer, just calling bmw without taking it to the dealer may cause some issues...

OMG....I thought I was all alone. My car has been doing this for the past year...to tha T...took it to dealer 2 or 3 times...and the damn car wouldn't do it...pull away and it would start doing it again...b.s. When someone has a resolution, please fill us all in. I think I'm going to call BMW bc this is horrible that they are not willing to fix.

I have tried the reset..and it works sometime...but a 60k car shouldn't require a damn reset for it to work properly for 1 week.

A Carolla transmission is smoother than mine....why did i buy this damn car!? o, bc it handles like a beast, hugs highway curves, and goes 130 mph as easy as a nascar...forgot...but was it worth it?

one other issue im having...

if i accelerate hard to say 75 or 80 mph..randomly my car will jerk so hard that it feels like someone hit me from behind almost..or like someone pulled my car back for a split second..definitely something with the transmission...scared the heck out of me the first time it happened...

anyone else experience this?

Ok HUGE issue now, so BMW calls tonight at 7pm, She talked to me for about 30mins on how the "area manager" said that they are declining any further action with this issue and if I would like it repaired I would have to have it diagnosed myself, and if this process leads to a mechanical problem, BMW will consider paying a portion of the costs. She then suggested to me(without the knowledge of BMW) that I try and find a lawyer to go into further action, because I am not the first to have this issue, and I know for a fact that there are many of you out there who are having this issue too. If your an e60 owner and are experiencing this issue pm me or post a reply to this post, a good family friend of mine is a lawyer and he would like to see how many people there are that have this issue, and is willing to take on this case, his father has a 04 530i that is having this issue as well, and would like to see something done about it. So please try and get this message out to all e60 owners to see if they have this issue, we all know that the 3 series were having tranny issues, and the x3's, the e60's may have it too.. PLEASE HELP!! Thank you

I had talked to you about this on the e60 forums i believe. I had the same problem. went back and forth with the dealer. 04 545.

Ended up being the valve body (BMW calls it mechatronics). They said there is a service bulletin on it.

Total repairs were around 5k, had to fight like hell, but third party warranty eventually covered it. BMW originally said they would pay for part and discount the labor, but then said they changed their minds becuase I was not the original owner.

Car drives great now.

Originally Posted by SpaceRoach

I had talked to you about this on the e60 forums i believe. I had the same problem. went back and forth with the dealer. 04 545.

Ended up being the valve body (BMW calls it mechatronics). They said there is a service bulletin on it.

Total repairs were around 5k, had to fight like hell, but third party warranty eventually covered it. BMW originally said they would pay for part and discount the labor, but then said they changed their minds becuase I was not the original owner.

Car drives great now.

So your telling me there is a service bulletin out there about this issue and I've been fighting on the phone with BMW NA for the past 3 weeks and they don't even know about it? Is there any hard copy proof?

They wouldn't give me the bulletin info, but said my 3rd party warranty was refusing to pay at first since BMW knew it was defective.

This was a major pain for me. BMW seemed very secretive about it.

Originally Posted by SpaceRoach

They wouldn't give me the bulletin info, but said my 3rd party warranty was refusing to pay at first since BMW knew it was defective.

This was a major pain for me. BMW seemed very secretive about it.

Tell me about it, I have all the right documentation that under factory warranty (i.e. under 50k miles) that I had this issue, and I spent 40 minutes on the phone with Jared from BMW NA says hes the customer service "manager" but thats not the best part, they wont let me talk to the area manager, who only deals directly with the Service Director of the dealership, and will not accept any customer interaction. But the only option I am getting from them is to pay to have this fixed, and if it fixes the issue, BMW will "seek" assistance as an act of Good will, I don't trust them one bit at this point, what options am I left with? And I guess the other question I had for you was, how did your dealer come up with it being a defective part? Is there some sort of way they went about to see if it was bad?

This problem is an annoyance. This "valve body" thing is scary, both to us and to BMW. My uneducated guess is that BMW's position is that:

• The issue is very expensive to fix
• Leaving it unfixed is not dangerous or harmful to the vehicle owner, and will not cause more expensive problems to occur. It's just annoying.

Take those two together, and BMW wants to avoid dealing with it at all. I'm not saying I agree, but I understand.

Originally Posted by SpaceRoach

I have an 04 545 with 60k on the odometer. This same problem has been ocurring for 6 months. I have brought it to the dealership 3 times, and the first 2 times they could not replicate it.

They finally did and say it needs a new "valve body" which is about $5K for parts and labor. I am now trying to get my 3rd party warranty to cover it, and having no luck.

Most warranties require actual physical breakage.

Yes. Tell BMW NA that the code that failed is the customer code for missing drivability expectations and that the BMW and BMW NA has failed to program this code into their central memory banks.

Right a litter to BMW NA and cc the dealer. THey just do not want to replace the transmission and it becomes you against the BMW NA spin machine. Sorry for reality but telling you straight. Just write a letter and send it off and keep doing so until you get a resolution. BMW is purely putting money against the odds that you will give up.

I have the same problem on my 05 530d. When cruising on 5th or 6th gear revs keep jumping between 1200 - 1500 rpm. When the car warms up, problem disappears. My dealer says that there are no fault codes. I love the car but this is driving me mad. Don't know what to do ...

Not sure what to tell you right at this moment. I am still fighting with BMW NA, and the dealer, the service directors latest comment to customer service was "I do not believe that this is an issue that requires attention at this time, and we will wait until a hard code presents it self". But they say they have my best interests at heart, yeah sure, and dogs can talk... BMW is becoming more aware of this issue with our e60's but are trying not to do anything about it, it seems. I'll keep everyone up to date if I find anything out.

Interesting... I had my 545 in for service due to a steering malfunction warning I was getting. thought for sure there was a leak in the hydraulic system. I asked for an oil change and transmission fluid change (52k,) just because I don't think the fluid could possibly last 100k. The tech found a leaking mechatronic valve sleeve...Hmmm. I wasn't having any drivability issues, perhaps he caught it early? Or perhaps that was how they were able to justify the trans fluid change for me. They didn't find any leaks in the steering/hydraulic system, and my engine oil is dirty and smelly as if they only topped off the sump.

I really wish we could truly trust the BMW service centers, but sadly I don't. I guess I'll see if I have any further problems down the road.

SteveO

Hey SteveO, Im pretty sure there was a service bulletin out there, for the mechatronic valve sleeve. I had a small leak in my garage floor they saw it was the sleeve, and replaced it at no cost to me, but the whole surging issue was present before they fixed it so changing the sleeve, and the tranny fluid...it didn't help.. I would also have to agree with you it would be nice to trust the BMW service center, but it feels since these dealers aren't selling as many vehicles lately, they try and rip off their dedicated customers....

I recently bought a very clean 2002 530i MT w/ 73K miles that I soon learned had that same "surge" problem that others have experienced. The car would suddenly and randomly drop or add a few hundred rpms without any throttle input. It was really maddening.

I first had a full tune-up and injector cleaning done, but those efforts made no difference. This problem doesn't "throw a code", which makes it very hard to diagnose. I later tested many things myself and thorougly searched the engine for bad vacuum lines, dirty electrical connections, etc., but found nothing. Finally I took it to an excellent independent shop in my area - Bavarian Specialties in King of Prussia, PA. They quickly diagnosed and fixed the problem: worn seals in the VANOS unit.

The VANOS unit controls the variable valve cams. It's located at the front of the engine, and has electrical connections on each side. In essence it consists of two electrically-actuated hydraulic pumps. It works constantly, and Bavarian's mechanics told me that the rubber seals eventually wear until they get hard, leak or break, and then don't actuate properly.

They took the time to show me the internal workings of a VANOS unit after they fixed my car. They said there's a specific diagnostic test that can be performed to check the unit, but that a bad unit sometimes passes all of the tests. My unit passed all the tests except the last one, which they told me checked the length of time it takes to respond to a certain input. That failure indicated to them that the unit was losing pressure, which meant that the seals were bad.

I literally would have sold this car if I hadn't been able to get the problem fixed. Now the throttle is perfectly smooth and I love the car. I hope my experience helps someone else, because I was unable to find any definitive answer in my own research.

Also, I recommend following the suggestion made by some people I've read, as well as Bavarian's mechanics, and having your car's computer software updated at the same time.