550 transmission issues

Brief preamble, had a 1995 325 coupe for 8 years then a 2002 540 with sport package for 4 years and they were both great. Got rear ended hard in Feb and the 540 is now toast. Bought a 2008 550 with all kinds of sport packages, fancy options and high expectations. Not fulfilled! Reverse often will not engage until after several attempts and the transmission is not smooth, most noticeably at minimal throttle. Kind of hunts, it's either "on" or "off" as if there is slack in the transmission or stickyness in the throttle. BMW says it's normal (obviousy not but reverse recalcitrance not consistent enough to replicate and jerkiness is fairly subtle). Only 15k on it and still 2 years warranty. Anyone have any similar experience or suggestions? I'm getting close to dumping it and looking for a nice 2003 540 sport. Thanks.

They may need to reprogram your car:

http://www.bmwtis.com/tsb/bulletins/...p/B250109g.htm

http://www.bmwtis.com/tsb/bulletins/...p/B240309g.htm

Thanks Nube1! Great resource. Is the re-programming by the shop anything more that the 'hold down the gas pedal for 30 sec tranny reset" DIY that is floating around the web?

http://forums.5series.net/topic/4001..._trans%20reset

Those links are both spot on Nube1.The force is apparently with you! Thanks. I have had the car into BMW twice so far and they reprogrammed something but it didn't fix either problem. I will forward the links to my CS person and see schdule another appointment. It's disappointing when the loaner 328 is smoother than the 550.

Originally Posted by 7bravodelta

Those links are both spot on Nube1.The force is apparently with you! Thanks. I have had the car into BMW twice so far and they reprogrammed something but it didn't fix either problem. I will forward the links to my CS person and see schdule another appointment. It's disappointing when the loaner 328 is smoother than the 550.

Dude, be careful what you wish for my friend! My car was the Gunea Pig that pioneered SIB240309. They will take away that low throttle on-off slow speed feeling and low speed klunki-ness in the drive-train at a HUGE trade-off in power and torque for sure. You may as well go buy that older 540i since your 550i will perform just like it afterwards. Trust-me, I know, my car was re-programmed using the "special laptop" sent from Germany to dumb-down it's performance and it will never be the same ( they had my car in for over a week in 2007 timeframe). I miss the "clunki-ness" in the drivetrain and it's unfortunate that BMW carried this fix forward into the 2008 MY and beyond. If you have them fix your transmission clunky low speed and that lurch you get when you come to a stop (trust me I miss that), you too will miss it when you feel they throttled back on HP & torque by about 25%. Let us know how this goes for you! Trust me DON'T DO IT. You have a rare beast that is un-tamed like no-others (and I wished I kept my mouth shut about mine but there is no going back!)

Originally Posted by jboucher

Thanks Nube1! Great resource. Is the re-programming by the shop anything more that the 'hold down the gas pedal for 30 sec tranny reset" DIY that is floating around the web?

http://forums.5series.net/topic/4001..._trans%20reset

That "reset stuff" apparently fools your adaptation to revert to the standard or default auto sport mode settings, thus the reset misnomer. There are festers who are livid about debunking this "myth" as you can see on the following link. Whatever it is, it is temporary and if you are having program issues, it can only be fixed by a re-flash. But even that has its own detractors, like the previous post. I seldom have that issue bec I drive in Sports the majority of the time...

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...&postcount=162

Originally Posted by MSAMMY

Dude, be careful what you wish for my friend! My car was the Gunea Pig that pioneered SIB240309. They will take away that low throttle on-off slow speed feeling and low speed klunki-ness in the drive-train at a HUGE trade-off in power and torque for sure. You may as well go buy that older 540i since your 550i will perform just like it afterwards. Trust-me, I know, my car was re-programmed using the "special laptop" sent from Germany to dumb-down it's performance and it will never be the same ( they had my car in for over a week in 2007 timeframe). I miss the "clunki-ness" in the drivetrain and it's unfortunate that BMW carried this fix forward into the 2008 MY and beyond. If you have them fix your transmission clunky low speed and that lurch you get when you come to a stop (trust me I miss that), you too will miss it when you feel they throttled back on HP & torque by about 25%. Let us know how this goes for you! Trust me DON'T DO IT. You have a rare beast that is un-tamed like no-others (and I wished I kept my mouth shut about mine but there is no going back!)

Hmmm... I wonder if you might need a less "special" update performed to your car. My 2008 550i had the same hesitation, on/off issue when I first purchased it (and also sufferred from a rough idle on cold start), but this was resolved with a software update done in June 2009 to the latest s/w version at that time. Absolutely no complaints with the drivability since, and definitely no loss of power/torque - otherwise I would have been back in for re-programming asap. Since then I had the car fully reprogrammed about a month ago when retrofitting the sport-auto transmission option with paddles, again with no resulting transmission issues. My suggestion would be to go get the update if the transmission hesitation bothers you.

My tranny is great! Drive the hells out of it... (knock on wood)

No argument with that, in sport mode on the occasional country backroad, it is brilliant. But bumbling around in the usual commute traffic can be a little annoying. Good news is it seems to be improving with age. Or maybe it's just me! The reverse problem just disappeared.

Originally Posted by 7bravodelta

No argument with that, in sport mode on the occasional country backroad, it is brilliant. But bumbling around in the usual commute traffic can be a little annoying. Good news is it seems to be improving with age. Or maybe it's just me! The reverse problem just disappeared.

So, did you get it reprogrammed or not? and the reverse problem disappeared after reprogramming?

I think my SMG transmission has similar symptoms (mentioned in Nube1's 2nd link). Could you help me with more details on how you got this resolved?

Sorry I can't give you positive news of a fix. I didn't get it reprogrammed. The reverse problem (which REALLY drove me nuts) just disappeared by itself so I never took it back to BMW. Not sure if I am learning the feel of the tranny or it's learning my driving style but one way or another it seems to have improved. Still annoying slight jerkiness as it changes up or (most noticeably) down at low speed in traffic (and in this specific instance I am not the jerk) which makes slow speed smooth braking difficult as a lower gear kicks in. Holding a gear manually doesn't solve the problem as there is still an on/off harshness to throttle input however gentle I try to be. I have decided this is "small stuff" and I spend far too much time complaining about it so just going to suck it up!

Originally Posted by ghs235

I think my SMG transmission has similar symptoms (mentioned in Nube1's 2nd link). Could you help me with more details on how you got this resolved?

IF you have SMG, that SIB will not be your solution - it's just for automatics. There are a number of other threads on SMG issues which may be of assistance, but the above links are not likely related...