05 545i Transmission Surging Issues help!

Originally Posted by tommy sea

i did not go through anything like the problems that some others have had. I just gave the dealer my written comments that i quoted above and told the service rep i would be available to take a test drive. The service technician did not need me to do that.
Here is the write up from the technician:
"test drove car-when vehicle is in 5th gear customer's issue is observed (regardless of manual/sport setting. Issue occurs in 5th). Check fault memory. No relevant faults logged. Check trans fluid level/condition. Fluid slightly grey. But not excessively dark or contaminated. Check vehicle e. Software status and contact zf transmission rep. As per transmission rep, mechatroics/valve body is faulty and requires replacement along with use of new trans oil"
i don't know why there were no faults logged. It's odd how the car will record somethings and not others.
I do have to say that i would rather have had the solution be a software reprogram than this hardware issue since it would have been a lot cheaper but the hardware change does seem to have solved the problem for me.

how often do you need a update

Originally Posted by stjoelax07

So for the past several months I have noticed that when my 5 gets between 35 and 40 mph it starts surging, like it starts loosing power but gains it back, and it only happens within 35-40 and just steady driving. I took it to the dealer, and there are no codes present, the service manager, tech's and the advisor all took a ride and felt it each time. They said they contacted BMW NA and that they wont do anything, unless it throws a code, but when I call them(BMWNA) to talk(complain) about it they tell me it has to have a code as well, and yet I still ask them why I am driving around their car that has issues that they wont fix, and all they can say is sorry until a code comes up. Has anyone had any issues like this with the surging transmission, or know how to talk to Customer Relations so that something does happen? It's just really annoying driving around a car that has issues, and they wont stand behind their product.

I recently had a similar problem with my 2004 525i that I purchased in April 2012 - it would surge forward while coming to a stop. First the dealer replaced a relay (of sorts-$100.00 deductable covered by extended warrantee). Then it happend again a few days later. After a phone call and email, they replaced the transmission, waiving the deductible and a separate warrantee (2yr/24k mi) it runs fine.
Try a different dealer or mechanic is my suggestion.

Sounds like a Mechatronics problem. Get ready for a $4000 repair bill and two days of servicing.

i'm curious if anyone has had this issue on the later models? I have a 09' 550i and all i have noticed is a slight surge when downshifting from 2nd to 1st while coming to a stop. Is this just the beginning? and should i have it replaced by the dealer while still under warranty?

Originally Posted by 550i4TW

i'm curious if anyone has had this issue on the later models? I have a 09' 550i and all i have noticed is a slight surge when downshifting from 2nd to 1st while coming to a stop. Is this just the beginning? and should i have it replaced by the dealer while still under warranty?

Yes, you should definitely get this addressed while you're under warranty. BMW will definitely try to screw you once your warranty runs out.

Originally Posted by Space grau 550i

Yes, you should definitely get this addressed while you're under warranty. BMW will definitely try to screw you once your warranty runs out.

Thanks, i really appreciate it and will try and take it within the next couple of weeks.

So is there still some kind of action I can take if my car is out of warranty and experiencing the exact same issue as OP? What is this lawyer able to do for 545 owners? Or I'm stuck and will have to fork up $$$.

I came across this thread on the other forum, and hopefully it'll help me or someone else when it comes time for the mechatronic replacement.

http://forums.5series.net/topic/1252...7#entry1460977

Here is another one:

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=502966

Originally Posted by boost7

So is there still some kind of action I can take if my car is out of warranty and experiencing the exact same issue as OP? What is this lawyer able to do for 545 owners? Or I'm stuck and will have to fork up $$$.

Good luck winning against a major corporation like BMW in the US - this country is built for and managed by them, you have exactly 0 chance.
The best action you can take to stop bmw sucking blood out of you is to sell your car and never come back.

Originally Posted by hooch999

Good luck winning against a major corporation like BMW in the US - this country is built for and managed by them, you have exactly 0 chance.
The best action you can take to stop bmw sucking blood out of you is to sell your car and never come back.

+1, especially if you have no warranty. I'm glad I have warranty on my car, even though BMW denied my warranty claim of my car surging and refused to do anything about it. Then had the nerve to try and charge me a diagnostic fee, which was quickly waived after I let the service manager have piece of my mind

Once my warranty is close to being out, I will sell my car and either lease BMW's going forward or just buy a Lexus ISF. At least Lexus treat their customers better.

Originally Posted by 550i4TW

i'm curious if anyone has had this issue on the later models? I have a 09' 550i and all i have noticed is a slight surge when downshifting from 2nd to 1st while coming to a stop. Is this just the beginning? and should i have it replaced by the dealer while still under warranty?

The key is to get BMW service to duplicate the issue so it can be identified as a specific problem. I have been experiencing the same shifting issues/problem with my 2010 550i M sport for the past few years. I have taken it in to have the dealer identify the problem and they could not get it to happen on the test drives. Since the issue would happen sporadically I had no luck with getting the problem fixed. Until now that is. I just had the car certified before I bought it once my lease ran out in April, so I am covered warranty wise with the car currently at 52,000. I called BMW NA last week and described the issue to a customer service rep. My problem is now duly noted with BMW. I took the car in yesterday to the local dealer and have them check on the issue for what has to be the 5th-6th time. I told them to have the head service tech take the car home for 2-3 days and he should discover the shifting issue that has been driving me nuts the past 3 years. Low and behold I get a call back today, and yes the shifting problem up from 2nd to 3rd and 2nd down to first was duplicated. Same with coming to a stop and the lurch that would take place just before stopping in heavy traffic. They are replacing the auto trans. I asked them to tell me specifically what the problem was and they said BMW will not share the information, but will install a brand new transmission. I am supposed to get the car back later this week. It would appear this will be a happy ending for what otherwise has been
a very frustrating situation. Let's see how the new transmission works.

Also worth noting the service dept at the dealer said this transmission issue was considered a PUMA designated problem.

Yes, my 2004 545i does the same thing and no knows what it is, can anyone help us?

Originally Posted by deelo2004

Yes, my 2004 545i does the same thing and no knows what it is, can anyone help us?

Come on man, there is 18 pages of help right here....

So, just got my 2004 545i (very low price / high miles) and it has the jerky 2 to 1 shifts, "hiccup" at 35-40mph low throttle situation and a little quirky going to either 4 to 5 or 5 to 6. I lose count when I get into those high gears, :lol: Also seems to be MUCH better in sports mode, all indicative of the mechatronics unit. I was going to change the fluid/filter/etc. first but am thinking of just going ahead and replacing the assembly while I'm in there. This fluid is so expensive I hate to have to drain it again (I'll be doing the wrenching)

So, I am looking at a couple of options:

Option 1 is a rebuilt unit from thectsc. This is probably the safest bet. The kit he sells actually has a new pan included, which you can return for a refund since I already have a new pan on the way (was going to try changing fluid first). Cost, let's call it $1500 w/shipping.

Option 2 is have one of a few companies out there rebuild my unit for me. RevMax Torque Converters is one company that does it, but I'm not sure how comfortable I am with that. Cost is $800 w/48 hour turn around.

Thoughts? If money weren't an issue, Option 1 would be a no brainer. Has anyone had theirs rebuilt? If so, where and what were the results?? I'd love to cut the cost in half but don't want to spend $800 there just to have to spend $1500 if they do a crappy job.

The other vehicles that use this transmission have rebuild services out there for 1/3 of what we have to pay--looks like someone would have offered a popular service for ours by now!

Update on mine, 10/6

I replaced the transmission pan (filter) and oil today (well, 5.5 quarts anyways). The car was definitely low on oil to begin with. I could not find any leaks around the mechatronics sleeve so I left that alone.

Most issues are gone. 2->1 is still SLIGHTLY abrupt, but nothing like before. 5 to 6 is fine now and there was one other, 3 to 4 or 4 to 5 that was rough, that one is smooth too now, so it looks like some new oil + the right amount helped those issues. It's a huge improvement on those issues.

HOWEVER, the 5th gear hiccup is present with a vengeance. It's a pretty abrupt hiccup, not just a little thing that you can barely feel. If I'm going over 80, it doesn't do it. Anything below that in 5th has the hiccup if I'm touching the gas even a little bit.

Any thoughts on whether new mechatronics will fix this? Looks like some other people have had the 5th gear hiccup also and it worked, but it's still $1500 I wish I didn't have to spend.


---------------


One more update, 10/8:

First, I found this link to by far the best and most thorough manual for this transmission that I have ever found. http://dl.dropbox.com/u/14739987/242...6%E2%80%9D.pdf

If the link ever stops working please PM me and I will upload a copy somewhere for everyone. It covers everything from how all the different types of solenoids work to all of the hydraulic paths, conditions for each gear, just about everything. Pretty great

Secondly, I ordered a new set of solenoids. We'll see if that helps and go from there. If not, I'm not sure what I'm going to do.

Originally Posted by schpenxel

Update on mine, 10/6

I replaced the transmission pan (filter) and oil today (well, 5.5 quarts anyways). The car was definitely low on oil to begin with. I could not find any leaks around the mechatronics sleeve so I left that alone.

Most issues are gone. 2->1 is still SLIGHTLY abrupt, but nothing like before. 5 to 6 is fine now and there was one other, 3 to 4 or 4 to 5 that was rough, that one is smooth too now, so it looks like some new oil + the right amount helped those issues. It's a huge improvement on those issues.

HOWEVER, the 5th gear hiccup is present with a vengeance. It's a pretty abrupt hiccup, not just a little thing that you can barely feel. If I'm going over 80, it doesn't do it. Anything below that in 5th has the hiccup if I'm touching the gas even a little bit.

Any thoughts on whether new mechatronics will fix this? Looks like some other people have had the 5th gear hiccup also and it worked, but it's still $1500 I wish I didn't have to spend.


---------------


One more update, 10/8:

First, I found this link to by far the best and most thorough manual for this transmission that I have ever found. http://dl.dropbox.com/u/14739987/242...6%E2%80%9D.pdf

If the link ever stops working please PM me and I will upload a copy somewhere for everyone. It covers everything from how all the different types of solenoids work to all of the hydraulic paths, conditions for each gear, just about everything. Pretty great

Secondly, I ordered a new set of solenoids. We'll see if that helps and go from there. If not, I'm not sure what I'm going to do.

Can you change the solenoids without having to re-code the car? I was told by my Indy, you cannot just change one solenoid on 6HP19 trans, as it will need to be re-programmed by BMW. Which part of mecha holds the code anyway?

Also, do you have similar guide for 6HP19 that you can share?

Sent from my Android Bug

Originally Posted by kskane

Can you change the solenoids without having to re-code the car? I was told by my Indy, you cannot just change one solenoid on 6HP19 trans, as it will need to be re-programmed by BMW. Which part of mecha holds the code anyway?

Also, do you have similar guide for 6HP19 that you can share?

Sent from my Android Bug

There's no reason you can't physically swap out solenoids. The connection to them is just two wires to turn them on and off. Nothing sophisticated enuogh for the computer to actually know if you change them out.

Technically it's not really recommended as a best practice (as far as I know anyways) to change out solenoids without any kind of calibration. However, I've been told by thectsc that usually there's enough "adjustment" allowed by the computer that it will adjust to new solenoid without any programming and work fine in my type of case (Maybe not as good as original but a whole lot better than I have now..) I'm not sure how the programming is done--on all the rebuilt mechatronics I've seen there's talk of using some sort of machine to calibrate the solenoids, but I don't really have any details on how that works. I hope this works, otherwise I'm going to be wishing I had just bought a rebuilt mechatronics unit off from the beginning and been done with it.

I'm sure there is a similar guide for the 6HP19. Actually, I'm not even sure what differences there are. I thought the 26 was basically the same transmission, just built with stronger parts/clutch packs to handle more torque? So the one I posted may be applicable for the most part. I also found a shop in the UK that has basically every piece of these transmissions in stock, and they are super responsive. Shipping is 3-4 days via DHL international and the parts I had quoted were about $40 to get them here (Make sure you convert the currency from GBP and not from euros like I tried to do, lol). thectsc may have the same parts, I haven't actually asked (but did get the solenoids, fluid, etc. from him). If you want their contact info let me know or PM me.

It will probably be weekend after this one before I get to put all of this in, so hopefully no updates between now and then.

One thing I find interesting about this whole jerking in 5th gear thing is that it doesn't do it at all when cold. Only when it's completely up to temp.

Here's a summary of all my symptoms, maybe someone with more knowledge than me will have some insight:

1st gear, slightly jerky when cold (only first thing in the morning, not sure if this is engine or transmission related. Changing spark plugs this weekend for the heck of it)

2 to 3 shift is smooth
3 to 4 shifts smooth
4 to 5 shifts smooth
5th gear jerk (only when warm) every couple of seconds, any speed under 80MPH
5 to 6 shifts jerky

6 to 5 shifts smooth
5 to 4 I don't have anything written down, so presumably smooth
4 to 3, same as above
3 to 2, shifts jerky
2 to 1, not sure

by "jerky" I mean there's not that nice flow from one gear to the next, it's just BAM next gear and nothing inbetween

I sure hope these new solenoids take care of it! It's sad I'm already looking for a second cheapo car, just in case I take something like this apart and can't get it back together the same day (this is my only car at the moment)

Anyways. Hopefully this helps someone!

I had these same problems with my 550i and could not figure out what was making the transmission so jerky especially in sport mode.

I replaced the throttle body with one I bought off ebay with far fewer miles and ran a throttle body reset on it (engine/key ON, engine itself off). Also cleared the ECU with my obd2 reader (doubt this did anything).

Ran some seafoam through (Also doubt this did anything...)

After that all the jerkiness was gone. Wife no longer complains about the slamming transmission.

Who knows. I'll reinstall the old throttle body and reset it this weekend to see what gives. Luckily I got the throttle body super cheap, and it wasn't to fix this problem. I was going to have it bored out to portmatch the manifold and this was an unexpected surprise.

Just my 2 cents, I just thought I'd chime in!

Very interesting!

Please let us know any results

New transmission installed gratis by BMW is working just fine. Out of habit though I am still waiting for the car to lurch when downshifting out of 2nd to 1st or shifting up to 3rd. Hasn't happened yet, but I have only been driving the car 3 days due to return from a long vacation. While it took a few years to get this issue resolved BMW stepped up and fixed the problem in the end. Glad I certified the car when I bought it after the lease expired. Any rules for breaking in new transmissions?

On a side note, BMW said they also installed a new computer module. In the process all of the many albums I uploaded to the car now carry no titles. Just "ripped with a number designation. However, individual tracks within the albums are still named making it a process of just renaming lots of albums or just deleting and re upload. Either way it's going to take a lot of time. That's the negative. The positive part of this is I have a new navigation look, and the telephone pairing is working better with my Iphone 4s as compared with before when I had problems getting the contact list to transfer.

for bmw 5 serie owners best way to avoid this problem is filling up with the top of the line gas and use gas cleaner fluids when u fill up and injecter cleaner fluid

Originally Posted by kaler

for bmw 5 serie owners best way to avoid this problem is filling up with the top of the line gas and use gas cleaner fluids when u fill up and injecter cleaner fluid

That has to be the dumbest thing I have read on Bimmerfest yet.

Originally Posted by Bad Debt

That has to be the dumbest thing I have read on Bimmerfest yet.

Indeed. Of course injector cleaner rip off products will make your transmission last longer. It makes PERFECT SENSE!! Higher octane gas (did everyone know higher octane is just a rating that a fuel is MORE difficult to ignite? The amount of energy is the same--the rest is just marketing) makes even more sense. Except not.

Now, for the rest of you that live in reality here on Earth--Attached is another really good PDF on these transmissions. I think this was actually written for the Ford / Jaguar versions, but I am thinking (maybe wrongly) that a lot still applies. Shows a lot about how to take the mechatronics off the valve body, etc. for any of you (myself included) that will be performing such a task