How many miles on AUTOMATIC transmission before failure? (or no problems at all?)

I have a 2001 330i with 216k miles on it...the torque converter has caused the "Soon" light to go on (50k miles ago!), which prevents a pass on the smog check here in CA. But, I cannot, for the life of me, discern any difference in performance in the transmission! I keep on tweaking and working on this car, and it really does work well..lots of TLC going on in my garage!
So, the auto transmission has to have a new converter put in? Is that right? Help!?

if u dont beat the **** out of it n drive normally it can last u hundreds of thousands of mile but if u lik a normal person it can last u probably 150k n then ****

62K miles with no problems.
I think people that have problems with their transmission are somehow careless about their driving (not all of course).
I know this is out of this subject, my mom owns a 1990 525i she drove so far with the car 400K with no problems at all. Last week, she was having few problems after checking she noticed, there was no fluid in the transmission box, so she filled it and she drove again normally, I wonder what would happen with a toyota or honda being in the same situation.

Originally Posted by ehajj

62K miles with no problems.
I think people that have problems with their transmission are somehow careless about their driving (not all of course).
I know this is out of this subject, my mom owns a 1990 525i she drove so far with the car 400K with no problems at all. Last week, she was having few problems after checking she noticed, there was no fluid in the transmission box, so she filled it and she drove again normally, I wonder what would happen with a toyota or honda being in the same situation.

OT:
I had, a long time ago, a BMW 1985 or 1986 733i in other country I lived. It was a very big snow storm, the road was bad, it had a lot snow on road and uneven asphalt there. So I hit something underneath a car, I stop look under didn't see there anything, and keep going, after a couple miles, a car stopped, so I looked around didn't find anything. In morning come back there and found oil pan had a small hole. So we replaced oil pan and oil, then gave a try to start a car, and SURPRISING a car was working perfect, no smoke, no oil consumption, absolutely nothing.
But this BMW was built in 1990's.

Originally Posted by phlfly

OT:
I had, a long time ago, a BMW 1985 or 1986 733i in other country I lived. It was a very big snow storm, the road was bad, it had a lot snow on road and uneven asphalt there. So I hit something underneath a car, I stop look under didn't see there anything, and keep going, after a couple miles, a car stopped, so I looked around didn't find anything. In morning come back there and found oil pan had a small hole. So we replaced oil pan and oil, then gave a try to start a car, and SURPRISING a car was working perfect, no smoke, no oil consumption, absolutely nothing.
But this BMW was built in 1990's.

Well yeah, everything these days changed, but I still think BMW are one of the best (for me the best). We've been driving BMW's since 1985. Now my sister has 325i 1991, my other sister X5, my mom 525 1990, my brother in law 328ci 2002, we never thought to change, we're really comfortable with BMWs. Just some attention is all it needs.

183K on an auto 330d with no issues

1) very minor knocking happened several times after 30000miles but disapeared after transmission fluid changed, CAUSES STILL UNKNOWN
2) transmission fluid temp sensor error, not yet fixed (dealer said it would not affect the AT running, but might damage it when the AT box is overheated).

ANYONE EXPERIENCED AT BOX OVERHEATED???????

my is 02' 325i AT, running for 58000miles now

I'm now on 128k miles on my '99 328ci automatic...sweet as a nut and not a single problem.

320i 2001, 120K, the car every time when moving into Reverse... the back of the car lifts, harder when its cold. It goes back with no problem its just that doesnt act the same when you put the car in N or PD. Do you think its a tranny problem? has anyone experience this? I just bought the car 2 months ago, I have changed so far the loger intake boot, the fan clutch, the AC compressor, Castrol Synt Oil, Oil Filter, Air Filter, Cabin Filter I am going to replace the Fuel Filter on saturday.

Please help, I am thinking to sell the car because of this reverse problem, I dont have a stealership close, the closest is 1,200 miles away, My friends that help me every saturday work on Mercedes Benz shop and they have the tools, and my only resource is Here.

Thank you guys for ALL YOUR HELP,

By the way, my car has 120K KM not miles

WHAT is the definition?

I have 200,000 on my 2002 325i and have not changed the fluid and am not having any problems with the transmission. I asked the service rep at the BMW dealer what he thought and said changing the trans fluid could dislodge some gunk which could lead to a problem, and to make sure to change the filter (of course).

Originally Posted by Cabo Bimmer

320i 2001, 120K, the car every time when moving into Reverse... the back of the car lifts, harder when its cold. It goes back with no problem its just that doesnt act the same when you put the car in N or PD. Do you think its a tranny problem? has anyone experience this? I just bought the car 2 months ago, I have changed so far the loger intake boot, the fan clutch, the AC compressor, Castrol Synt Oil, Oil Filter, Air Filter, Cabin Filter I am going to replace the Fuel Filter on saturday.

Please help, I am thinking to sell the car because of this reverse problem, I dont have a stealership close, the closest is 1,200 miles away, My friends that help me every saturday work on Mercedes Benz shop and they have the tools, and my only resource is Here.

Thank you guys for ALL YOUR HELP,

Your car should not go 'up' in reverse, I would be investigating my subframe mountings if I was having your problem. The Transmission makes do odds to the rear end height. Also have a look at the box mountings and diff mountings while you are under there :-)

I am going to check all the supports next saturday, thank you so much.

Do you know why when its warm the back lift is smaller?

96k miles and going strong!

does heavy usage of the steptronic function lead to premature failure?
for example, i prefer to downshift to slow my car down rather use the brakes.

i hate brake dust!

Originally Posted by daydreamer69

does heavy usage of the steptronic function lead to premature failure?
for example, i prefer to downshift to slow my car down rather use the brakes.

i hate brake dust!

I would think any added to pressure in shifts up or down would have to lead to wear on the tranny parts.. I would much rather wear down 200 brake pads then a $9k tranny.. Dust sucks but it washes off.

I dont have auto, but most threads I've read on E46F have people saying that the trans died between 95,000-115,000

Originally Posted by crowz

50,000 miles is not anywhere near what people were talking about on the point of no return. Also I dont believe in that to start with, its never to late to change the fluid if its just a normal filter and fluid change and you use factory recommended fluid. Dont buy synthetic or some other stuff. Just put back in there what came in it. Also stay away from flush jobs. If a place will only "flush" it or you even think they might flush it, run dont walk from there.

Good luck.

I have Redline in mine for over 50k miles now and runs like butter. The OEM fluid is synthetic isn't it?

Originally Posted by Cabo Bimmer

320i 2001, 120K, the car every time when moving into Reverse... the back of the car lifts, harder when its cold. It goes back with no problem its just that doesnt act the same when you put the car in N or PD. Do you think its a tranny problem? has anyone experience this?
Thank you guys for ALL YOUR HELP,

All auto cars do that to some extent. The in-gear creep pushes the body down or up against the brakes. When putting it in drive you should notice the back end lowering. It's more noticeable when it's cold because the car creeps stronger - at least mine does. I thought it did that because it idles faster when it's cold.

Mine's a 2003 325i Wagon (M56 CA car) that I bought from its orig owner 3 yrs ago with 21K miles - now at 63K. I just installed its third set of front rotors & pads, replaced the original plugs and went through the cooling system, so now it's on to a transmission fluid and filter change and diff drain/fill. Only failure encountered was pax side rear wheel bearing at about 40K, at which time I also put on its second set of rear brakes. Great car, but I don't know what to think about the fuel pump being in a sealed $8,000 fuel tank - will cross that bridge when I come to it! Mack,

Sad day for Scudder44!
Any way you can reverse my vote please. Guess where my car is right now? Lovely people at Automotive Automatics in Edinburgh have the gearbox out and in pieces as the refurbish it with new solenoids and a torque converter. Totally out of the blue the cattle grid noise began on Tuesday morning and the gear box warning light came on so i stopped sriving immediately and had it taken into the shop. Luckily be stopping driving I saved wrecking the pistons and clutches but we are still talking about lightening the wallet by over £1600. Had the rest of meeb mashed we would be talking over £2300.
So, at 108000 (that is 3 months of ownership and 3000 miles) I have had the worst luck. Two recon injectors, one new for cat converter and now recon gear box. Lets not even think why there is a whiff of smoke at high revs when accelerating eh? This lump had a turbo at 85K miles, could it really be needing another?

193,000 Miles and still going strong.
Since about 90K I occasionally get a slight shudder shifting from 1st to 2nd if I'm pushing it hard. Not sure if that's coming from the tranny or the guibo though...

2000 328Ci
Original GM (not ZF) Steptronic
Original tranny fluid

320i 2001 - 120km No issues

The reverse problem that lifted and kicked the back of my car disappear after replacing the Battery, might help others.

Just bought a 2000 323i Metallic Red with 5spd auto tranny. Built in 04/2000 and has 102,000 miles with NO history of transmission issues.