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

I know this is about trannys so sorry but....bought the car from my son at 65,000, he got it at 50,000. He didn't do much other than change the oil, tires, etc. I assumed it had the 50,000 mark maintenance since he got it from a BMW dealer. Never the less, at the I had a local perform the 50,000 at 65,000 and the transmission, differential, and brake fluid at the 80,000. I'm thinking I should change the power steering fluid. I keep asking him for a brake job but he says I gotta wait til the light comes on. So, I think he's gonna say no on the power steering fluid. For an old hill billy used to fixing and driving 30 year old ford pickups, I see no problem changing fluids or any other repairs in a car that drives sooo nice. Any thoughts on the power steering?

My 3301 has done 123oo, no problems with the trans but I am going to do an oil change.
Here in NZ it costs about $200.

I can't even vote in the poll since my car has such low mileage! At any rate, 28k miles and no problems whatever.

215k here

Originally Posted by rwebbe

Now you can see why I dumped my 330ci for a new Acura.

The auto trans in my 3rd gen Acura TL failed at 30K, and it was in the shop many times for quality control issues, mainly interior parts. I would agree that overall the Acura is probably a more dependable car, but it has nothing on a BMW in terms of driving dynamics

2001 330i just went over 200,000. Tranny got serviced at 125k, fluid and filter. Mechanic told me the fluid got put through a fine filter/cleaned and reused since they couldn't get the fluid or it was horrendously expensive at the time. Still going at 200k- knock on wood.

Just got that bad news today. Got the dreaded P0735 fault code, and it was diagnosed as a bad clutch pak. Oh well. at 140k, we were just starting to get to know one another.

i got 128000 my trnas run 100/00

'04 325i, 86K, and no problems. I realize a ~20% failure rate is pretty bad, but before I looked at this thread, after purusing many dozens of other posts/threads on the various issues with the transmissions on these cars, I would have guessed more like an 80% failure rate!

I'm still debating about draining the ATF. I do think it's in principle a good idea, but I worry about compatibility of DexronIII, which is the currently recommended fluid, with whatever is in there now. If I'm going to do it, I'm leaning toward using the DexIII, and draining it every 5K miles or so about three times to gradually replace the original fluid with the DexIII. But I'm still debating about doing it at all, because it seems like the vast majority of the problems people are reporting wouldn't have been prevented by changing the fluid.

I have 141k no problems yet thank god, I just bought the car few months back and recently did a oil change and my oil light comes on for couple seconds and goes away is this normal issue? I was thinking of doing transmission fluid change at the dealership, anyone here knows how much it cost? Thanks for the help (=

In New Zealand its Approx $200.00, but you cant really do it yourslf, you only drain the oil in the tourque converter, not in the actual tranz.
The Dealers, will pump oil in one end and pump it out the other, until all the oli replaced.
As for the type of oil leave it up to the mechanics.
Dont take your car to BMW, they will charge an arm and a leg.
\ Good luck

Originally Posted by teamleader

In New Zealand its Approx $200.00, but you cant really do it yourslf, you only drain the oil in the tourque converter, not in the actual tranz.
The Dealers, will pump oil in one end and pump it out the other, until all the oli replaced.
As for the type of oil leave it up to the mechanics.
Dont take your car to BMW, they will charge an arm and a leg.
\ Good luck

Damn it's good to know before going in. My friend's uncle has a shop. He works on bmw's before but he mention something about the tranny, something about how he can't do it because there is a special bolt or something that he can't take off. I have no clue what he is talking about, I thought the same method works on all cars. but thanks for the info. Appreciate.

Why not flush?

100.00 t0 125000 and no problems

40k miles later after a transmission service with my manumatic and it's running as strong and percise as it ever was. Currently @ 103K miles and planning to do another tranny service 10-20k miles later.

Originally Posted by Schwarz Tier

I have 141k no problems yet thank god, I just bought the car few months back and recently did a oil change and my oil light comes on for couple seconds and goes away is this normal issue? I was thinking of doing transmission fluid change at the dealership, anyone here knows how much it cost? Thanks for the help (=

i had that problem on my e46 when i bought it, oil level would light up yellow for a few seconds after starting but then go out, checked oil level and it was fine, bought a new oil level sensor for ~$100, changed the oil at the same time and the problem hasn't reoccurred.

Drip a some of your transmission fluid on a clean paper towel and compare it to the same amount of fresh ATF. If the stuff in your transmission is brown compared to the nice new red ATF, it's time to replace your fluid. If it's still a clean pink and not too brown, you're probably okay for awhile.

At I understand it from the local transmission guy, once ATF goes brown it's burnt and has lost a lot of its lubricating qualities, which accelerates wear in the clutch packs, then worn material from the clutch discs clogs the filter, then the transmission gets starved for fluid and burns up. This whole process can happen fast once the ATF gets tired.

So keep your fluid in good shape!

Selectronic 5 spd seems to be fine. No slippage and seems to respond right
when shifting manually or automatically. My garage says don't change fluid yet.

Wayne in Colorado

new to the 3 cars 01 with 98k, is there anyway to know if the tranny fluid needs changed like can i check the color etc.. it is an automatic and i am the second owner and would love to change it but the dealer said that he had one come in the other day can changed it then the person had problems, they stated if it ain't broke don't fix it i am not buying it there must be a way to check it.. ??

Timely survey. My son and I are going to change his '02 325CI ATF now at 70K. The ATF is ~$30 per liter at the dealer. My local (San Diego) Foregin Auto Supply does not carry it. I found Mobil brand online for $23. I'm going to look at threads for tips on the change.

Hi guys,
recently bought bmw 318 e46 1999year (140k miles) and surprise got first problem with auto transmission. while driving gears slips, goes to limp mode and warning light comes near gear light, when engine turned off for 5 minutes it drives and startes again. yesterday changed the fluid and filter, the old fluid was absolutely s***, friction metal particles all over the pan. But the problem still exists!!! the fluid used was Valvoline type D, as far as i know recommended for bmw. the mechanic guy told me probably flushing the gearbox might help otherwise change the transmission....
what would you guys recommend? i'm really dissappointed with bimmers, now starting to regret my purchase, wish i knew these common problems before....

I bought the car used after much research. I am the third owner but it dropped the transmission with only 46,500. Really PO'd.

I got torque converter engine code. I think I might need to get that check soon. More money to burn. BMW-break my wallet lol

went thru the poll results, seems either the tranny gets repaired/replaced in the 50k-100k mark or the probability of it dying diminishes greatly, interesting ...

i have 139xxx and still rolling fine