BimmerFest BMW Forum banner

How to: ZF 6HP26 Mechatronics Solenoid Replacement / Valve body removal

251K views 190 replies 55 participants last post by  Arni Danielsen 
#1 · (Edited)
Here is a quick video I did on removing the valve body/mechatronics on my E60 yesterday. I ran out of space on my memory card before I finished so there's not any video of it going back together, but it's pretty much just reverse from coming out.

Instead of replacing the whole valve body / mechatronics assembly, I replaced just the solenoids and it completely fixed all of my issues (slow shifting to reverse, rough shifts everywhere, jerky shifts 5 to 6 and 3 to 2 especially, hiccup in 5th, etc. etc.) Hopefully this will help someone.. It appears most E60 owners do not do as much DIY on this kind of thing as me. Let me know if any questions.

Hopefully this saves someone some money!

Also, about 3/4 of the way through the video it keeps stopping for me and acting like it's the end. It isn't, so make sure to watch the end.

Wish I could have gotten more detail on changing solenoids and re-installation, but I'm not doing it again for the sake of a video :)

 
#4 · (Edited)
No problem! It wouldn't have been so bad if I had had another car to drive if I messed something up, lol. But this is my only car right now. No pressure ;)

I've been experiencing the slow shift into reverse as well. I'm going to have my guy take a look at your video and see if he could do just that instead of changing out the entire valve body unit in my transmission of my 2004 545i.
He shouldn't have any trouble. thectsc has the parts. If he has any questions just PM me or post them here and I'll try to answer them.

Make sure you get enough fluid and make sure to reset everything in INPA so it can re-calibrate to the new solenoids. The accelerator to the floor for 30 second thing never did squat for me.

I had 7 quarts of new fluid on hand and it wasn't enough. I had to use a quart or so of the old stuff (which had been changed a few weeks ago so it wasn't so bad) to finish filling it up.
 
#5 ·
You are the man :). Question, apart from resetting INPA was there any other recoding required from $ealership? My local indy has told me if the solenoids are changed, it would need recoding.

Also, in your video I could not see how did you remove the sealinng sleeve. If you remove the valve body, do you have to pull the sealing sleeve from outside the transmission body or just disconnecting the wiring harness is enough and the sealing sleeve just comes out along with the valve body.

Sent from my Android Bug :)
 
#6 ·
You are the man :). Question, apart from resetting INPA was there any other recoding required from $ealership? My local indy has told me if the solenoids are changed, it would need recoding.
Nope, no re-coding. Just reset the transmission adaptations. Technically when ZF builds these transmissions they do flow testing on each solenoid individually and program the computer with that data, so it has the most information possible about that solenoid. However, usually new solenoids are close enough that the range of adjustability that the transmission has is wide enough to make them work just fine. It just may take a week or two of driving for it to figure it all out. There are no serial numbers or anything on the solenoids that the computer can read, so it doesn't really know if they're new ones or anything like that.

Also, in your video I could not see how did you remove the sealinng sleeve. If you remove the valve body, do you have to pull the sealing sleeve from outside the transmission body or just disconnecting the wiring harness is enough and the sealing sleeve just comes out along with the valve body.
Sorry, after I stripped that pan bolt I forgot about the video for a bit. Yes, you have to remove the sleeve. It was so cramped up in that area, that I actually couldn't get it completely out of the car--I could only get it out of the transmission then just left it up in the car wherever it was and called it a day.

There's a transmission mount at the rear of the tranny that if I could have removed, I think I could have gotten the sleeve out. I didn't have female star sockets on hand though so I couldn't get it out, but to answer your question, YES it has to come out.
 
#19 ·
Semper Fidelis Teufel Hunden!
 
#21 ·
I need to have some sort of code before I can get the warranty company to pay for changing out the solenoids. I have a slight delay in reverse and the back and forth shifting from 5th-6th; heck I might just do it on my own. How much is the solenoid kit and what is the process of getting the right amount of fluid back in the tranny?
 
#22 · (Edited)
It varies depending on the exact model, but I paid $400 and some change for it.

I would replace fluid and pan/filter while you're at it. Total probably 700-800 if you do it all?

For oil level:

  • Remove fill hole plug from side of transmission
  • With car off (and transmission pan/drain plug in), fill through fill hole until no more oil can be added without it flowing out. I bought a little hand pump from Advance Auto to do this for $12
  • Install fill plug partially to stop oil from coming out (just in case)
  • Start car
  • Remove fill plug
  • Add fluid until enough is in the transmission that it slowly dribbles out
  • Measure transmission temperature either via INPA or some sort of thermometer. When transmission hits 104*F and fluid is still slowly dribbling out, replace fill plug. There is a temperature you can't get over, I believe it is 120*F. If you go over that temperature, you have to wait for everything to cool back down and start over.
  • Tighten fill plug
  • Done

RESET ADAPTATIONS BEFORE DRIVING!!!

And no, being under the car while it's running is NOT a fun job. I would also recommend a few heavy rags to insulate the back of your hands from the exhaust pipes that go right by that area (or did on mine anyways). Ask the back of my hands how they know..
 
#26 ·
torque specs

I'm working on replacing solenoids. Does anyone have torque specifications for the solenoid retainer clip, and for the black plastic control unit? I have specs for the valve body and pan bolts.

Also, the sealing sleeve will definitely not come out. I'm thinking about taking the orings off of the new sleeve and installing them on my old one. I need someone with small hands to put the sleeve back in and plug it in.
 
#28 ·
I am going to attempt this in few months, and was wondering, is there a tool for removing and replacing the sleeve? Last time I did the oil change, I could hardly touch the wiring connector. I don't think I can just use my hands to remove and replace the sleeve. So how do you guys manage to do it?
 
#30 ·
Thanks buddy, I will look for the long-reach pliers, but can you help with the MANTRA :), wanna make sure I get it right.

Also, wouldn't the pliers pinch the plastic or the gasket around the sleeve? Also, I read somewheren the gap between the electrical and the sleeve must be around 2mm exact, does the pliers help in getting that accuracy. Clearly you can tell, I am not that experienced here, so any details on the sleeve will help.
 
#31 ·
Just finished my 05 545 and took a test drive. I had forgotten how fast it is. I've been babying it for so long. It's late, and there's not much traffic out so I got to thrash on it a little after thoroughly testing it, of course. Shifts are firm and smooth. No more hard downshifts when coming to a stop. Also shifts into reverse and drive with very little delay. The shift into reverse has always been the one thing I hate about this car, and it is much better. So far, no hiccups at 40.

The whole job wasn't to bad, except getting the electrical unplugged, changing the sleeve, and hooking back up the plug. I destroyed the old sleeve getting it out. I ended up having to loosen all the rear cross member bolts and tranny mounts, then, with a big screwdriver, pryed the transmission over to get enough room to get the new one through the gap so I could install it. It also wasn't to pleasant bathing in ATF. That lifeguard stuff stinks something terrible.

If you get the sleeve all the way in, when you lock it, it will not come back out. The plug will pull itself into place when you turn the lock nut, and you should feel it click slightly when it locks. It doesn't go together to hard, just difficult to get your hands in to get everything together.
 
#34 ·
....
The whole job wasn't to bad, except getting the electrical unplugged, changing the sleeve, and hooking back up the plug. I destroyed the old sleeve getting it out. I ended up having to loosen all the rear cross member bolts and tranny mounts, then, with a big screwdriver, pryed the transmission over to get enough room to get the new one through the gap so I could install it....
Thanks cowboyjer for contributing, may I ask if the long pliers would do the job of removing and installing the sleeve in your experience? Also, can the mechatronic unit be removed without removing the sleeve and just unplugging the electrical connector?
 
#35 ·
To remove the mechatronics unit from trans, you will need to disconnect the electrical connector, unlatch the lever that locks the sleeve in place, then pull out the sleeve (and you can leave that sleeve there if you are not planning to replace and attach it back after putting the mechatronics) and then you drop the mechatronics by removing the bolts that hold the mechatronics unit.
 
#41 ·
Just to keep this good thread alive. Here's a short story about the problems I have had with the 6HP26 gearbox in my -04 645Ci.

Starting from last spring I also started to experience more or less the symptoms described by schpenxel i.e. slow shifting to reverse, rough shifts everywhere, jerky shifts 5 to 6 and 3 to 2 especially, hiccup in 5th, etc. etc. The problems were worse with a cold gearbox, when it warmed up it got a bit better. The car was then driven around 150 tkm. I bought this car 2 years ago and it has been far from a trouble free run so it was a bit tiresome to get one more problem to deal with..

Anyway after trying to find some info about this problem on internet I decided first to change the "lifetime" transmission oil and the oil pan with its integrated filter with the hope of that it would improve the situation. After reading about what oil types to use I decided it was best to stick with the ZF Lifeguard 6 that also the BMW dealerships will put in this car.
The oil pan and oil changing procedure is pretty straight forward just by following the guides found on internet. The only problem is changing the wiring harness sealing sleeve which is a real pain especially as I was lying on the cold ground on my back doing this (April is cold in Finland). I also reset the adaption values for the solenoid valves with INPA. The oil coming out of the gearbox seemed to be pretty clean and it didn't smell particularly bad. So after putting everything back together I went for a test drive and disappointment.. At first it felt like a small improvement but I'm afraid that was just me hoping that all the work spent lying on the cold ground and also money (ZF oil is not cheap..) would have contributed to something. But after a couple of days I had to admit to myself that the problems were just getting worse.

During the summer I didn't drive this car so much as I had bought a motorcycle, a very reliable Honda.. It was such a nice feeling to be driving a vehicle with a nice and precise manual gear box I just whished also my 645 would have been a manual.. I was all the time thinking about how to solve the problem with the BMW gearbox and being afraid of that it would turn out to be very expensive.

Finally in September, after reading threads like this one I decided to commit to open the gearbox again and change the solenoids to new ones. If that wouldn't help I decided it was time to take the car to specialist on ZF gearboxes and be prepared to pay whatever they ask for to get this fixed. This time I decided to save my health and booked a proper car lift where I could do the job standing straight. Getting out the mechantronic was a brease and it didn't take long to swap the solenoids. Also the famous seeling sleeve poped in quite easily this time, life is so much easier when you have experience..

The state of the old transimission oil was much worse this time! Now it was clearly contaminated and also a bit smelly. I was really afraid I had destroyed the gearbox over the summer by driving the car even though it was doing its jerky gear shifts. Anyway, I filled the gearbox with new oil, unfortunately I was just short of new fresh oil and had to pay a quick visit to the local BMW stealership to buy a couple of additional liters of their precious oil, reset the solenoid adaption values again with INPA and then a new test drive. I was really crossing my fingers now, if it hadn't improved now it would require some rather expensive repairs. But hey! I was actually surprised to notice how fun this car was to drive again! No more jerky shifts, no problems to put the gear box in sport mode and really pushing the car on small twisty roads. It's maybe not quite correct to say it's as good as new, I have driven cars with smoother gearboxes. Maybe it will still improve a bit when the gearbox have adapted to the new solenoids. But now it's changing through all gears with no hiccups and I definitely don't have to worry about it slamming in new gears so roughly that it feels like the gearbox is falling apart during hard acceleration.

So thanks to schpenxel for starting this thread, it turned out to be very helpful for me! I'm now again able to enjoy my 645 in the way it was designed to be enjoyed.
 
#44 ·
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top