Bmw 335D Automatic Gearbox

[Vinny's Westie]

My BMW had a slight oil leak at rear of gearbox so before the warranty runs out on the 10/2/12 I bookwed into the local BMW dealer for them to sort out the oil leak. Picked up car and the gearbox is somewhat different. It now will occasionally rev to 4,000 rpm and then jump up a gear, the gearbox is notchy changing gears at times and if you are accelerating at about 2500 rpm it will change up and down, sounds like it has a slipping clutch.

I think there is not enough oil in the gearbox and that is causing the problems, so spoke to the dealer and they say it 'is an adaptive gearbox and is learning my driving style'. I have driving about 25 miles in the vehicle since its return and would like you opinions please, I have booked it in with them again tomorrow when they will send a 'technician' with me to evaluate the problem.

Seems like total bulls*** to me, but what do I know. Many thanks for your input.

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

When I bought my second hand E39 five series a few years ago, the gear change pattern was a real pain to drive with; changing and holding gears in what felt like odd ways, and occasionally hunting between two gears. Though not odd enough to have been noticeable on the fifteen/twenty minute test drive I'd done before buying. At no time did it feel notchy, or like the system had "a slippy clutch" though.

Fortunately, I was aware of the adaptive gearbox issue from friends, so I just got my service guy to reset it - easily enough done. After which it was a cracking auto-box.

[Nick Algar - Competition Secretary]

Because you mention warrenty runs out, I presume its about 3 years old ? It's right that the gearbox learns how you drive, but they can really be a nightmare if something is wrong with them. It should only be learning your driving if it has been reset by the BMW agent, otherwise is it should be as before. How long have you had the car ? and has it been fine before or have you just bought it ?

I swapped a box on a 530d 2004 and had to keep the old boxes ECU to get the new box to work OK. If it all goes wrong you are looking at a bill of at least £ 3K unless you can do it yourself.

They are a great box when working OK, but when they say sealed for life that what they mean, what they don;t say is that when it comes to the end of it's life ie 80K to 130K miles, throw it away and get a new one :bangshead:

[Dommo]

Sounds similar to when my Land Rover box runs low on oil, though I'd argue that's probably a touch less complicated.

[peterg]

Had two BMW autos in the past, 1991 520i and 2002 330D.

I got the 520 at 2 years old with about 60000 miles on it and after a couple of months it stopped locking up in 5th, I took it to a well known Surrey based BMW specialist and he recommended changing the gearbox oil and filter. The oil that came out smelt very burnt so he was not surprised it was not running quite right. After the oil and filter change the box started working correctly and subsequently I got him to change the gearbox oil every 20000 (I sold the car with 166000 miles on it with everything working as it should.

The 330d was bought with 48000 miles on it and seemed to be OK but when it reached 82000 miles, about 2-3000 miles of which were towing my racecar, the auto box blew up (lots of smelly smoke and no drive) I subsequently got a reconditioned gearbox fitted at a cost of £2400

So, moral of the story for BMW automatics is: if at all possible get the oil changed every 50000 miles or less and everything should last a reasonable time...

[Vinny's Westie]

I bought the car when it was 3 years old and it came with a BMW approved warranty, just need the information to arem myself with when I go to the dealer tomorrow morning. Totally agree to change the oil regularly, car has just done 51k.

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

I'd second Peter's remarks; once you've started to hit the higher milages, and any official BMW warranties have finished, I'd ignore the "sealed for life" policy on gearboxes, and find myself a nice independent specialist to do regular oil/filter changes on the auto boxes. When I used to visit the BMW Land forums and the like, those that did the changes had far fewer problems than those that left it.

[Leftfield]

I phoned BMW customer services today regarding a problem with my wife's car, the pleasant gentleman I was speaking to asked me what a fan belt on a car is for , I had to ask for someone with some technical knowledge to call me back.

I'm still waiting.

I don't think the next car will be a Beemer.

[windy]

My BMW had a slight oil leak at rear of gearbox so before the warranty runs out on the 10/2/12 I bookwed into the local BMW dealer for them to sort out the oil leak. Picked up car and the gearbox is somewhat different. It now will occasionally rev to 4,000 rpm and then jump up a gear, the gearbox is notchy changing gears at times and if you are accelerating at about 2500 rpm it will change up and down, sounds like it has a slipping clutch.

I think there is not enough oil in the gearbox and that is causing the problems, so spoke to the dealer and they say it 'is an adaptive gearbox and is learning my driving style'. I have driving about 25 miles in the vehicle since its return and would like you opinions please, I have booked it in with them again tomorrow when they will send a 'technician' with me to evaluate the problem.

Seems like total bulls*** to me, but what do I know. Many thanks for your input.

Sounds to me too like its not got any oil in it. If the torque converter is "slipping" then this won't have any oil in it either because it will share the same oil as the box.

Before you take it back make sure you get someone to independently check the oil level for you and record the evidence. The dealer will no doubt try to wriggle out of any resposibility claiming that the fault is with the box an not their technicians. You'll then be expected to pay the bill for their mistake. If this is the case demand that they replace the box because one without oil will already be damaged.

There is a slim possibility if they changed the complete box that they've failed to marry the new transmission control unit (TCM) to the rest of the car. In this case it will be in a limp home shift mode whereby you may find it shifts abruptly and generally doesn't behave as it should. this can be sorted with a bit of programming. Again incompetence on their part because they should have know it was needed.

[Nick Algar - Competition Secretary]

I bought the car when it was 3 years old and it came with a BMW approved warranty, just need the information to arem myself with when I go to the dealer tomorrow morning. Totally agree to change the oil regularly, car has just done 51k.

That's all good advice you have had Vinnie, the big problem is that these boxes are supposed to be sealed for life with regard to oil and they are not supposed to have the oil changed. So don;t be supprised if the BMW guys tell you that.

[lippydave]

I'd second Peter's remarks; once you've started to hit the higher milages, and any official BMW warranties have finished, I'd ignore the "sealed for life" policy on gearboxes, and find myself a nice independent specialist to do regular oil/filter changes on the auto boxes. When I used to visit the BMW Land forums and the like, those that did the changes had far fewer problems than those that left it.

I've run a few old hyper mileage Mercs and Bimmers with "sealed for life" boxes. Invariably an oil change has improved the quality of shift and the general demeanour of the transmission.....

Sounds to me as if an "ECU reset" will help. Usually there is a procedure to reset the parameters for the gearbox "memory" and more often than not there is also an accelerated procedure for the box to "re-learn" your shifting habits......

Sometimes it's as simple as leaving the battery disconnected overnight, (some old Mercs), and then just driving as normal.....I think, (from memory) that some BMW's have an odd procedure that involves turning ign on and off and a certain number of brake pedal pulses! (Seriously!)....

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

Like I say I've had the adaptive learning part reset on an E39, not sure just how it was done though.

You're right Dave on some there is a way of resetting certain functions without using a computer; I know on my old E39 it involved a screwdriver and the battery terminals! not sure what was being shorted to where though, (I can't remember) but essentially, shorting in the right way in a certain sequence would reset things like brake wear warning lights etc.

[Vinny's Westie]

Thanks for your comments, lets see what the dealer tries to palm me off with!

[Hammy]

While we are on BMW's . I have a friend and his son owns an M3 which started to have gearchange problems ( I think it kept missing gears from the flappy paddles??). Went to the main dealer - £5000 new box etc. From the forums he heard a spring inside the box often breaks ( but readily accessible I guess) - Said friend asked BMW to change the spring, for which they charged £150, but it did not fix the problem.

The guy who offered the advice on the forum was so convinced that BMW had got it wrong he came around and helping the owner replaced the spring - BMW had put the wrong spring in place. The Main dealer used gave him his £150 back.

The guy is close friend so I believe the story.

Goog luck with you car, I guess the message is very few people understand cars theses days and just change things from what the diagnostics tell them. ("gearbox fault -replace box")

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

Sealed for life/non-servicable style parts and components means we're steadily loosing those with the skills and knowledge to actually work on them.

The ever greater quest for greener/more efficient/longer lasting/less expensive, (to buy and to manufacture) parts and associated regulatory demands means we'll only see more of this sort of component too.

Throw in the "smart" revolution that's seen all sort of previously purely mechanically or electrically working parts suddenly acquire processors and "brains", from the more complex gearboxes and engines down to lighting systems and even batteries that now track their own recharge cycles and operating efficiency. All of which allow manufacturers to keep up the battle to subtly try and lock-in owners of their product to the dealer network, while at the same time making often repair much harder.

We're rapidly approaching a time when the banger as the older ones of us on here know them, will no longer exist; repair or replacement of some of the modern car systems just won't be possible down below a certain level of cost. And with the growth of ecu controlled components that have a one-shot chance to be "coded" to match the car, simply swapping bits off a scrapper will get harder and harder.