528xi - is my transmission done for?

[Jbirdie6]

My 2010 528xi with 165,000 miles recently had hard shifting issues. Local mechanic replaced the solenoids, transmission fluid/pan, and reset adaptations. Seemed to drive ok for a bit, then the hard shifting came back. It shifts very hard/slams in 1-2 about 50-75% of the time, and almost every time on the 2-1 downshift as you come to a stop. Once cruising the car shifts and runs fine. I have put over 500 miles or so on it since the adaptation reset, so it should have had time to "learn."

After taking it back to the mechanic several times, they have told me that it needs to have the transmission replaced. Does this sound like my only route or are there other suggestions on what I could do to fix?

[Ralph III]

Hello Jbirdie. The transmissions on these vehicle are very tough and it's rare that anyone has to actually replace them. It would have had to have taken some serious abuse for that to be the case. Anyhow, I only recall one fully capable DIY who chose to replace his out of the hundreds of stories of transmission issues and research that I did. 99% of the time it's a mechatronics issue which just needs servicing.

A couple of questions.

1) Where did your mechanic buy the solenoids from? Because I'd be concerned with any purchased from such as Ebay. I'd be ok with any purchased from some of the reputable BMW parts suppliers such as ECS Tuning or FCP Euro.

2) Can your mechanic confirm that he installed the proper solenoids and did he replace all of them?

3) You did not mention whether or not your mechanic replaced all of the rubber seals/sleeves that would come with a mechatronics service kit, such as sold by ECS Tuning. If they did not replace ALL of the seals then they DID NOT perform a proper service of the transmission/mechatronics. So, you could expect continued issues with the transmission. It would have been a complete failure on their part.

4) Did they use ZF fluid or some other brand of transmission fluid?

5) Ask the mechanic how he filled the transmission. You are supposed to have the car running while monitoring the transmission temperature. When it reaches a certain temperature, you then perform a final top off of fluid. If he did not do this, and trust me some shady mechanics won't, then he did not fill the transmission to proper capacity.

6) It could be that the mechatronics unit itself needs to be rebuilt. That's typically not the case, but it is possible with an older vehicle or something with really high mileage or possibly aggressive driving. If your mechanic did perform a proper service of the transmission; then I'd suspect the mechatronics unit itself needs to be rebuilt. Our 2007 530xi had 200,000 plus miles on it when the transmission began slipping and I performed my initial service on it. I chose to replace the mechatronics unit with another unit off an identical BMW but with significantly less mileage. The second time I serviced the transmission; I replaced all of the solenoids. The car now has 263,000 miles on it.


Again. It's very very rare that the transmission needs to be replaced. Your issues sounds like a typical mechatronics issue and service issue. If it was not serviced properly, then the issues will continue until it is. Yes, a car will "re-learn" after 350 miles irrespective of whether an adaptation reset was performed or not. That's only done as a convenience for the customer in order to reduce the re-learning process.

God Bless,
Ralph

[nk_e60]

I have the same issue hard shifts between 1-2 and 2-1 when cruising its fine i did the proper service and replaced all the rubber seals and still the same please let us know when you figure it out