$5000 crash course in BMW transmissions
[tags]bmw, transmission, cars, 3-series, e46, 323, GM[/tags]
Last Monday morning I got in my car to drive to work same as any morning, only to discover that my car wouldn’t go in reverse. I could feel it catch, but it wouldn’t actually go anywhere. I called my regular shop and told them I would be towing it in. They called me the next day and said the transmission was shot and would have to be replaced, and quoted me $6000 to do it.
Ok, so…I admit I learned a few months ago that in 1999, BMW started using GM transmissions in the 3-series. And that they’re all crap and mine would need to be replaced soon. But spending $6k on a car that’s worth $10,000 max is asinine, so I did some calling around to see if I could get a better price. Dave actually helped me out a lot here, too…he was able to find a used transmission in LA for $1300 (my shop was quoting me $4500 for the factory transmission alone). They said they’d be more than happy to install whatever transmission I brought in, but there would be no warranty whatsoever. I thought about this for a few more days (we’re talking about a lot of money here, and I absolutely hate spending money), then eventually decided to call some transmission places to see what they could do for me. I found a super nice place in San Marcos who quoted me $1600-$3500 to actually fix the problem instead of replace, so I had the car towed a second time over to them.
The transmission shop inspected the car and informed me that 1999 is a split year for the 323, and the first half of the year used a 4 speed transmission, and the 1999.5 through 2000 models used a 5 speed. Their quote was for the cheaper 4 speed model. The mechanic told me he’d worked on three of these in the past year, and those costs ranged from $3600-4800…but he’d have a better idea of what it would cost me after he pulled the transmission out and saw what actually had to be replaced. I also mentioned that I’d found a Consumer Affairs website on BMW transmissions, and casually commented that I was actually surprised that there hasn’t been a class action lawsuit against BMW. Anyway, end result of this call is me sucking it up and telling him to go ahead.
Here’s where I started really getting my education. Shop called me back this morning and said he COULD fix the transmission, but neither BMW or GM will sell him all the parts he needs to do it. BMW just doesn’t offer them (only whole transmissions), and GM won’t warranty the parts if they’re to be installed on a BMW. He said he would supplement with used parts and still guarantee the work since he has no other option, and I’m ok with that. He also said he’d done some research on my concerns with the 1999 transmission from the Consumer Affairs site, and that there were no technical service bulletins from BMW on it. There was a bulletin on the 2000 “ZL” model transmission but not on mine (which he said was a 5L40-e model), so he doesn’t think there’s a widespread problem with this transmission.
At this point, however, he’s done the worst thing any manufacturer could fear that he would do…he’s given me something to research.
BMW in fact did start using the 5L40-e transmission halfway through 1999 when they changed the 323 over from the e36 to the e46 chassis. And although there is a new complaint on the Consumer Affairs page almost daily regarding failure to go in reverse, BMW has not issued a single service bulletin. This same transmission, however, was also used in the 2003 Cadillac CTS, of which there are over 30 technical service bulletins regarding the transmission. TWO of these specifically mention failure in reverse.
According to the Consumer Affairs page, BMW denies any knowledge of known problems with this transmission when asked directly. But since it’s almost impossible for mechanics to get parts to fix them, most cars are repaired using a rebuilt transmission ordered from the factory. I expect that’s a fairly significant number of transmissions being rebuilt and shipped back out. SOMEBODY at BMW is keeping track of this number.
Why will Cadillac at least admit to the problem, but BMW makes no mention of it in a vehicle that’s been on the road four years longer? I know a bulletin won’t have any effect on my now $5000 repair bill, but I thought I had done my due diligence in researching the 1999 323i, e46’s, and BMW in general before I bought the damn thing. I knew repair bills wouldn’t be cheap if something did go wrong, but I believed BMW produced one of the best performing and longest lasting automobiles provided they are maintained properly. If I’d have known the transmission in this car was both non-serviceable and prone to failure, I’d have bought a Kia.
In some respects, I feel better now that I’m armed with knowledge. It’s a lot easier for me to accept something if I at least know why I have to accept it. Acceptance is not recourse, however, so I still feel screwed over. I’m certainly not powerful enough to take on BMW about my poor little used car, but I can at least provide my research for others to use to make a more well-informed decision. Disclaimer, though…I really am a car noob. Everything I’ve posted here was either told to me by my mechanics or found on google, and is true and accurate to the best of my knowledge. I highly advise anyone doing anything really really important to do their own fact checking (and please make me aware of any errors or omissions).
Edit 7/16/07 – I’ve been contacted by Horwitz, Horwitz & Associates. I’ll update if I get any new info.
Edit 10/8/08 – New comments have been trickling in to this post regarding other failed transmissions, but I haven’t heard anything new regarding a class action suit. I did, however, submit a complaint to the NHTSA. The more complaints they receive, the more likely they will initiate an investigation. Complaints themselves can also become public record, so I highly encourage everyone who has had a transmission failure to submit a report. My favorite site to check service bulletins and complaints is mycarstats.com.
I just checked in on the Consumer Affairs page for fun, and saw this tip by Charlotte of Linton, IN:
Concerning the 5L40E Transmission made by GM and used in several BMW automobiles. There are a couple of problems that this transmission has that can be fixed with a repair to the valve body that BMW is ignoring. BMW’s service department chooses to only replace the transmission thereby making it a huge expense to fix the vehicles. Please BMW owners who have this transmission in their vehicle who are having this reverse problem, there is a company called Sonnax that makes a kit to repair the valve body to fix this problem. The kit is several hundred dollars and the valve body can be removed and worked on without having to remove the entire transmission.
I found the company’s website and a list of parts she might have been talking about, but I can’t verify this claim is valid. Still, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to run this by your mechanic. If anyone has any more information, please update in the comments.
About the author: Lisa Brewster is a project manager and startup advisor in San Diego, CA. Subscribe to this blog by RSS or email, or follow me on Twitter for more updates.
30 Comments, Comment or Ping
Matt
Impressive research! Sorry to hear about the tranny work, though.
How were you able to find out that Caddy’s used the same transmission?
May 26th, 2007
Richard
Revenge will be gotten for posting that stereogram, lady. My eyes. Dear God, my eyes.
May 26th, 2007
Adora
My brain has direct access to the Google API. If something’s to be found, I’ll find it.
May 26th, 2007
Aaron
Can we use the Cadillac version of the transmission?
Nov 3rd, 2007
blake wilcoxen
can i use the cadilac parts in my 2000 323i
Nov 10th, 2007
griselle
add the 328i, to the list, mine simply does not want to take the reverse.
Dec 1st, 2007
David P.
The transmission on our 2000 323 wagon just boycotted reverse. If you make any headway or have any further suggestion, please notify us.
Dec 10th, 2007
Roy V
Mine just went too. Have 1999 323. Sad thing is that I went to Munich and toured the factory (impressive), and they touted how supportive they are of their cusomters and how they value loyalty. There is a problem when the only solution is replacement. Shame on BMW and GM for both abandoning their clients.
Dec 22nd, 2007
Keith
Actually they STOPPED using GM transmissions in 1999. They went to the German ZF ones after that. Funny thing is, BOTH transmisisons had the same issue, just different things causing them! My 5 series went on me, my buddys 540 went on him last month, and ad naseum. BMW claims they have no idea these are bad and have rarely had to work on them at all! Of course, why work on them when you can stiff the owners and REPLACE them instead? Luckily the GM trans is the cheaper of the 2 to repair, got mine fully redone with a 36 month 36k warranty for 1950 dollars. But I feel your pain, I truly do.
Mar 11th, 2008
Chris
My car still backs up when I put it in reverse but if I try to back up faster the engine will just Rev High. Sooner than I know my car will not back up at all. I’ll be speaking with a lawyer next week and see I’m trying to compile as much information as possible. Shoot me with any info you have. Thanks.
Chris
May 4th, 2008
Gadjo Dilo
The worst thing to do is authorize a BMW dealership to have your transmission fixed at your expense; you will be screwed twice. Contact ZF for a local shop who will fix it for ruoghly 1/3 of the dealer price.
May 14th, 2008
Rich
The transmission on my son’s 2000 323i is about to go. I starts running in 3rd gear, skipping 1st and 2nd gear when leaving a stop sign, red light, etc…
Any suggestions on what to do? The BMW dealer has already said it would be around $4,000 for them to do it, which is kind of stupid for a car worth about $8,000-9,000. But my kid loves the car and all the extras he has added like tint, sub woofers, etc…
Jun 6th, 2008
Daniel
I bought a 1999 325i YESTERDAY and the transmission went out today. I tested it in reverse when I checked it out, of course, although I have to say that I was unaware of this particular problem. All the Kelley Blue Book reviews were positive for the first number of pages, so I decided to go for it. Anyways, I’m in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, so I’m wondering if there’s any solution at all for me or if I need to scrap it (or nail the guy who sold it to me). Anyways, I’d also like to try to contact ZF, though it may be impossible to get parts shipped over here! Thanks for all your research.
Jul 11th, 2008
Giovani F
Sometimes it takes us time to learn….first I had GM…actually two in a row…things broke but it was fixed under warranty….then I went on to BMW and my mechanic friend told me to stay away from the crappy 3 series (2000 and up) and not to buy any BMW made in the 90’s ….he had a 2000 540i…and previoulsy owned a 1992 525i that he said was a nightmare….this guy used to work at Marinello BMW or one of those Northern delaerships..but I didn’t listen but again the warrantly fixed it so I wasn’t that upset and I got to kick the shit of a new loaner and although I didn’t kick the shit out of mine it broke again and again…I like the 323i cause it has almost as much power as the 328i with a better insurance rate…the 323i is apparently closer to 190hp opposed to the advertised 167hp but I guess it would make 328 owners kick themshelve since the 323 has as much power and is less on insurance…so from now on I’ll buy a Honda…but then again I figure Honda would just become like GM and try to live of previous reputation…but then again GM never had a good reputation in the last what 30-40 years?
Sep 22nd, 2008
SCOTT D
2001 330I, 88,500 miles, reverse failed suddenly and completely without warning. My car has the ZF 5HP-19 transmission. This seems to be a common problem for this transmission. Turns out the D-G CLUTCH DRUM fails. A local mecanic will do the repair for $2000-$2500. Check out, NOREVERSE.ORG – 100% about BMW transmission failures.
Oct 8th, 2008
Taniece
I just took my 2000 328i in also to see why my car would just become idle when in reverse sometimes. However, sometimes it works. My mechanic told me that my fluid levels were fine, BUT I need to replace the transmission. Replacing a transmission and planning for a wedding is just not in the budget!!!!!!! I will definetly ask my mechanic about the replacing the valve body work if I have the 5L40E transmission. Thanks for the information.
I am willing to participate in any class action lawsuit. Let me know what I can do to help.
dorightivy@bellsouth.net
Oct 20th, 2008
ken m
Today my 2000 323i wagon with 51,000 miles reverse failed suddenly without warning… I’m not sure what transmission is in my baby. What can we do as a group of BMW owners with such a common problem that thousands are dealing with? Please help badwine@yahoo.com
Oct 23rd, 2008
Jacob
Yes!!! I am about to get this dish served to me. I almost fell off my chair when I got the news from Buds BMW in Oakville Canada. How can you build a car and call it a BMW when the parts are from GM. A company that makes the worst kind of cars. Had I known this I would have never spent the 50K on this car. and how can it be allowed to fail so soon when the car never saw anyone other than the dealer’s techs. I am mad. No I am really MAD!!!!!
Nov 25th, 2008
brian z
WAAHHH,WAAHHH,WAAHHH !!!!!!! i LIKE TO HEAR ALL YOU CRY ABOUT FIXING YOUR CARS,YES $5-6000 BUCKS IS ALOT BUT YOU ARE THE ONES THAT LOOK “COOL” IN YOUR CAR IN YOUR DRIVEWAY AND WITH YOUR CELLPHONE IN YOUR EAR.YES THE VALVE BODY DOES GOE BAD AND A HOST OF OTHER PROBLEMS BUT REMEMBER NOTHING LASTS FOREVER AND YOU ARE DRIVING AN OLD USED CAR. ALSO REMEMBER THE SONNAX REPAIR IS GEARED TOWARD PROFESSIONAL USE ,NOT THE DO IT YOURSELFER AND INPROPERLY DONE CAN RESULT IN A JUNK VALVE BODY.FIND YOURSELF A REPUTABLE SHOP AND FIX IT
Jan 13th, 2009
Craig P
My 2000 BMW 323i began slipping in reverse this evening. Sometimes it engages a bit, other times it just revs. Car has 59,000 miles. Went online and did the research. So much for the ultimate driving machine. My old Toyota lasted longer. This thing has been babied. I’m disgusted. I’m willing to shell out cash to keep a good car running, but a new tranny at 60,000 miles? On a BMW? Will try BMW USA and the dealer on Monday but I’m not optimistic. Guess I have to start hunting for a good transmission shop.
Feb 14th, 2009
Davi Pfeifer
I posted on Dec 7, 2007 because my 2000 wagon would not go into reverse. Soon after that I took my car to Does BMW in El Cajon (San Diego) and for $2000 had it fixed. It’s been over a year and 20,000 miles and is still running great. Thier master mechanics are ZF factory trained. Thanks Does BMW.
Feb 14th, 2009
Ben Miller
Lisa, The research you did and your website has saved the day with our 1999 BMW 328i! We started having the same no-reverse problem at about 180,000 miles, and got ridiculously high quotes for rebuilding the transmission or replacing it with either a new one or a used one. Researching the alternatives, we read about Sonnax and their repair kits on your site. We went to the links you provided, called Sonnax and found that the 2 kits they sell to repair this problem with the GM 5L40-E model transmission, which our car has, only cost $171.50 ($100.91 for 55211-11K and $70.59 for 55211-04K). However, the specialized tools to install these kits cost another $1029.41 ($252.42 for VB FIX, $508.32 for F-55211-TL, and $268.67 for F-55211-TL4). So we asked Sonnax if they had sold these tools to any transmission shops in our area, and sure enough they had. They referred us to Chino Hills Transmission in Chino, CA (909-591-0449). We took our car there and in less than a week they had obtained the kits from a local Sonnax rep (Sonnax doesn’t sell to the public, but has reps everywhere who stock these kits), installed the kits, and changed the transmission filter and fluid, all without removing the transmission from the car. The total bill was only $450! And by the way, this shop recommended that people should have the fluid and filters changed on these transmissions every 30,000 miles, due to their inherent problems. That’s a far cry from the “lifetime fill” that BMW is telling owners of these cars. We recommend the course of action we took to everyone who sees this site as being by far the cheapest alternative. And Sonnax says that their kits were designed to make the transmission better than new, so with regular fluid and filter changes, it should solve the problem.
Jul 29th, 2009
BOBA FETT
I for one am laughing at all you fools that thought since it wasn’t an American car that it would last forever. Funny, my Chevy truck has 180k miles without any major problems, just wear and tear items. Don’t worry you’ll look “cool” in no time (minus 5k) in your overpriced elitist-mobiles.
Aug 16th, 2009
Kelvin
My 2000 BMW 323 on exactly 82k miles got no Reverse shift. Damn looking for solution to avoid the 5k fixing this damn car.
Wonder why there has no Lawyer picking this case?
Aug 20th, 2009
Rick Chereton
My 2000 323i suffered the no reverse problem too. BMW North America offered me $1000 off of their replacement price of $5354.00, and I told them no thanks. If BMW didn’t know there was a defect in their transmission, why would they have changed it in their newer cars? They know about the problem and contrary to what they say in their new advertising campaign about “Responsibility”, they are not acting honestly. There was a class action suit filed in New Jersey which has mysteriously disappeared, and would lead one to wonder if BMW “paid off” some angry customers to close the lawsuit with the understanding that they would accept no guilt, and no further responsibility and the records would be sealed.
The best thing to do in any case is to tell everyone you know that BMW doesn’t stand behind their product and that they are not worth the money. Bad investment for a big paperweight.
Sep 24th, 2009
KenD
My 2000 232i 108K transmission went out today. My 1991 Geo Prism last longer then this.
Nov 17th, 2009
Paul
2000 323i Touring, 124.5K miles. Reverse failure. This may help some people out: If you encounter any reverse gear problem, definitely find out which transmission you have. If your car was made before 2/2000 it’s likely the GM. If it is made after that (mine is 4/2000) we have the ZF. (Evidently this doesn’t always apply, but is usually the case.) If you’re still unsure, get your car on ramps or jack up (safely) the driver’s side and look at the rear tailshaft area of the transmission. There is a green metal plate the says “GM…France” if it’s the GM. If this plate is not there it’s the ZF and you can verify this by seeing a small cast “ZF” on the triangular looking shift linkeage cover.
Like stated above, the GM reverse failure is likely a cheaper fix that does not require the tranny being dropped, especially if your reverse works sometimes and then doesn’t work other times.
The ZF suffers failure of the reverse drum (a c-clip or the drum itself) where reverse never comes back, yet with a cold car you may feel it ever so slightly nudge the car back, but never enough to move it or hold any throttle. The ZF requires getting into the transmission to replace this with an updated version (www.bavauto.com has these kits for $350), of course there is a lot of labor involved in this repair.
Don’t get mad at GM for making a crap transmission, when clearly it is superior to the German made ZF, though they both suck! GM Hydramatics in most vehicles are very durable transmissions, as are ZF’s in many other vehicles. Unfortunately for us, this happens when a certain span of vehicles is affected. The very shameful part is BMWNA’s opinion that they should not help out in some manner.
Nov 28th, 2009
kelvin
Here is my little luck story want to share with you guys. I have been searching through internet but found no solution to fix my damn 2000 325i ‘NO Reverse’ at 73k miles.So I drove this damn car back to BMW and have them explain before I am getting another New one, well they said, I am sorry to hear that but ….da la da la.., well I could take your for $15000 as a down payment on a new one.Ha ha ! couple days later, I figure that for BMW to order a new trans only cause them $1,300 well then I drove the damn one to one of the BMW Use Car Department and had them look up mine, Guess what, they take it for $4500 as my down and I got a 2006 325i with 40k miles. Next day I got a call form the BMW used car sales person, and ask why the damn car has no reverse, I ask him, yet? why would a BMW with no reverse? I drove the new 325I for a month them sell it out. Guess what, I got 7500 in cash now. Damn it BMW, I wish everybody will got luck like me and have the sale person ask WHY.
Nov 28th, 2009
kelvin
Sorry, typo :
da la da la.., well I could take your for $1,500 not 15k
Nov 28th, 2009
Regina Flanagan
My Auto Transmission Reverse also failed in January 2010 at about 65,000 miles. My 2000 BMW 323 had its transmission just replaced by Hans Art Auto in San Francisco, CA. The cost was over $5,000. I had to get a rebuilt transmission installed. The warranty on it is 2 years, I would like to get my money back from BMW. Please keep me informed. Thank You.
Jan 31st, 2010
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