Comments on: $5000 crash course in BMW transmissions

By: Susan

Susan — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 04:24:22 +0000

Basically, the same problem as others only my car 325I 06 just started making a sluggish thud noise when trying to shift gears. 128,000 miles and I have pampered this car. I’m very disappointed and will probably not buy another BMW though I loved driving it. So sad, but I have never had a transmission go out on any of my American made cars and I bought BMW because of their long lasting reputation… Please contact me if there is a class action suit concerning this problem. And…Beware to future BMW customers! My car is probably worth zip now… Will check out the Sonnax repair kit I guess. Thanks for your research Ms. Brewster!

By: ford cars

ford cars — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 08:31:44 +0000

wow this is so nice that this is so nice that The transmission shop inspected the car and informed me that 1999 is a split year for the 323…

By: Dwight

Dwight — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 18:49:49 +0000

My 2001 BMW 325 Ci Reverse Gear just died yesterday.

I put the car into reverse, I felt the car buck and then caput…no reverse gear – forward gear only.

The car has 321,000 KM on it.

Now I just have to get rid of it and I’m trying to figure out what is the value of the BMW in it’s present form.

By: Luis

Luis — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 17:36:34 +0000

Same story here… got up to go to work about 1 month ago and to my surprise my car would not go in reverse. I played around with it a little bit and found that first of all in the cold morning is worse. Second, if I shift from reverse to forward a couple of times, it gets the gears catching and i’m able to reverse. Even then, my X5 2001 102K miles will not reverse fast. It is a slow turtle like reverse. After reading so much about the problem and seeing that i’m not alone I would appreciate if anyone knows if BMW is gonna do anything about this.. which I doubt.. anyways,, I will look into seeing how much i can get it fixed for and if affordable will post it and hopefullly help somebody’s pocket out.. :) bejarano88@gmail.com
I am even thinking of learning how to rebuild my own transmission and if so can help out my fellow BMW comrades… good luck everyone..

By: jama

jama — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 01:19:24 +0000

I was backing out of my driveway last week headed to work when reverse, in my 2000 323 i. just quit. The short of the long story is $5500. to replace my transmission with a BMW remanufactured one. I bought the car almost new -24k miles, and have promptly had all the scheduled maintenance and repairs done by the dealership. My car has 90k miles… No warning from my car or BMW, nor was I aware of all the other angry people out there complaining about this same issue. Why hasn’t this problem been corrected / recalled???? I have researched and talked with management at my BMW dealership in Bellevue, WA and BMW NA… with no help.

By: Carl

Carl — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 18:41:15 +0000

2002 BMW 325i. Won’t go into reverse. Will drive in 3rd/4th only. Dealer wants to replace transmission. I called BMW North America and they said they can be of no assistance. Would not even give me the name of supervisor to talk to. Something has to be done about this. If anyone knows of a class action suit, let me know.
Carl

By: Lili

Lili — Wed, 19 May 2010 01:20:52 +0000

I have a 2000 323i BMW and the reverse is broken. I had parked my care in my drive way on a friday and left it parked over the weekend, but on Monday morning I tried to back up from my drive way and just my luck it would onot engage into the reverse gear. I have found a mechanic that has can take a look at it but he says it would be around $1800-4000. Ouch! i just cant afford this to expensive. So right now i just have my car parked. while i can save money to afforde the repair. I have made some research and some people say that they have gotten the same problem, and the problem was that the TCC PMW Solenoid. I just dont know any ideas..

By: shawn

shawn — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 05:55:26 +0000

I have a 94 540i no revers I found a mechanic to fix it for $530.00 labor and what ever parts will cost in Fort Wayne, IN 260-489-9783 but thats taking the tranny out yourself and taking it in dont know what it costs if they take it out.

By: Regina Flanagan

Regina Flanagan — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 04:14:43 +0000

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.

By: kelvin

kelvin — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 03:14:44 +0000

Sorry, typo :

da la da la.., well I could take your for $1,500 not 15k

By: kelvin

kelvin — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 03:11:33 +0000

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.

By: Paul

Paul — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 23:27:09 +0000

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.

By: KenD

KenD — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 22:16:33 +0000

My 2000 232i 108K transmission went out today. My 1991 Geo Prism last longer then this.

By: Rick Chereton

Rick Chereton — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 07:27:09 +0000

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.

By: Kelvin

Kelvin — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 14:00:51 +0000

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?

By: BOBA FETT

BOBA FETT — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 18:34:31 +0000

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.

By: Ben Miller

Ben Miller — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 16:38:01 +0000

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.

By: Davi Pfeifer

Davi Pfeifer — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 05:22:15 +0000

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.

By: Craig P

Craig P — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 04:40:43 +0000

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.

By: brian z

brian z — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 21:30:03 +0000

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