325is automagic transmission slipping

[citizen]

So i just picked up a 325is with transmission problems. I've never owned an automatic before so I don't know anything much about them. The trans slips in all forward gears, and shakes a bit know and then. Reverse doesn't seem to slip. is the transmission fried? Is this a symptom of low tranny fluid or something fixable? Thanks for your time.

[Seeker]

could be low on fluid.. no dipstick to check tho.. gotta get under the car to check it.

if its bad.. then it'll be better to put a manual in it's place

[Vividkid82]

5-speed conversion?

[citizen]

I have 93 5 speed car waiting to be cannibalized but if i can get it working for a while so i can drive the car it would be helpful

[Seeker]

there's really no servicable parts on these autos.

When they go, they just throw it away and put a new one in at teh $tealership

I tried giving my old auto away for free to local BMW shops.. nobody wanted it.

You can try putting fluid in.. or drain it, drop the pan, change the filter and thats about it.

If it's got over 150K miles on it.. then it's prolly toast. Thats about all the lifetime they have. Mine started acting up around 165K. I replaced it around 180K with a 5speed.
It was prolly a miracle it was still functioning for the most part at 180K.. but it was shuddering on the highway when it would go uphill.

[runetang[1337]]

If it's got over 150K miles on it.. then it's prolly toast. Thats about all the lifetime they have. Mine started acting up around 165K. I replaced it around 180K with a 5speed.

That's totally not true about the 150k miles is all it has.

Yeah.. if you destroy the thing by running around in manual mode 24/7, doing everything possible to mess it up like burning out in the auto, powerbraking etc.

Mine has been kept care of meaning none of the things written above have happened to it, at least since 86k miles when i picked it up.

I picked it up with a bad tranny cooler, i didnt know it was bad. It was leaking trans fluid. My auto started to slip in every single gear. I'd get it filled, it would work 100% okay. After 2 weeks it was slipping bad again.

Got the cooler replaced, got it filled 'for the last time', and its worked like a charm ever since. Yes, even after being abused with low fluid, driven on low fluid .. it has outlived the MOTOR, which you know i couldnt have abused in an automatic other than maintenance wise, which is sounding like righteous hell at the moment, though it still drives. Might just be some stuck valves and a bad vanos, or it might be rod bearing and the whole thing would be toast. It has 178,000 miles. If the motor is fixable, I expect the tranny to continue to give me good performance beyond 200k miles. Lets just say .. i will sell it before the transmission goes out. But if it starts to slip and its too late to sell, I'd just get an M3 5SPD automatic put in. Coupled with the 3.91 rear end, i'd effectively "haul ass".

The only thing it has ever done has been on cold mornings during a cold 1st start, immediately after starting, when exiting the neighborhood it tends to have some hesitation shifting from 1st or 2nd into 2nd or 3rd, or maybe its drive that its not going into, the RPMs will go up to 3k and start to go a little over, but if i coax it in with the gas pedal it shifts, and thats only if its cold. after it warms up, its 100% good.

[citizen]

Since it doesn't slip in reverse does that mean that the torque converter still is working? How do you shift thhe transmission in manual mode. I'm helpless without a clutch lol.

[jhstealth]

Manual is a button on the side a/m and i would probably just fill it and then see what happnes cuz thats the cheapest route. When mine was going they said it was either low fluid, the solenoid, or the gear clutches and it ended up being the little gear clutch things so i did the 5-speed swap

[citizen]

so i had the codes read apparently there is a pressure regulator fault, is this a fixable item?

[m54sam]

;10397149']That's totally not true about the 150k miles is all it has.

Yeah.. if you destroy the thing by running around in manual mode 24/7, doing everything possible to mess it up like burning out in the auto, powerbraking etc.

Mine has been kept care of meaning none of the things written above have happened to it, at least since 86k miles when i picked it up.

I picked it up with a bad tranny cooler, i didnt know it was bad. It was leaking trans fluid. My auto started to slip in every single gear. I'd get it filled, it would work 100% okay. After 2 weeks it was slipping bad again.

Got the cooler replaced, got it filled 'for the last time', and its worked like a charm ever since. Yes, even after being abused with low fluid, driven on low fluid .. it has outlived the MOTOR, which you know i couldnt have abused in an automatic other than maintenance wise, which is sounding like righteous hell at the moment, though it still drives. Might just be some stuck valves and a bad vanos, or it might be rod bearing and the whole thing would be toast. It has 178,000 miles. If the motor is fixable, I expect the tranny to continue to give me good performance beyond 200k miles. Lets just say .. i will sell it before the transmission goes out. But if it starts to slip and its too late to sell, I'd just get an M3 5SPD automatic put in. Coupled with the 3.91 rear end, i'd effectively "haul ass".

The only thing it has ever done has been on cold mornings during a cold 1st start, immediately after starting, when exiting the neighborhood it tends to have some hesitation shifting from 1st or 2nd into 2nd or 3rd, or maybe its drive that its not going into, the RPMs will go up to 3k and start to go a little over, but if i coax it in with the gas pedal it shifts, and thats only if its cold. after it warms up, its 100% good.

+1

My 92' 325isa has the orig tranny...it acts up occasionally when its REALLY cold, thats all. I have over 200K on it..still strong and no qualms what so ever.

[Seeker]

so i had the codes read apparently there is a pressure regulator fault, is this a fixable item?

dunno.. but I bet it's this.... part#1

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=BF43&mospid=47484&btnr=24_0804&hg=24&fg=15


might be able to drop the pan and get to it. looks like its held in by that clip with the bolt next to it.

$350+ for that part it appears, if i'ts even avail new from a $tealer.. might be able to get a used one from somebody.

My auto's been sitting on the outside of my garage for over a year now.. wonder if that part is still good in it...

[amancuso]

+1

My 92' 325isa has the orig tranny...it acts up occasionally when its REALLY cold, thats all. I have over 200K on it..still strong and no qualms what so ever.

This behaviour is normal. Essentially it revs the engine a little higher to warm it up a bit faster in cold weather. Mine has done it since I purchased it at 45K miles. (now at 115K)

[RahgBag]

Mine does that too, but only when it's around freezing or so.

[Headnsouth]

Sounds like the fluid was never changed and the plates are gunked up. (if bimmers are like other trans) I'd replace the fluid and pour in some trans tune from Seafoam and run it a couple hundred miles then replace the fluid again.

http://www.seafoamsales.com/transTune.htm

[dmorrow32]

i have a 1995 325is with around 130k on it. Its an automatic transmission. when i accelerate from a stand still the car will shudder and it feels like a manual transmission would if the clutch was not let out all the way. it slips a little bit in second gear but the rest of the gears run fine. i ran a test and the code showed that i need a new O2 sensor. could this be the problem? or do i need to add more tranny fluid?

[Headnsouth]

i have a 1995 325is with around 130k on it. Its an automatic transmission. when i accelerate from a stand still the car will shudder and it feels like a manual transmission would if the clutch was not let out all the way. it slips a little bit in second gear but the rest of the gears run fine. i ran a test and the code showed that i need a new O2 sensor. could this be the problem? or do i need to add more tranny fluid?
I wouldn't think the O2 sensor would give you that kind of symptoms. Do you know the history of the trans? When was the fluid/filter changed and how often? Pull the pan and look at the magnet on the bottom.
IMO changing the fluid is the least expensive way to maintain your tranny. But before you change it use a bottle of Trans tune and let it run for a couple of hundred miles. Then put a new filter and new fluid in.

[downeaster1]

My 1992 automatic transmission has a tad bit under 600,000 miles on it and is still holding holding strong, so to those who say the auto trannys are junk, I beg to differ. However it does take a second or two to go from park to the time it actually engages into reverse. :)

[Headnsouth]

I've got 168 miles on mine and don't beat on it and have changed the fluid/filter twice since I've had it and thats only 8 months.