Well, this explains a lot. v Pic

[Binjammin]

Matt speaks derp - a useful skill on the internet...

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I've serviced many, many transmissions over the year, that shows no abnormal wear or any real signs of failure other than age.

[Aradaiel]

I drove my e34 with no 3rd gear for about 3 weeks. You get use to letting off the gas before it tries to shift into 3rd, so it then goes to 4th.

[AndrewBird]

Ahhh.... the joys of a 5-speed. :-)

[cddallara]

I had my trans fluid changed a year+ ago, still going fine. It was slow shifting from first. Car has ~212xxx on it, on most likely the original trans. What I had heard was not to 'flush' the fluid, just oem filter and new fluid.

[ZUUD BYE]

Good find! LOL

Mine wasn't that bad, was not having shifting problems but I have done 2 auto trans services w/ filters on her in the past 4000 miles. Very confident auto tragi-matic now.
That metal growth on the magnet looks scary though...

[enigmaticdream]

I drove my e34 with no 3rd gear for about 3 weeks. You get use to letting off the gas before it tries to shift into 3rd, so it then goes to 4th.

Ahh that must be what mine is doing. Oh well 5 speed over winter break

[mrgraybeard]

Its been a good car. including the trans flush, purchase price, front suspension rebuild, pads and rotors, misc crap, and a window regulator i have nearly $3500 into it. April 2009 was initial purchase at 10x,xxx miles .... it now has 228k on it ... cant complain if it dies.

Too bad you didn't change the fluid in April 2009. It was due.

[SwissCheeseHead]

Too bad you didn't change the fluid in April 2009. It was due.

The man has a point. I did my first change with 98K miles on the tranny (initial purchase).

[affende]

update .... This tranny is still going strong. lolololz.

[zubbie]

Cool. It's outlasted many people in the thread!

[affende]

Cool. It's outlasted many people in the thread!

i am amazed that it has lasted this long. I keep waiting for the car to have a catastrophic failure and it just keeps going with only minor issues.

[DrCharles]

Has it still got the strange 2-3 shift?

[affende]

Has it still got the strange 2-3 shift?

no. That cured itself a few days after flushing the transmission IIRC. It has had a harder than normal 2-3 shift since then. All the other gears shift smoothly but 2-3 tends to 'bang' if you are on the throttle any more than 20-30%.

[E34ührer]

This thread is funny. Missed it in 2013...I did a auto trans service on the touring shortly after purchase...(about 30k miles ago) and it still shifts like butter. I read thread after thread trying to arrive at a decision on changing the fluid. I have been sitting on a 5 speed swap since before I owned the touring anyways...so even if it died, I would still eventually win...I finally said 'f it' and changed it expecting the worst. Here we are over 2 years (of hard driving) later and it is still giving me zero issues.

So for the next guy contemplating changing the fluid, and reading forums posts all night long: just do it. If the tranny is already dying, you are screwed anyways...

[affende]

This thread is funny. Missed it in 2013...I did a auto trans service on the touring shortly after purchase...(about 30k miles ago) and it still shifts like butter. I read thread after thread trying to arrive at a decision on changing the fluid. I have been sitting on a 5 speed swap since before I owned the touring anyways...so even if it died, I would still eventually win...I finally said 'f it' and changed it expecting the worst. Here we are over 2 years (of hard driving) later and it is still giving me zero issues.

So for the next guy contemplating changing the fluid, and reading forums posts all night long: just do it. If the tranny is already dying, you are screwed anyways...

+1

My transmission had all the signs of failure. When I did my flush I drained the old fluid, dropped the pans and cleaned them, filled it up with cheap Napa fluid, drove it around for an hour in the city, then dropped the pans again and cleaned them again, changed the filters, and filled up with royal purple.

Personally, I think flushing all the crap out of the transmission, with new fluid, is the trick.

[ishcan]

I must be the exception. Same symptoms, same attempt to revive via flush, filter, and fluid change. Tranny puked a couple of months after. 5-speed is better now though

[affende]

I must be the exception. Same symptoms, same attempt to revive via flush, filter, and fluid change. Tranny puked a couple of months after. 5-speed is better now though

the propensity for these transmissions to crap out after being flushed is confusing to me. There is no reason, i can think of, that would lead a transmission to failure after getting all the crap flushed out of it and filled with new fluid.

The only explanation, in my feeble mind, is the transmissions that do fail after a flush were beyond saving to begin with. I can only surmise that the transmissions would have failed at the same interval, or sooner, had the the flush not been done.

[Northw3st540i]

the propensity for these transmissions to crap out after being flushed is confusing to me. There is no reason, i can think of, that would lead a transmission to failure after getting all the crap flushed out of it and filled with new fluid. The only explanation, in my feeble mind, is the transmissions that do fail after a flush were beyond saving to begin with. I can only surmise that the transmissions would have failed at the same interval, or sooner, had the the flush not been done.

From my years as an auto tech, I never did much transmission work other than flushes but I heard from many veteran technicians that if the fluid in an automatic transmission hasn't been serviced in normal intervals, it's best to not flush it due to varnish buildup from the worn fluid. Basically from what they were saying, the new fluid kind of "cleaned" the surfaces of the transmission and when this varnish would circulate it was harmful to the internal parts. I'm no transmission expert but this is the only explanation for this phenomenon I have.

[affende]

clicked over to 250k .... this car wont die.

[demetk]

With the flushed auto? Impressive.

I had a Pathfinder that I was trying to kill because it was dropping 5 pounds of rust with every drive. So I stopped changing the oil. Three years later I finally gave up and gave it to someone else. And that's when I bought my first e34.

[affende]

With the flushed auto? Impressive.

I had a Pathfinder that I was trying to kill because it was dropping 5 pounds of rust with every drive. So I stopped changing the oil. Three years later I finally gave up and gave it to someone else. And that's when I bought my first e34.

yup. im too cheap to fix a transmission that is still mostly working. the only problem the transmission has is the slightly harder than normal 2/3 shift and the reverse pause (which it has had since i bought it in 09).

i literally cannot kill this car and i have tried. Though i did just have to put in a new pass front brake caliper (seized after sitting for a few months) and a new alternator.

[demetk]

Agreed. No reason to fix what's not broken. But it doesn't hurt to have AAA platinum just in case.

[Irwie'C]

Agreed. No reason to fix what's not broken. But it doesn't hurt to have AAA platinum just in case.

Or a manual swap handy, when the time comes.

[squirrelhill]

clicked over to 250k .... this car wont die.

Nice re: 250k. My 1995 e34 touring just hit 260k with the original auto tranny. The PO did regular synthetic fluid/filter changes and I am doing the same. The touring would probably be a much better car with a 5sp and LS diff, but I can't justify a swap at this point.

[affende]

Or a manual swap handy, when the time comes.

That is honestly my preferred fix for the day it dies ... unless i sell it first. an AWD just makes more sense for me now that i spend every weekend in the rocky mountains playing in the snow ... and my truck get 7 mpg.