Transmission help. Needed.

[Motomoto]

I recently purchased a 1999 323 i. With auto trans. 192 K miles. Seems to run great, passed safety and smog with no issues. Monday morning I went to leave and the tranny d warning light was on and it was in limp mode. I drove easy about 5 miles and parked it. i tried reading up on what the warning light meant, after sitting for about an hour I tried it again and the warning light was off and the tranny was fine but now I had check engine light. From paperwork I found in glove the car had a $4000 rebuilt tranny installed at 132 k miles so this one has 60 k on it. I called the shop that replaced the trans 5 yrs ago. They said they would check for codes no charge. Today they said the code indicated that it was slipping in 5 th gear and that there was nothing they could do that there was no adjustment only option was to replace it. They cleared the code so no more check engine light and it seems to be working fine. Can’t a shop do a flush or something to prolong its life ???

[Mayorchuck]

Did they give you the codes they pulled? How's your battery?

[Motomoto]

I think he said it was a 55 code indicates 5th gear slipping. Battery is good, no charging issues

[MarcoZandrini]

What’s the maintenance history on the tranny? If the fluid is original have the fluid and filter changed. Then have the fluid changed again after 5000miles.

A flush that merely exchanged the oil fluid with new with the use of detergents is fine. Basically, the tranny fluid cooler hoses are removed from the cooler and hooked up to a machine. The engine is run and the tranny sends the old fluid to the machine and the machine provides fresh fluid.

[Motomoto]

I went to tanner Transmissions they offer the power flush , they test drove the car and read the codes . They also said it was a 55 code, indicating a slow shift from 4 th to 5 th gear. They said not to do their flush that it may wash away what is left of clutch and that there was nothing they could do other than rebuild it for thousands of dollars.

[Motomoto]

Somebody please educate me on automatic transmission, I have been a motorcycle mechanic for over 40 yrs and happen to be a BMW motorcycle Master Mechanic, but I have never done anything with an automatic tranny.
my general idea is that there are separate clutch packs with friction plates and that with switches and valves regulate hydraulic force generated by the converter to engage the packs with one over riding the next ????
now question ?? My 99 323 I. Shows a 55 code indicating 5 gear slipping, would this be a hard part failure ? Rather than a command failure coming from a computer or something ???

[bmwdirtracer]

The transmission in your car is an extremely common failure item. It's a General Motors piece.

Worse yet, BMW decided to call it "lifetime fill", meaning that it was never, ever serviced with new fluid and filter.

Your problem is not the EGS (trans computer).

Your best bet is to change fluid and filter, clear codes, reset adaptations, and pray to your favorite deity. Make sure to use the correct fluid, and add a can of BG Trans Conditioner.

If the code returns, you'll need a reman transmission.

This trans is a P.O.S., sorry.

[shogun]

Here some info on how to change the trans fluid etc from european transmissions http://www.europeantransmissions.com...MWtechinfo.htm

[jclausen]

I think it needs a new trans

[bmwdirtracer]

Ay, there's the rub.
jclausen is probably correct.

Automatic transmissions happen. They stick around a little while, and then they don't. GM turn of the century transmissions were not very special, and no transmission likes old fluid and filter..