At about 48k miles, my '09 328i developed the infamous torque converter shudder. Went to my trusted local BMW shop, they recommended and then added an additive. Torque converter shudder gone, all is well in Fairytale Land. Now, about 3k miles later (just ticked over 52k) I heard it again. Just the tiniest bit while going up a hill, but it's unmistakable. Okey dokey then, let's get to the good part. This afternoon, I'm throwing my clothes in the car and driving from the east coast to west coast. (Literally, beach to beach.) Don't have a choice, have to drive the car, etc.

My questions are as follows;

1) Will the torque converter/trans survive the next 3k miles? I'm kinda in a hurry and can't really afford the time to stop at a shop. If I go the whole way driving carefully, will it make it to Cali without utter and complete failure? Will the torque converter eat itself from the inside out?

2) Do I need a new torque converter to make the problem go away and never return? Or will the additive work again, or it just a bandage on a bullet hole? If it's just adding the additive, maybe I could google ahead and find a shop on the way to take care of it real fast. Not to mention, torque converters are expensive.


Thanks in advance. I've tried internet searching, but haven't been able to find the information I desire.