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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    Scottsdale Arizona
    Posts
    343
    My Cars
    540iT 840Ci 850Ci 540i

    E53 4.6 Reverse issue

    I've got a beautiful 4.6 E53 (with 190,000 miles).......love it. But I have an issue with reverse gear. All forward gears are great in Sport and normal, but reverse is weird.
    70% of the time if I select reverse and start to move immediately, there is no problem. But If I select R and wait a few seconds, or if I select R on a downhill parking
    spot, sometimes, the car will either move slowly or not move for a second or two and then move.
    If it is not moving and I add throttle, then when it does start to move it comes in with a BANG.

    This problem is exactly the same before and after we changed to fresh oil and filter20220301_120634_resized.jpg20220301_120609_resized.jpg
    Does anyone have any experience with this?
    PS, for those eagle eyes out there, I didn't like the look of the extra wide rear fender flares, and they didn't allow me to move the wheel out, so I removed them.....I like the look of the wheel out to the edge. I found some semi-flat black vinyl and cut pieces to cover the holes, and unless you are right there you cannot see the detents from the holes.
    Last edited by Rich8; 05-06-2022 at 02:12 AM.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2022
    Location
    Phoenix, AZ
    Posts
    1
    My Cars
    2003 X5 paid 1200 bucks
    Quote Originally Posted by Rich8 View Post
    I've got a beautiful 4.6 E53 (with 190,000 miles).......love it. But I have an issue with reverse gear. All forward gears are great in Sport and normal, but reverse is weird.
    70% of the time if I select reverse and start to move immediately, there is no problem. But If I select R and wait a few seconds, or if I select R on a downhill parking
    spot, sometimes, the car will either move slowly or not move for a second or two and then move.
    If it is not moving and I add throttle, then when it does start to move it comes in with a BANG.

    This problem is exactly the same before and after we changed to fresh oil and filter20220301_120634_resized.jpg20220301_120609_resized.jpg
    Does anyone have any experience with this?
    PS, for those eagle eyes out there, I didn't like the look of the extra wide rear fender flares, and they didn't allow me to move the wheel out, so I removed them.....I like the look of the wheel out to the edge. I found some semi-flat black vinyl and cut pieces to cover the holes, and unless you are right there you cannot see the detents from the holes.
    I've never owned a BMW before so this is my first experience with one. When it comes to me buying a replacement car, the first rule is never buy a medium or high mileage used luxury car that's well past it's warranty period for obvious reasons, however when my daily driver finally died a co-worker offered to sell his X5 to me for 1200 bucks so I chose to ignore rule number one and buy it from him.

    I think I got a steal for it's condition but it does have a strange transmission thing going on that I've never encountered before in that reverse gear does not work when cold at start up it just does not move in reverse, when its warm it goes in reverse as long as you do not push on the gas to make it go faster or it will disengage. I can only reverse at idle speed but I have figured out that I can reverse when it's cold by depressing and holding the shift lever and rapidly shifting from neutral to reverse very quickly to keep it moving back even on a decline slope. I've since learned that this is an internal transmission failure that can only be fixed by replacing the transmission.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    Scottsdale Arizona
    Posts
    343
    My Cars
    540iT 840Ci 850Ci 540i
    .

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Aug 2014
    Location
    reno nv
    Posts
    8
    My Cars
    2002 x5 4.6is
    Honestly at 190,000 miles the transmission is due for a rebuild. There is a ZF approved shop back east called Erikkson Industries, they have rebuild an endless number of 5hp24 transmissions and do a great jot and youll get another 100,000 miles or more out of it. You have a very rare X5 so this job is worth doing.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Nov 2019
    Location
    Milwaukee, WI
    Posts
    553
    My Cars
    1989 325ix, 2003 4.4 x5
    You changed the trans fluid? I know you say the problem is the same before and after, but what fluid did you use? Did you check the level with the fluid at the appropriate temp etc?

    A drain and fill only changes roughly half or less of the fluid. Again fluid likely isn't your fix, but it's the cheapest place to start. I'd recommend ZF lifeguard 5 fluid for this transmission. If you don't want to spend money on a trans rebuild right now I'd just wait patiently for the reverse shift to occur before giving it gas to prevent more damage 🤷🏼. My car shifts slow into first and second when cold with a bit of a lurch. Your situation sounds more extreme.

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