328i having some transmission problems

[Lou the Greek]

Hello everyone,

This may be my 1st post here, but I have been visiting for a while now. I am writing to you because, honestly I have had enough of this automatic transmission jerking. It is too much, and needs to be fixed.


I have read that by changing the transmission fluid, usually gets rid of this problem, and I believe that is what needs to be done with my car as well.

My symptoms are as follows. When my car starts, and is cool, I seem to have no problem. Once the engine temperature has reached mid-way, the problem begins, so usually about a good 20-30 minutes into the drive and I stop, the problem starts. At a stop light, the car sometimes, might make a tiny little jerk, then when I begin to accelerate, it seems to be slipping and eventually jerking and slamming into gear. Not a very comfortable feeling. Once I am moving I dont seem to have a problem.

So my question to all of you is, is it the fluid that needs changing, or am I looking at a more costly repair? Money right now is a slight problem, as right now, modding etc is not a priority, and all I want is my car to get from place to place without any problems.

Since I dont want to waste any more space, I am also having a problem with my Air Condition as well, the fan itself works fine, as well as the heat. No problems, but the air is not coming out cold at all. So all I need is a recharge in Freon? Hopefully thats all it is.

I appologize for the drastic amount of reading, but any help at all is very much wanted. I thank you all very much for taking the time to read this post.

Louis

[choffa]

Transmission sounds like low fluid level. Tricky to check, follow this write up to the letter (level check is at bottom of page):

http://www.pelicanparts.com/bmw/tech...Fluid_Auto.htm

Replacing fluid is straightforward, note that the transmission has two pans that need to be dropped, smaller pan does not have a drain plug, so you;ll need a good catch pan. remove all but a couple screws, then tip the pan down in a controlled manner to drain. Filter kit & sealing weashers is about $50. Fluid (I recommend Red Line D4, had issues with others) is about $6.00 per quart, get 7 qts incase you spill some, it takes just shy of 6 to fill.

AC should be checked for refrigerant charge. A gauge set is required. You can DIY this if it only slightly low. Search for AC posts, many in recent months. As always, change the microfilter. This is responsible for many complaints of poor AC performance.

[Lou the Greek]

Thank you very much for your response.

I was thinking about doing the following, using your advice as a heads up.
My car at the moment, has had no warranty now for about a year and a half, so basically it hasn't been taken for services or anything. Sure I have been changing the oil etc, the car is fine, except for the tranny.

So my thought is to take it for a nice service which I think it could really use, since I plan to have this car for years to come. While there, I will tell them about my tranny issue and have them replace the fluid. Another question, I assume that just topping it off is not recomended? As in leaving the tranny fluid in as is, and just add new fluid until its filled.

As for the air conditioner, I have a friend who is need of an air conditioner charge on his 540 as well, so I decided I will go with him and we can fix ours at the same guy. I will make sure I check out for the things you mentioned.

Its just somethings that I am kind of scared to touch like these things. Still need to be more familiar with it.

Again thanks for any help.

Louis

[jijacob]

I used Dextron III in my tranny... How is Red Line D4 worth the 4x price?

[Mr.M]

^It makes shifting significantly smoother and contains more detergents for a longer lifespan. I used Royal Purple in my transmission, and it only cost like $12 for the fluid. Not something that's so expensive as to warrant searching for an alternative.

[jijacob]

Shit man, and I did it yesterday. Day late...dollar short. Guess in a year or two I'll have to remember this thread.

[pbmw99]

Lou did you figure what was wrong with your car??

Hello everyone,

This may be my 1st post here, but I have been visiting for a while now. I am writing to you because, honestly I have had enough of this automatic transmission jerking. It is too much, and needs to be fixed.


I have read that by changing the transmission fluid, usually gets rid of this problem, and I believe that is what needs to be done with my car as well.

My symptoms are as follows. When my car starts, and is cool, I seem to have no problem. Once the engine temperature has reached mid-way, the problem begins, so usually about a good 20-30 minutes into the drive and I stop, the problem starts. At a stop light, the car sometimes, might make a tiny little jerk, then when I begin to accelerate, it seems to be slipping and eventually jerking and slamming into gear. Not a very comfortable feeling. Once I am moving I dont seem to have a problem.

So my question to all of you is, is it the fluid that needs changing, or am I looking at a more costly repair? Money right now is a slight problem, as right now, modding etc is not a priority, and all I want is my car to get from place to place without any problems.

Since I dont want to waste any more space, I am also having a problem with my Air Condition as well, the fan itself works fine, as well as the heat. No problems, but the air is not coming out cold at all. So all I need is a recharge in Freon? Hopefully thats all it is.

I appologize for the drastic amount of reading, but any help at all is very much wanted. I thank you all very much for taking the time to read this post.

Louis

[beebedl]

Lou,
i have the same model car and have the same exact issue happening now and im being told my transmission needs rebuilt!! did you ever get the problem fixed and if so how? or what happened,Thanks

[GetReal]

They went cheap my car has the same problem Tran tanked at 85M-Miles. (323I wagon)
There should be a recall.

[freakgeek]

[GetReal]

The Planitary breaks apart causing Transmission failue. We just dropped the pan today 6/9/09 parts in the bottom. Car never driven Hard. Cheap part. Not made to last like the OLD GOOD BMWs. My daughter drove it 10 miles per day.

[verboten]

Lou, what happen to LSB M3?

[viperiii]

Wow... have wife's 07 328i doing almost the same thing...

Coming to a stop the downshift jerk is pretty bad... then when stopped (Foot on brake) let off brake the car lurches forward... (like the darn thing is power braked)

One of the issues that was also accompanying this was the AC wasn't blowing cold... just cool...

Took it to the dealer still under warranty, but couldn't find any fault codes. Duh ... didn't say look at the red lights... Doubt anyone checked the pan though.

They did however recharge the AC and it does seem to be much colder now. it was only a little low on pressure but not enough in their opinion to be a problem at all.

Still wondering if I should have a transmission guy drop the pan and verify if there is an actual issue in there...

Hello everyone,

This may be my 1st post here, but I have been visiting for a while now. I am writing to you because, honestly I have had enough of this automatic transmission jerking. It is too much, and needs to be fixed.


I have read that by changing the transmission fluid, usually gets rid of this problem, and I believe that is what needs to be done with my car as well.

My symptoms are as follows. When my car starts, and is cool, I seem to have no problem. Once the engine temperature has reached mid-way, the problem begins, so usually about a good 20-30 minutes into the drive and I stop, the problem starts. At a stop light, the car sometimes, might make a tiny little jerk, then when I begin to accelerate, it seems to be slipping and eventually jerking and slamming into gear. Not a very comfortable feeling. Once I am moving I dont seem to have a problem.

So my question to all of you is, is it the fluid that needs changing, or am I looking at a more costly repair? Money right now is a slight problem, as right now, modding etc is not a priority, and all I want is my car to get from place to place without any problems.

Since I dont want to waste any more space, I am also having a problem with my Air Condition as well, the fan itself works fine, as well as the heat. No problems, but the air is not coming out cold at all. So all I need is a recharge in Freon? Hopefully thats all it is.

I appologize for the drastic amount of reading, but any help at all is very much wanted. I thank you all very much for taking the time to read this post.

Louis

[SHale0824]

I used this company when my transmission blew out and they did phenomenal. I'd check them out if you live near Grand Rapids.
http://www.bobstransmissionswmi.com Have a good one!

[Sandmansc]

My tranny had a huge issue yesterday. I'm not blaming the Burger...but the night before I installed the Burger Tuner Power Box. Next day I drove about 40 miles. Went to pull out of a parking lot and my car won't even move. It makes a loud grinding noise. I thought these engines were bullet proof. Hmph. I've had the car for a month. Good thing it's under warranty.

[pringle6491]

i have a 1999 328i bmw sedan. i'm having problems with the transmission it will not shift out properly and it is making this horrible noise i dont know how to describe to noise it sounds like something is in a bind in my transmission. does anyone have any idea what may be goin on with my transmission?

[navigator1975]

i have a bmw 328i model 2000, Im facing a problem in the transmition only when im driving up a hill , when the transmition oil tempreture is goin high then the gear is taking long to change to the next one ,the rpm is reaching 5-6 so the gear changes, and when i go down or straight the road the transmition work properly.

[flyfishvt]

Have you checked your fluid? Sounds lke its low.

You have an e46. You could try posting this in the e46 section.

Also you should probably start a new thread instead of tagging onto one that's as olld as this one.

[Dahund]

Hello everyone,

This may be my 1st post here, but I have been visiting for a while now. I am writing to you because, honestly I have had enough of this automatic transmission jerking. It is too much, and needs to be fixed.


I have read that by changing the transmission fluid, usually gets rid of this problem, and I believe that is what needs to be done with my car as well.

My symptoms are as follows. When my car starts, and is cool, I seem to have no problem. Once the engine temperature has reached mid-way, the problem begins, so usually about a good 20-30 minutes into the drive and I stop, the problem starts. At a stop light, the car sometimes, might make a tiny little jerk, then when I begin to accelerate, it seems to be slipping and eventually jerking and slamming into gear. Not a very comfortable feeling. Once I am moving I dont seem to have a problem.

So my question to all of you is, is it the fluid that needs changing, or am I looking at a more costly repair? Money right now is a slight problem, as right now, modding etc is not a priority, and all I want is my car to get from place to place without any problems.

Since I dont want to waste any more space, I am also having a problem with my Air Condition as well, the fan itself works fine, as well as the heat. No problems, but the air is not coming out cold at all. So all I need is a recharge in Freon? Hopefully thats all it is.

I appologize for the drastic amount of reading, but any help at all is very much wanted. I thank you all very much for taking the time to read this post.

Louis

I had same problem. Mine was slipping bad. I drained the fluid changed filter. Let it sit without the filter for about 45 minutes. Mine took about 5 1/2 qts after that, not the 4 1/2 they say. Put about 1/2 qt of Lucas transmission conditioner in for the first 1/2 qt. Follow the procedures everyone else has posted. Mine is back to normal operation.

[Eric93se]

Danhund, you're in the wrong sub forum, this is for e36 bimmers.

Your trans was low on fluid.

[Mr. McNeill]

I don't know if it will help but try resetting the tranny shift points. Im assuming you already checked the tranny fluid and it checked out if so Do as followed...

1. Turn on the ignition but do not start the car.
2. Floor the gas pedal for 30 seconds keep the ignition on... do not start the engine.
3. Release the Gas pedal
4. Start the car
5. Drive around for a bit and be sure that the tranny shifts through all gears do not drive aggressively.

Following these steps correctly will reset your BMW's shift points to factory settings and reprogram the shift points to your driving habits over a couple of driving cycles again ill express it is imperative that you do not drive aggressively while resetting your shift points! I hope this helps with your tranny problem.