Hi

I'm new here having been directed to the forum by Nigel, a long suffering pal (and fellow BMW fan).

A few days ago I was shuffling my E38 735i ('R' '98) into a parking space and the transmission suddenly decided it didn't want to go forward or back. With a bit of persuasion it finally made it. From then on, ocasionally things were very sluggish from a standing start, but the next 200 or so miles of motorway driving went without a hitch.

Today the sluggish start returned with a vengeance, and when I turned the engine off 'TRANS FAILSAFE PROG'  appeared in the display. The handbook says this is a malfunction in the control electronics or in the automatic transmission. 'All selector lever positions can still be selected, but in any forward gear position only 4th and 5th gears are actually available'. This probably explains the sluggish start from rest.

Has anyone out there any experience of this issue and/or know the best way forward to resolving it? Or is it a case of BMW service to the rescue?

By the way - HAPPY NEW YEAR!!   

The transmissions on these cars are allegedly bulletproof!

How’s your battery?  Seems a common enough fault for this error to show when battery power isn't up to much.  On average expect to change the battery every 3 years or so.  With so many extras as standard it wears them down.

I know they are supposed to be ‘sealed for life’ but it could be a wee top up of the ATF is all that’s needed.  If it is this (mileage 100k +?) then some folk recommend having the fluid and filter changed.

HTH

PS welcome to THE forum.

Pickles wrote: ..a long suffering pal

He ain't seen his sig yet  

welcome to the forum Rog

I found some stuff for you and posted it here Rog (whilst you were working out how to post etc) :

http://www.bavarian-board.co.uk/forum_posts.asp?TID=43597&PN=1 - http://www.bavarian-board.co.uk/forum_posts.asp?TID=43597&am p;PN=1

I had a similar fault on my E39.....and it wasn't cheap!

The tranny goes into an emergency mode which means you only get 3rd and 4th gear and reverse.

You need to take the car by means of a transporter (or rear wheels lifted) to an Automatic Transmission Specialist.

He has the correct diagnostic machines and test machines to check out your tranny, advise you of the fault and then fix it.

Anything else is just guess work.  Given how complex the autoboxes are it isn't diy territory.  Yes they are sealed for life which means there is no dipstick thus no way of filling the tranny nor checking the fluid level.

Do not believe the BMW story about it being sealed for life, as soon as mine is out of warranty it will be going to the Transmission Specialist for a Service which will include, filter replacement, fluid change and adjustments of the various parts of the tranny.  A service should be done every 30,000 to 50,000 and will cost probably in the region of about £150.

Your car will have a ZF autobox, which yes is fairly bomb proof but given how many Merc's, Audi's and BMW's that are out there fitted with ZF transmissions, failures are rare.

My E39 suffered from a faulty pressure solenoid and a fault in the valve body.  I ended up getting a complete new solenoid bank and my valve body overhauled.  It cost me £702 for this work 6 weeks into E39 ownership.

Let us know how you get on.

Andrew

PS Welcome to the forum.

Rog

This is the BMW breakers I spoke about on the phone :

http://www.fabdirect.com/default.asp?id=208 - http://www.fabdirect.com/default.asp?id=208

they have a tech help page :

http://www.fabdirect.com/faq/?id=82 - http://www.fabdirect.com/faq/?id=82

All we really need to do is find out whats wrong, I'll have a search around for autobox specialists

This might be interesting :

http://www.fedauto.co.uk/ - http://www.fedauto.co.uk/

It came up with this for our area :

http://www.s-ymotors.co.uk/ - http://www.s-ymotors.co.uk/

Ballsal heath eh ?, we could keep ourselves amused whilst the work is done.

Its juts a cse of finding somebody we can trust to diagnose it, it may not even be your box, it could just be the control electronics

Nigel wrote: Where did you use for your repair Andrew ?

Mackie Automatic Transmissions Ltd.  95 Causewayside Street, Tollcross, Glasgow, G32 8LT tel 0141 778 4545.

Andrew

Right, next part of the story :

Ole dodgy is in Ireland today (Dublin I believe), but he managed to get Robert Sterns (our local & very respected main dealer) to do him a half hour diagnostic check.

They have rung him today to say the gearbox is just about finished, all they can do is replace it, something like £5,300 incl vat, but they will give him some discount due to the age of the car ???? about a grand off I think he said, making it £4,300

So, unless we can come up with some miracle or other, thats another very nice 7 series, with only 130,000 on the clock, about to meet a scapyard.

I'll ring a couple of auto specialists tomorrow morning to see what they say, & a couple of scapyards to see what they can do, but other than that, I think its game over.

I used these guys a few years ago for bits, not even sure if they still exist but worth a try.

GCD  Selby
24 High Street
West Cowick

Contact details sent to Nigel by PM.

Quote the BMW 7 Resource.  If you have any luck I supose the only fair thing to do would be to join

http://www.bmw7resource.co.uk/forum/index.php - http://www.bmw7resource.co.uk/forum/index.php

Rog.

I found this place in Brum, I rang them saturday, they quoted me £875 + vat (not that vat bothers you), and say its possible same day, but two days at the outside :

http://www.drivertransmissions.co.uk/index.html - http://www.drivertransmissions.co.uk/index.html

Thanks for all your input on this one.

I tested the battery & all ok.

Took it to trusted BMW dealer & Nigel has told the rest...

Thanks Nigel  - in my absence from the country for all your digging to find a possible solution....

That looks like one of the places I looked up from one of your links before I went away. I'll ring them tomorrow & confirm - maybe I can get it back on the road at a reasonable cost after all!

Thought for 2009

A successful man is one who makes more money than his wife can spend. A successful woman is one who can find such a man.  

Nigel wrote: he managed to get Robert Sterns (our local & very respected main dealer) to do him a half hour diagnostic check. They have rung him today to say the gearbox is just about finished, all they can do is replace it, something like £5,300 incl vat, but they will give him some discount due to the age of the car ???? about a grand off I think he said, making it £4,300

No surprise there then.

BMW dealers cannot do anything to automatic gearboxes.  All they can do is check and top up fluid or sell you a new one which is what they have priced for.  They can't even begin to start repairing a autobox.

It needs to go to an Automatic Transmission Specialist and not a BMW dealer.

Andrew

Its in one at this very moment, should be done tomorrow.

I/we will let you know how it does

Keep us posted please Nigel.

Andrew

Its done, he has it back, and so far, so good.

As if by fate, I've also done a service call to ZF GB, which is in Nottingham, I have contact details for us, they will deal with us direct etc.

I'll do a proper post with all the details, its a fantastic factory !

Any more details Nigel?

What was wrong?

How much did it cost to fix?

Andrew

Andrew

I/We don't know what was wrong with it, and we don't actually know whats been done to it, it was knackered, and now its working (I'll let you know how it goes, so far so good)

It cost just over £1,000 I believe , including vat, and was done here :

http://www.drivertransmissions.co.uk/index.html - http://www.drivertransmissions.co.uk/index.html

You may also like to have a look at this :

http://www.bavarian-board.co.uk/forum_posts.asp?TID=43712&PN=1 - http://www.bavarian-board.co.uk/forum_posts.asp?TID=43712&am p;PN=1

Nigel wrote: may also like to have a look at this : http://www.bavarian-board.co.uk/forum_posts.asp?TID=43712&PN=1 - http://www.bavarian-board.co.uk/forum_posts.asp?TID=43712&am p;am p;PN=1

Thanks Nigel.

In that link above you mention that BMW are not allowed to use ZF GB meaning prices are then £5k and not £1.5k.  You are quite correct.  This is why it is a complete waste of time taking any stricken BMW with a fault in its transmission to BMW.  They cannot do anything with it other than put a new tranny in at a cost of £5k!

However if you take it to an Automatic Transmission Specialist, he can utilize ZF GB and fix your tranny using bits sourced from ZF GB.  When my E39 tranny failed, the specialist I used was a ZF agent and I had to wait on bits being couriered up presumably from Nottingham.

Thanks for keeping us posted Nigel, good info there re ZF.

Andrew