Well, I'm happy to say this story is not about my car, but my friend at work. He has an 03 530 auto with 53K miles. A code came up, TCC, I think, went to the dealer and the car needed a new Torque Clutch Converter; at 53K miles, ouch! Although the car was out of warranty, BMW covered the $3,200 repair 100%, as they should have. Has anyone else had such a problem at this low a mileage? I have the same car with 62K miles, hope that's not in my future!
Denny
Windy City BMWCCA

the orange seal around the input shaft usually fails, and causes an internal leak causing a TCC slippage. and the CEL to illuminate. This is pretty common on the later E39 6CYL's sorry buddy.