So this morning I start her up and everything seems normal. Put her in drive and out we go on our daily errand runs. all of the sudden trans program on obc and coolant level low both turn on at the same time. I pull over to check the coolant level and as I open the resvoir this!

http://www.uploadhouse.com/fileuploads/807/807225a67203136e5310903bf4a346faa0a665.jpg (http://www.uploadhouse.com/viewfile.php?id=807225&showlnk=0)
http://www.uploadhouse.com/fileuploads/807/8072265b6a38163f0244813ee0f1a675ea7740.jpg (http://www.uploadhouse.com/viewfile.php?id=807226&showlnk=0)
http://www.uploadhouse.com/fileuploads/807/8072274be76b960f9f083e52088703006f9dc7.jpg (http://www.uploadhouse.com/viewfile.php?id=807227&showlnk=0)
http://www.uploadhouse.com/fileuploads/807/8072281950d55ae13a0e31216c25c6bd8a293f.jpg (http://www.uploadhouse.com/viewfile.php?id=807228&showlnk=0)

looks like mocha latte...hlep would be great!

ouch!! . . looks like you've got oil in your coolant . . . headgaskets? . . that would explain the low coolant level . .

yep sounds like blown headgasket or cracked head.

I cringed at the look of that coolant, the telltale sign of a blown headgasket or warped/cracked head. Good luck man :(

If it's a 3.0L, maybe time to upgrade? :)

If it's a 3.0L, maybe time to upgrade? :)

His is a 4.0 :(

just bout this car 2 months ago...im scared to hear its that....lets see what hpapens

Could be a bad head or headgasket, or the neighborhood hellion replaced your coolant with chocolate milk....

Oh man - as a former mechanic, I cringe whenever I see coolant that color. You definitely have a mix of oil and coolant. Either a blown headgasket, cracked head, or cracked water-jacket. There is an off-chance that someone dumped some water in your coolant res., but I doubt it. Sorry about that.

Wow, that color coolant makes me cringe too. I'm going with what everyone else said. Check your oil and see what it looks like. If it is the same, head gaskets, heads, etc are your problem.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BMW-engine-M60-540-530-E34-740-E38-motor_W0QQitemZ180177809467QQihZ008QQcategoryZ3361 5QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem

well we checked the oil and its normal....so i dont know what to expect. Lets see when my mechanic calls me tomorrow. He said that it could be a hose that goes from the trans to the radiator,a nd if the radiator cracked then that could be the cause of all this lets see thought....every one needs to pray for me =/

Your engine is owned. :(

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BMW-engine-M60-540-530-E34-740-E38-motor_W0QQitemZ180177809467QQihZ008QQcategoryZ3361 5QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem

That's not a very good deal. Doesn't even include the wiring harness. Wiring all the wires from the engine to a different wiring harness is a bitch. Much easier to buy the engine and harness as a set and pretty much plug and play. And the mileage is a bit high for that much. I was going to buy an engine from Euro Depot for like $850. 80k miles, IIRC. Included wiring harness. It was sold when I called. :( But there are others.

ouch, ive seen all those faults before but I never got the chocolate milk.

sucks :(

well we checked the oil and its normal....so i dont know what to expect. Lets see when my mechanic calls me tomorrow. He said that it could be a hose that goes from the trans to the radiator,a nd if the radiator cracked then that could be the cause of all this lets see thought....every one needs to pray for me =/

That is a good possibility. I had that happen on my jeep. I just had to replace the radiator and the fluids, maybe you'll be that lucky too (except it couldn't be the radiator on the M60).

well we checked the oil and its normal....so i dont know what to expect. Lets see when my mechanic calls me tomorrow. He said that it could be a hose that goes from the trans to the radiator,a nd if the radiator cracked then that could be the cause of all this lets see thought....every one needs to pray for me =/

This happend to my 505 turbo but the coolant fried the clutches in the uselessHP22 before there was any frappacino in the coolant

well i will keep you guys up to date on everything and the progression of bringing her back to life. The sad part is I have to put her up for sale after this fix =/

ooh, I feel for you. one look at that and all I thought was "wow, that's not gonna be cheap"

That is a good possibility. I had that happen on my jeep. I just had to replace the radiator and the fluids, maybe you'll be that lucky too (except it couldn't be the radiator on the M60).

That's a pretty rare thing, but I've actually had it happen a couple times. Not in several years of course, but it IS possible to cross-contaminate your tranny fluid and coolant, if the radiator has the tranny cooler built in. I'd say it's a possibility in your case as you had the trans program error at the same time. Keep us informed.

wow thats some serious mocha frapa chino. I feel your pain. At least it sounds like the engine is ok, but with the trans program and all it sounds like the tranny might be toast? Thats true the tranny cooler is mounted in the radiator I would have never suspected that but cant deny the facts. A tranny might be around the same cost as replacing the engine, maybe a bit cheaper.

***UPDATE***


Ok so my mechanic called me to fill me in with where we stand on the issue.

The transmission oil cooler busted mixing the water and oil together. The car needs a whole new transmission and cooling system. He said that the mixture is throughout the whole cooling system and transmission. Luckily nothing happened to the motor.

I purchased a warranty on the car when I bought it. The trans oil cooler is covered along with anything that was damaged by it. So hopefully the warranty company will honor it. If not they will be hearing many words from me.

thats good to hear... that warranty is key. good to have. hopefully she's back on the road soon.

trying to figure out what we can on a six speed conversion...anyone have any idea on what to use and how much so i can relay the message to my mechanic?

First of all, I'm very pleased with myself at having called this one :cool

Second, I don't see why your tranny would be toast if you flush it a couple times. It's very likely you got the trans program error because the coolant filled the tranny WAY beyond what it was supposed to be, or the coolant allowed the tranny to get way too hot. Neither case would be a trans killer. If you can afford a few cases of tranny fluid you can flush it yourself.

First of all fix the radiator. Second, put a tap into the return line from the radiator, run that to a bucket. Put a gravity feed to the return line into the tranny, and let tranny fluid run into that. Start the car, let it idle, and keep filling it until the fluid comes out clear.

May take a while.

Also, I'm watching the chase scene in Bullitt while typing this. Awesome.

Inspiredm3: I'm sorry mate, but the Transmission is toast. I'm in the process fixing mine right now. I have a 95 540i auto. I had a odd whinning noise coming from the tranny. We drained the fluid and it was the same color of the oil coming from your car. Turns out the tranny oil cooler leaked fluid into the tranny destroying it. The water and oil mix making that milk shake looking fluid. Once water gets inside the torque converter it destroys the clutch plates. Two of the solenoids are destroyed from the water. Its very expensive to fix. I'm doing the work myself and I have spent a shit load of money on parts. If you decide to get tranny rebuilt and not do a 6-speed swap. I would recommend the following. Make sure they use a brand new oil cooler, not a used one. Also have them replace all the solenoids on the tranny, this will come in a kit.
Sounds like you might be in a good position since you purchased a warranty.

Also the oil cooler in the 540i is not on the radiator. It sits directly at the back of the engine on the bottom. It doesn't look like a radiator at all. Here is a picture of the oil cooler. $608 from pelican parts :confused
Its is Part #1 in the picture below.

That's all it is?

yeah, I was surpised too. It about 14 inches long. Two cooling hoses come off the back of the motor, connect to the oil cooler.

Once water gets inside the torque converter it destroys the clutch plates. Two of the solenoids are destroyed from the water. Its very expensive to fix. I'm doing the work myself and I have spent a shit load of money on parts. If you decide to get tranny rebuilt and not do a 6-speed swap. I would recommend the following. Make sure they use a brand new oil cooler, not a used one. Also have them replace all the solenoids on the tranny, this will come in a kit.

I don't know why you'd replace solenoids that are working fine if they're not all bad. Also the clutches aren't in the torque converter, they're in the clutch packs. Inside the torque converter are vanes, they look like the inlet blades on a jet engine, and they use fluid shear in order to transfer power.

Is the def. from pelican parts on a torque converter
"In vehicles with an automatic transmission, the torque converter takes the place of a clutch assembly. It is used to disengage the engine from the transmission when the engine is at idle. It does this by means of centrifugal force. When you press the gas pedal, the engine spins faster, causing the torque converter to spin, throwing fluid to the outside, which in turn engages a set of vanes or plates, thus causing the transmission to spin at the same rate. When the motor slows down, the fluid moves away from the plates, and disengages from the transmission. If your torque converter has seen better days, we here at Pelican can provide you with a new unit."
So there could be vanes or plates. I had a certified BMW tech and Phx Transmissions (they rebuilt my torque converter) tell me the clutch plates went bad.
Also, your kind of correct on the solenoids. If you want to replace the just the broken ones you can. But if you end up have to replaced them all over time you will spend more money than if you purchase the entire kit. I'm just saying because 2 of mine went bad because of this water. I spent an extra $100 to just purchase the pack. Personally I would not skimp on parts for a transmission just because its one of the most expensive parts to work on.

Is the def. from pelican parts on a torque converter
"In vehicles with an automatic transmission... new unit."
So there could be vanes or plates.

Hold on there. Just because you got coolant in any part of the tranny does NOT mean it's a death sentence.

An auto tranny works by engaging and disengaging clutches inside of it which grab onto different gear sets to make them spin or stay locked, providing different transmission ratios depending on which gear sets are spinning together.

Those clutches are held firm against the gearsets by solenoids (hydraulic pistons), which are activated by transmission fluid pressure. That fluid pressure is driven by a transmission fluid pump, which is driven by part of the transmission's input shaft.

The other end of that input shaft is attached to the torque convertor, which is bolted directly to the engine. When the engine turns, it rotates the torque convertor, which has fan blade shaped vanes facing each other inside. When the engine reaches the torque convertor's "stall speed" (the speed at which the tranny fluid causes those fan blades to move together due to hydraulic and viscous forces), the car moves forward under full power.

If you get coolant in your transmission, usually the first thing to go is the pump, because it has pressure on its bearings constantly, and the coolant makes the bearings and pump internals wear quickly. If the pump can't supply enough pressure to hold the clutches, thanks to lack of lubrication and coolant being a poor hydraulic fluid, the clutches start to slip. When the clutches start to slip, they wear out their friction material rapidly, and then the car doesn't hold itself in gear anymore, and the tranny fails to move you forward. If the fluid in the tranny comes out dirt brown after you flush the coolant out of it and take it for a drive, it's probably screwed.

But if the tranny still works, just change the fluid and get the rest of its life out of it.

***UPDATE***
The transmission oil cooler busted mixing the water and oil together.

Dude - that is so damn cool that your HG is ok. And SO rare. I've only seen that happen to 2 other cars in my 20 years of wrenching. Awesome for you!

contech...i know what your talkin about because I had ALREADY replaced my trans oil cooler once, but with a used part. And that whining noise you talk about is the same one my car was making. I am gonna tell my mechanic to find out a way to build that tranny stronger. Im sure there are components out there that are a little more heavy duty.

And yes to everyone that says the tranny isnt toast. Its off the car and the parts look horrendous. Gonna go and try to snap some pictures of everything today and show you guys the update.

shirke- Yes im glad the headgasket didnt go either, but hopefully it holds up for a little while. But i think the car is going to go up for sale after this fix. =( being in college and having to maintain are car like this gets VERY VERY expensive. I sold the M3 and picked up a e34 thinking that it would be easier to maintain. Apparently I made a wrong choice. But I love the car so much I dont know what I would do without her =/

The autotragic and the cooling system are the two "catastrophic" weak links on e34'N/As.

Swap to a manual, and the first is N/A.
Keep up with maintenance by replacing the waterpump and t stat in a timely fashion with the correct parts and the second becomes a non issue as well.

Hold on there. Just because you got coolant in any part of the tranny does NOT mean it's a death sentence.

An auto tranny works by engaging and disengaging clutches inside of it which grab onto different gear sets to make them spin or stay locked, providing different transmission ratios depending on which gear sets are spinning together.

Those clutches are held firm against the gearsets by solenoids (hydraulic pistons), which are activated by transmission fluid pressure. That fluid pressure is driven by a transmission fluid pump, which is driven by part of the transmission's input shaft.

The other end of that input shaft is attached to the torque convertor, which is bolted directly to the engine. When the engine turns, it rotates the torque convertor, which has fan blade shaped vanes facing each other inside. When the engine reaches the torque convertor's "stall speed" (the speed at which the tranny fluid causes those fan blades to move together due to hydraulic and viscous forces), the car moves forward under full power.

If you get coolant in your transmission, usually the first thing to go is the pump, because it has pressure on its bearings constantly, and the coolant makes the bearings and pump internals wear quickly. If the pump can't supply enough pressure to hold the clutches, thanks to lack of lubrication and coolant being a poor hydraulic fluid, the clutches start to slip. When the clutches start to slip, they wear out their friction material rapidly, and then the car doesn't hold itself in gear anymore, and the tranny fails to move you forward. If the fluid in the tranny comes out dirt brown after you flush the coolant out of it and take it for a drive, it's probably screwed.

But if the tranny still works, just change the fluid and get the rest of its life out of it.


+1 for someone else that knows what he's talking about.