Ok so I read the post on the fellow who's tranny wouldn't go into reverse anymore. Well I did the search on trans failing and it lead to several links of hundreds maybe even thousands of fellow drivers of our e46's with GM trannies that seem to just fail. It truly blows my mind no one has started a class action lawsuit against BMWNA. I know after the 6k I just dropped into my car for repairs and mods that I would be about devasted if my tranny failed tomorrow and I had no choice but to pay 5-7k to a BMW for a new one.

I really wonder why no one has contacted the BBB, Car and Driver, Road & Track to get more attention to this issue of the GM Trannies in our Auto E46's. Its almost like those of us on here that dont have problems with our tranny are also avoiding this issue hoping the tranny god doesnt stop at our houses tonight.

In the end I guess I really hope BMWNA owns up to these faulty GM trannies and recalls it. Or atleast sends out a Bulletin to its Stealerships to fix any problems of this issue at no cost to the owner. That is probably the only way BMWNA can save its future buyers and current owners from jumping ship. For those of you whom dont know what I am talking about just google "BMW Tranny Failure" for dozens of websites, with thousands of consumers who are/have dealt with this issue.

i think because its about 10% that fail. and only those 10% are on the forum whom complain about their trannies.

so i've read.

From what I have read they all go at some point. But I read most often that the no reverse issues is with the ZF transmission...check out this thread where one was pulled apart:

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?referrerid=50100&t=468165

i think because its about 10% that fail. and only those 10% are on the forum whom complain about their trannies.

so i've read.
so you are saying that is okay when i pay 15 gran for a car and after not even 2 month i have to replace the trans on it???

2001 bmw e46 325ci with 74,000 miles on it need a trans already?? what the hek?

i will never buy a newer bmw ever again. i have owned bmw e21 and some e30 and e23 all my life, never had a trans issue at all .
i have owen a lot and a lot of mercedes.
my 1995 s500. 330,000 miles on it and the car was running awsome.
my 2000 s500 with 220,000 miles it. no problem what so ever.

and now that what i get from bying a bmw....

and that what the dealer said....
(oh, no. that is not a problem. only $165 for one hour inspection, it might take a little more. don't know how much it will cost....we have to look at the car first, we never have any bmw trans problem before...)

and yes, one more thing. a bmw e30 with 325 engine in it can beat an e46 with the same engine like he is not even trying to race...and that is what i don't get..

im not saying that. its just trannies they are so delicate.

sorry for your tranny i just hope mine doesnt go out. But if it does im converting it to a manual.

im not saying that. its just trannies they are so delicate.

sorry for your tranny i just hope mine doesnt go out. But if it does im converting it to a manual.

i found a guy will give me the hole manual trans with everething i need to put on the car plus some kind of program for less then a gran...is that good.
and if you look on ebey they have trans for these cars for like $1250
i donno what to do..i just don't want the car anymore. i just put 1100 brand new tires on it, and $100 to have it details and cleaned from the inside.

The sad fact is that ALL automatic transmission will eventually fail. It is just a question of when. It is a normal wear and tear item just like a clutch.

Unfortunately, automatic transmissions used in BMW's tend to take more of a beating than they would in other cars. Add to that the fact that BMW is STUPID enough to have their "lifetime" fill of fluid or their "no service" required crap. Without fluid changes, the life of an automatic tranny goes from 200k miles down to 70k-125k miles. Mike Miller who writes for Roundel magazine complains about this problem all the time.

I had a 1994 E32 740iL and its automatic tranny started to die at 75k miles and was fully toast by 85k miles. That tranny was the first with the new "lifetime" fill policy that later got changed to 100k mile fluid change. It was the first in a series of poor decisions on BMW's part.

If you are going to own a powerful, light weight sports car, don't buy it with an automatic. If you MUST have an automatic, then you have to accept the fact that the transmission is going to fail and budget for it. It is that simple.

I wonder if the software update for the slow gear engagement accelerates the problem. The software update increses valve body fluid pressure through the solenoids to speed up gear engagement.

my car will go in reverse in realy low speed.less then 5 mph. if you press the gass, don't matter how hard. it will still keep mooving realy slow. no noise or anything not before or after. so you think it might be a softwear?? does it worth it taking it to the dealer? or they are gonna lie to take the big money? how can i know what is the problem?

Ok not disaggreeing that all trannies go in time. But i want to show yea the math. Lets say this e46 with auto GM tranny was sold at a pace of 60,000 units per year for 4 years( which i am sure this is a low ball estimate i have read before that they sold like 100,000+ units a year). And 10 % of that 60,000 failed a year. That would be 24,000 cars that BMWNA sold with faulty trannies. Now say its not the trannies but the airbags deployment system. Thats alot of dead consumers due to a design failure on the part of GM. And BMWNA knows about this, apparently they hear this all the time.

Why wouldnt one think they would save face, and future sales by making the design fault their problem instead of the tens of thousands consumers whom trusted the car. What if 1% of these trannies failed at highway speeds and caused fatalaties.

Now i know i am speculating quite a bit here, but this to me sounds like a load of you know what.

I wonder if the software update for the slow gear engagement accelerates the problem. The software update increses valve body fluid pressure through the solenoids to speed up gear engagement.
That would actually help to slow down the inevitable wear. It is the same thing as not riding your clutch in a manual transmission car. The smoother and longer the shifts, the more wear you get in the clutches and the more crud you get in the fluid. The shorter the shifts the better... for the most part.

Ok not disaggreeing that all trannies go in time. But i want to show yea the math. Lets say this e46 with auto GM tranny was sold at a pace of 60,000 units per year for 4 years( which i am sure this is a low ball estimate i have read before that they sold like 100,000+ units a year). And 10 % of that 60,000 failed a year. That would be 24,000 cars that BMWNA sold with faulty trannies. Now say its not the trannies but the airbags deployment system. Thats alot of dead consumers due to a design failure on the part of GM. And BMWNA knows about this, apparently they hear this all the time.

Why wouldnt one think they would save face, and future sales by making the design fault their problem instead of the tens of thousands consumers whom trusted the car. What if 1% of these trannies failed at highway speeds and caused fatalaties.

Now i know i am speculating quite a bit here, but this to me sounds like a load of you know what.

You are making two mistakes in your thinking.
1) That a failed transmission is equivalent to a failed safety device that could cause your death. A transmission failure at highway speeds might happen. But that would be extremely rare and if it did happen 1% of the time or more, you can guarantee that the NTSB would be involved and there would be a recall. These transmissions don't fail that way. They generally just wear out or get clogged up with their own wastes.

2) That an automatic transmission is a device that should work for 200k plus miles is like asking for brake pads that last for 200K plus miles or a clutch plate that does the same thing. You are thinking that the transmission failure is a fault. It is not (at least in BMW's mind). Automatic transmissions wear out... period.
BMW's policy of not changing the fluid will speed up the demise of the transmission but they don't care because 99% of the time, the car will be out of warranty by that point (and I think this is the real crime here). They simply don't care about those of us who buy used BMW's out of warranty. They want us buying new cars. It is a sad fact. I think it is a mistake on their part because if there is no market for used BMWs because of issues like this, then there will be a much smaller market for their new cars. But what do I know?

Having said all of that, there are design flaws that should be fixed. The reverse failure problem like here seems to be fairly common. It could because if a design flaw. It would be nice if BMW addressed these things and they probably have... in newer cars. My E32 had a valve body problem that required a rebuild kit. BMW did a lot of these repairs on cars under warranty. But, the few that made it through without failing were just left out there. They all failed sooner or later because of this. The good news was it wasn't that expensive to get done, and once fixed, the transmission would be fine.

I dont agree with that at all. Lets say a Home builder or Heater Manufacturer had 10% of their said product suffer what appears to be 35-60% value of that product suffer catatrophic failure within 2-5 years of it being built.

10% is a uncanny number and i know in my profession if i messed up 10% of the time i would be outta work.

Simple fact of the matter is as e46 owners whether auto or manny we need to stick together on this issue. Only then will the manufacturer own up to their inadequate product and make it right.

Have you googled it...

I just got my car back today...Mine has the German transmission...Lost reverse. I had a small independent shop rebuild it....$2800.00.