i have an 01 525i and it has about 103k miles on it and its an automatic....

well last night i was getting some food at tacobell and i was going to back into a spot.. as i put the car in reverse im pressing the gas and the car isnt going anywhere the engines is just revving... so i figured maybe i had it in neutral but no.... the car wont reverse... i didnt hear anything break... there havnt been transmisson problems leading up to this... in a matter of a second it just broke.

anyone know what this could be.. is it expensive to fix.....

Did you also lose one or more forward gears?

there really isnt any problem driving forward maybe a feeling of lost power.... and another thing i can think of is when im downshifting trough the gears comming to a stop using the steptronic ... 2nd to first theres a huge lag... downshifting from 2nd to first the rpms drop all the way as if in neutral and then it engages....

the biggest problem is the reverse... would low transmission fluid have anything to do with this? i just dont understand how id be losing tranny fluid

Loss of reverse is frequently the first symptom of a transmission failure. But there can be other causes of that. Have the car checked by a dealer or experienced BMW indie shop.

what kind of failure? i talked to my uncles who used to be a mechanic and said it could be an electrilcal problem with a sensor or something... cause there are no grinding noises or anything... hope its not going to be an expensive fix manual swap ftw

Internal failures could involve the valve body or a clutch pack. But the problem could be with the selector, wiring, or EGS. A BMW specialist will be able to determine where the problem is.

As an FYI, an auto to manual swap on this car will cost way more than what a reman transmission will cost. The car's electronics are the big issue.

if i do end up having to replace the transmision are there any upgrades to look for ... different gearing etc... im a noob when it comes to transmisions...

thanks for all the help guys

Do you have GM or ZF transmission? Have you ever changed the ATF?

Just bought '01 525i auto 2 weeks go with 107k on it. My built date is June '01. I have a ZF transmission. I am planing to change the fuild, filter and gasket in a few weeks.

Please let me know your situation. Thanks!

I would change oil, filter, gaskets and reverse shift solenoid.

Alpine aut junk yard on houston has plenty of transmissions on Hand. Hes a friend of my dads

hwo can i tell what transmission i gave whether is GM or ZF.... ill def keep you guys posted on what the deal is... i hope its not expensive because i got my whole suspension to change as well..

Im thinking its an electronic based problem and not physically the tranny. I think you should be fine but its still going to cost you duckets.

If your build date is 3/2001 and on, you have a ZF transmission. Otherwise, it's GM. Have you ever changed the ATF?

hwo can i tell what transmission i gave whether is GM or ZF.... ill def keep you guys posted on what the deal is... i hope its not expensive because i got my whole suspension to change as well..

I really want to know what is wrong with your tranny. Please let me know. Thanks!

im taking my car to M Spec a local Bmw indy shop tommorow... ill def keep you guys posted...

hopefully its an electrical problem and nothing big... i just find it weird that i havnt encountered any problems with the transmission that would have lead to its breakdown... i was simply backing my car into a spot and thats it...

well i havnt had time to take it to the shop yet with school and everything but i came across this article... it seems that the transmission failure of the car not going into reverse is pretty common problem....
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007/09/lemon_bmw.html

if its around 7 grand to fix and the car isnt worth that much cant i just total it? i hope its not as much

edit: complaints http://www.consumeraffairs.com/automotive/bmw_trans.html

it seems like its mostly a 3 series problem but it happened to me

In reading this, yes, the reverse is the symptom of tranny going. Sorry!
S/B about $4k to replace with a rebuild I believe..

What do you know, CPO warranty is out at 100k. Boy who could have figured... ;-{

My 540iT has 58K miles. I'm HOPING to get to 100k before I start driving through parking spaces so I can pull out without backing up!

This is so crappy for such expensive cars. I do know, the engineers know this when they design the tranny's. All they are shooting for is 100k life

you should see me trying to park, pull out of my drive way and lemme tell you getting gas is tricky.... anyway ill keep you guys updated on exactly what the problem is how much it cost and possibly some preventative maintenance ...

Damn bro ..sorry its rough ..i had to rebuild mine at 95k

cost around 2600 ..for the rebuild everything tranny wise was replaced ..all the electronics to the solinoids to the tc ...its its around that price range for you since you have a zf ....go for it ,,.but 4k .is too much !

the gm is much cheaper to fix

Damn bro ..sorry its rough ..i had to rebuild mine at 95k

cost around 2600 ..for the rebuild everything tranny wise was replaced ..all the electronics to the solinoids to the tc ...its its around that price range for you since you have a zf ....go for it ,,.but 4k .is too much !

the gm is much cheaper to fix

where did u get ur tranny rebuilt? has it given u problems since? so i should be looking to pay between 2500 to 3000 grand ...

where did u get ur tranny rebuilt? has it given u problems since? so i should be looking to pay between 2500 to 3000 grand ...

Alot of people would disagree with me but i took my car to Aamco ..i have heared very bad things about them and did some looking around But they are all indepentdant owned and there are some good ones ...they been in my neighborhood for over 25 years so they gotta be doing some thing right ???....what also drove me to go there is the fact thats ive acually seen 2 e39's there in the past and a couple other bimmers ...since i have the gm based tranny it shouldnt be hard to rebuild its a standard gm tranny also found in a izuki rodeo:confused ....and i must say im 7 months in and no problems ....no clunks when shifting gears from drive to park ...smooth but very firms shifts ..and seems very durable...if u wanna take my car around the block sometime you can see the work they do.

here was my problems
had the P0740- tcc malfunction
very hard shifting head jerky 2-3 2-1
lost 4th gear
grinding sounds when take off /and had no power in the pick up

fluid was burnt black thanks to that stupid lifetime crap where the op listened & never looked into

after 2600 spent :mad
assembly kit transtar
filter kit
dexron fluid
2 solenoid -shift control
1 solenoid -tcc
1 solenoid - electronic pressure control
and new torque converter

i know its alot of money and i wasnt happy doing this ...but i plan on having my car for a long time ..ive heared of people paying less & more than me ..so chose wisey when doing tranny work ....i know you have a zf trans which might be alittle more complicated than my gm just wanna share my story so u make the right choice .

where in li are u from ?

Good luck

Have you got your tranny rebuilt?

where did u get ur tranny rebuilt? has it given u problems since? so i should be looking to pay between 2500 to 3000 grand ...

hey guys no i havnt gotten it rebuilt yet im planning on taking the car to M Spec soon jsut with school and works its been hard to find some time... i did some research tho on my specific problem heres an article on exactly what cuases the no reverse problem....

http://www.articlesbase.com/cars-articles/bmw-no-reverse-transmission-problem-274672.html

not sure how expensive that is to replace and not sure if other parts have been damaged.... ill update as soon as i get it fixed...

hey guys no i havnt gotten it rebuilt yet im planning on taking the car to M Spec soon jsut with school and works its been hard to find some time... i did some research tho on my specific problem heres an article on exactly what cuases the no reverse problem....

http://www.articlesbase.com/cars-articles/bmw-no-reverse-transmission-problem-274672.html

not sure how expensive that is to replace and not sure if other parts have been damaged.... ill update as soon as i get it fixed...

If you wanna feel how my rebuilt tranny feels i'll be at M spec this coming sat ..you would have to come early morning tho ..since i will be doing suspension work

sell, buy 540i6

if my transmission ever dies, thats what im doing.

Any update???

You have a ZF5HP19 transmission in your car. these transmissions have a history of having this problem. A steel snap ring breaks the edge of the aluminum drum holding the reverse clutches. I work in a tranny shop, i've seen this problem many times. The solution is to take the tranny out, disassemble then replace the broken drum. Or replace the entire tranny.