Auto transmission question - BMW Forum

kamakazie2 · 01-06-2004, 11:39 PM

I have a question for all V8 Auto trans owners from 96-03

Have you had any transmission problems as far as torque converters going bad, or poor service form the dealer when it came to changing the tranny fluid?

Im doing some research about the ZF transmissions on the 740 and the A8

thanks

ZeekTheFlavorFreak · 01-21-2004, 07:43 PM

I own an A8 am I am not happy at all with the Transmission service issues. I just had to have my rebuilt for 4,000 and got it back today. The Audi dealer wanted 9,500 and told them to take a hike. The rebuilder had to send the sealed torque converter back to the mfg. and they had to rebuild it(torque converter). The rebuilder could rebuild everything else. I am also not happy they Audi does not recomend changing the fluid and the filter. I trusted them at the 60K and they did not do it.

Any suggestions?

ZeekTheFlavorFreak · 01-21-2004, 08:15 PM

By the way, I noticed on Audi forums that someone said BMW does recommend changing the fluid in the ZF at 60K. Is that true? Also, I sent my last message without checking it and had a few words/spelling issues. Oohps.

Audipages.com has a good write up on the transmission issue and what can occur if you don’t change the filter and fluid. I had the ‘thump’ issue and took it to the dealer. They told me it was not an issue and I could not reproduce it at will. A few months later the squeal started. Well, I should have researched it since the thump is the initial problem. Once the squeal starts then it all goes down hill from that. What is even worse about my problem was I reported the thump during the warrantee period. I later found out that I reported the problem two days after the, what I thought was, the warrantee period. However it had expired by two days and Audi would not have anything to do with replacing it for no cost or a cost reduction. They delayed providing me an answer for weeks so I finally took it and got it rebuilt. It runs great now.

Here is the link in case you are interested:

http://www.audipages.com/Tech_Articles/aut...ansmission.html

ZeekTheFlavorFreak · 01-22-2004, 05:40 AM

I am looking into legal action against Audi, or the dealer, in my case. Any information you have would be appreciated. I feel that I was ignored by the dealershop and Audi is ignoring this issue. Therefore, I intend to follow up on the issue. I had to get my auto back in service asap. Therefore, I simply decided to get it rebuilt outside of Audi since it appeared Audi was not going to hold to their end and it would have taken too long to perform legal action.

EXtech · 01-22-2004, 11:42 PM

This is always an ongoing issue in dealerships and in independent shops. BMW never recommended replacing the fluid as it was deemed "lifetime fluid". This is why it costs about 15-20$ per quart. I don't give a flyin $%^@ what someone calls a lubricant, it's not going to last (especially in a transmission) for the entire life of the car. So what I think they mean is that it will last the lifetime of the transmission which will be severely reduced because you never changed the fluid in it. However, the issue that I have run into and seen many times is that after the transmission fluid is changed, the trans takes a nose dive. This is usually because the fluid change is done at 70k, 80k and up. Personally, the key is to chang the fluid and filter at 30K intervals albeit an expensive maintenance cost. Shame on the dealer for not offering at least a price break. I would have ordered an Audi Regional Rep to the dealer and had a face to face.

kamakazie2 · 01-23-2004, 07:21 AM

I agree..Ex, My reason for posting here is because many of us A8 owners and i have a few 7 series owners who have had tremendous problems with the ZF 5Hp24 transmission. Audi seems to be aware of this flaw but the refuse to do anything about it. I was hoping someone had any luck with BMW. In my opinion i do no thting either manufactueres are responsable. I think it has to be taken up with ZF.

ZeekTheFlavorFreak · 01-23-2004, 05:50 PM

I wish I would have stayed at the dealer and lived there until they gave me an answer. It was xmas eve when I started realizing I was getting ignored. However, they gave me a rental until monday after xmas and that made me happy. Now, I understand why they did it.Then no answer until after the 1'st and I did not trust them so I pulled it. I hope other owners learn from these posts.

Easy to look back and say that now. Lesson learned and good idea. I hope I don't need it in the future.

Zeek(Mike)

ZeekTheFlavorFreak · 01-23-2004, 08:40 PM

Has anyone file a law suit on this Transmission Issue? I.E. lifetime fluid that only has a shelf life of 3 years and you never change the fluid in your transmission. Then at 60-80K the tranny dies and you are stuck with a huge bill and the import dealer and manufacturing distrubution system makes $.

I am not trying to be a hard nose here, but somthing smells in dodge city!

Let's face it. This is recall Material or plain negligence.

Please come forward it you are interested in helping me or you know anyone who has taken this past the boards and into the court room. I would be interested in both positive and negative outcomes for precedence.

Thank You.

Mike

oracleman · 02-11-2004, 03:03 PM

I just purchased a 2000 740i Sport w/ a few Dinan enhancements early last year.
The car now has 74,000 miles on it and my transmission does not go in reverse all of the sudden.

I took it to the dealership and they said the transmission was malfunctioning and it needs to be replaced. The cost for the transmission alone was $5,000.00 excluding labor!

The 740 had a 4 year 50,000mile warranty on the car which ended Feb. 2, 2004. The dealership said they cannot do anything about it and it was up to BMW customer service. I called BMW customer service and they turned me around as if I was selling life insurance to the individuals in the company. (They said the car was not under warranty)

What makes this hard to swallow is that the car has been maintained by a BMW dealership. I have all service records and Oil changes verifiable on the BMW service computers. So I did my part! This transmission should not be dying at 74,000 miles!!!!!! Even the BMW dealership says that is not a common problem.

Is this out of character or what?

This is my 2nd BMW I use to own an 95’ 840. I purchased the BMW again because of all the rave reviews, and because it was a sturdy vehicle and didnt think there would be any large repair cost as long as I did the services. “Go Figure!!”

Any advice? And no, I did not attempt to make any type of modifications on any component of the car.

The distraught,
William J.

ZeekTheFlavorFreak · 02-11-2004, 06:34 PM

oracleman,

Sorry to hear about your problem. 5k is not bad for a rebuilt. Most of the post at http://www.audiworld.com/forum/a8.html have been quoted about 10K including me.

If you search that site you will find some links to places you can purchase a rebuilt for about 4k, but installation is going to run you the 5K. I would not recommend taking it to aamco. If you must, get a rebuilt ZF transmission from the ZF group in the states. The A8 forums have documented where than can be done.

This transmission issue is a sore subject with me also. I still have not gotten mine resolved and are still investigating the issue. If you search the A8 forums you will see what has been identified lately. I also took great care of mine and thought I was doing the proper maintenance on the auto.

From what I can tell we probably have the same transmission or close to it. It appears ZF recommended 100K fluid change. Audi came back and marketed lifetime. No one cares after the warrantee and then we are stuck with the problem. By the way, do you work with or for Oracle Corp?

ZeekM

TonyD · 02-22-2004, 06:23 PM

Lifetime oil .......Special oil only available from BMW etc......in the UK the oil is made by Castrol and packaged in the same shape bottles, with the same closures and the same production codes as the standard Castrol ATF.

Its the same colour, in the same packaging, in the same bottle, made in the same factory, on the same day, with the same codes.......but BMW tells us its different .

If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, smells like a duck , swims like a duck.........I gotta tell you guys its a duck........

Cheers,

Tony