[Avex]

Hey guys, sorry to pick your brains, but another cry for help troubleshooting my car...

Had a big scare this arvo when the orange cogwheel came up on my dashboard along with CCC warning of a Transmission Fault..

I was driving at 60kmh so I couldn't really tell if car loss power or if any gears were compromised when this warning popped up, but i turned into the nearest car lot immediately and restarted the engine and all was back to normal.

I googled and one of the things I found was sudden driving style changes may agitate the ECU to throw up this errors. I did just that, I was driving very spiritedly (almost always in DS mode) since I've gotten the car but swapped to drive in D mode only for fuel efficiency and the revs never went pass 3k rpm this arvo. There's even a method0 to 'Reset the tranny' posted on a few forums, but some think it's a BS diagnosis and fix.

Any idea what else can cause this? And is this a sign of any major problems if it's only come up randomly once?

[/335]

I wouldn't worry about it unless it comes up again. I had the same thing happen and I restarted the car and have seen nothing since. That was a few months back.

Did you get any codes?

[Avex]

i didn't run torque when it happened, only after i did the engine restart, no errors showing after.

[Avex]

So this error popped not once but twice in a span of 15mins today. I'm starting to get the bmw >100k kms jitters.....

I ran torque this time with the error still on the dash but it's still not showing any errors. A restart solved the problem.

I only realise this problem came up after I started to drive extensively in D. And switching up driving modes back and forth from D to DS a lot since I usually take off from the traffic light or taking over in DS mode then switch to D shortly after when I cruise.

I'm going to trickle charge the car again tonight to make sure it isn't a battery problem, but otherwise, I'm starting to feel nervous abt these fault haunting me over the past 2 weeks.

I've contacted my local mechanic, but like to hear opinions from the e90 fellas on here.

[JASE335]

I owned a E90 325 many years ago and from memory had a similar problem. For my car it was a broken wire under the shift boot. The wires are very thin and with moving the shifter into DS and M they can break. Simple inexpensive fix, link below.

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=808056

[Avex]

thanks appreciate the troubleshooting and suggestion for a fix.

i think my problem is somewhat different, i can switch between modes no problem, i just have that transmission fault error pop up intermittently when in drive mode.

what i'll be doing to narrow down the problem is perhaps drive only in DS after my next refuel and see if this error still comes up and perhaps do the adaptive memory peddle reset on both these experiments.

[Avex]

Bumping this thread back up again to see if anyone has some enlightening advice to give.

This error seems to only come up after driving my car after a prolonged period of time, ~ 45mins and up. I think it may be a heat related issue. This happened again in the same area I drove my car to last time which was a 1 hour drive north of where I live so I think that’s a correlation I shouldn’t ignore.

I sent it to the mechanics and ive been told there’s nothing wrong with the transmission as far as their diagnostic testing went but won’t know for sure until they open the car up.

They’re recommending a transmission pan and fluid change since its due anyway and possibly changing the mechatronics seal while they’re at it. I’ve been quoted $620 cash for parts/fluid/labour. Is that fair and would this likely make the problem go away?

[vtl]

Without error codes we are going to have a hard time guessing what the issue is.

Car needs to be scanned with INPA or ISTA to get the fault codes. A generic code reader won't tell you much.

[Avex]

Hi thanks for replying so quickly vtl.

You’re right my OBD adaptor isn’t showing any errors. But the car has been in service and I would assume they have INPA as the guy tells me the gearbox is fine but had some slip differential? Issues but nothing too severe.

Maybe I should invest in some INPA equipment for future diagnosis.

Is $620 a fair and reasonable price to pay for a brand new transmission pan and fluid though?

[kenny23]

don't think you'll get much more off that price to be honest, the difference in other places if you can find will probably be $20-$50 at best..

[vtl]

Originally Posted by Avex

Hi thanks for replying so quickly vtl.

You’re right my OBD adaptor isn’t showing any errors. But the car has been in service and I would assume they have INPA as the guy tells me the gearbox is fine but had some slip differential? Issues but nothing too severe.

Maybe I should invest in some INPA equipment for future diagnosis.

Is $620 a fair and reasonable price to pay for a brand new transmission pan and fluid though?

I wouldn't assume anything, most mechanics aren't that computer savy and usually use handheld tools which never shows as much information as the proper BMW software. DCAN cable costs $25 and the software is available in the coding section on this forum for free.

For the autos you need a new pan (integrated filter) plus the ZF fluid is dang expensive:
https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...24152333907kt1

So yeah $620 sounds about right

[Avex]

Thanks everyone for your responses. Mucho appreciated.

Just bought a DCAN cable off ebay too.

[Grohouse]

Keep us posted. Workmate may be having similar issues.

I know this can be verified with realOEM, but out of curiosity do all e92's have the ZF transmission?

[aaron_]

Originally Posted by Grohouse

Keep us posted. Workmate may be having similar issues.

I know this can be verified with realOEM, but out of curiosity do all e92's have the ZF transmission?

No, either dct or zf. all 2010+ are dct. changed from a certain month in 09 (not sure which month in 09 dct n54's came out)

[CYL]

Originally Posted by Avex

Hi thanks for replying so quickly vtl.

You’re right my OBD adaptor isn’t showing any errors. But the car has been in service and I would assume they have INPA as the guy tells me the gearbox is fine but had some slip differential? Issues but nothing too severe.

Maybe I should invest in some INPA equipment for future diagnosis.

Is $620 a fair and reasonable price to pay for a brand new transmission pan and fluid though?

May I ask where did you get the quote from?
I am in Perth as well and thinking if my transmission pan and fluid are due to change too.
Car has 90k on the clock.
I have read online that the mechatronic seals have to be replaced at certain Ks as a maintenance service.

[CYL]

Originally Posted by vtl

I wouldn't assume anything, most mechanics aren't that computer savy and usually use handheld tools which never shows as much information as the proper BMW software. DCAN cable costs $25 and the software is available in the coding section on this forum for free.

For the autos you need a new pan (integrated filter) plus the ZF fluid is dang expensive:
https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...24152333907kt1

So yeah $620 sounds about right

Just want to check if the kit from the link only fits 6HP19 or can also be used for the 6HP21?
Our N54 335i is 6HP21 gearbox.

[Avex]

Originally Posted by CYL

May I ask where did you get the quote from?
I am in Perth as well and thinking if my transmission pan and fluid are due to change too.
Car has 90k on the clock.
I have read online that the mechatronic seals have to be replaced at certain Ks as a maintenance service.

found the same reading materials too.

I visit german auto service in jandakot. just got the service done today and aforementioned seals and adapter, along with pan and fluid were replaced/changed. after a 20min ride, the fault came up again , immediately gave the shop a ring and am bringing the car back tomorrow morning to have the error codes checked out.

i've since got bmw tools and ncsexpert setup on my laptop so i can clue myself in and diagnose these errors myself to some extent.

[Avex]

Update: same error came up, mech didn’t get the exact code but like previous times it was to do with a 5-4 downshift slip differential issue.

Could explain why I never get that problem in DS mode because it only ever frequents 4th gear.

Regardless, the transmission service was begging to be done anyway, but seems like getting rid of this problem entirely may involve a tranny rebuild which will cost me even more $$...

This is the kinda problems that don’t seem come up even when a pre inspection was done…

[kenny23]

A pre inspection can only catch so much..

these kind of things can not exist there one day and suddenly come up the following day, so its no one's fault to be honest.

it's a car, it has 100K+, you expect things to come up here there and everywhere.

Only way around it is to pay a premium to buy from a dealer and get extended warranty.

End of the day I always say, if you still get the enjoyment from driving the car everytime, then it's worth fixing and keeping

[Grohouse]

I would also replace the diff oil. Very easy DIY job. I changed mine about a fortnight ago (@70,000kms) and could not believe the colour. I had harsh gear changes. Look at the crap that came out of her . My previous owner enjoyed driving in DS mode.

[ash335]

Originally Posted by Grohouse

I would also replace the diff oil. Very easy DIY job. I changed mine about a fortnight ago (@70,000kms) and could not believe the colour. I had harsh gear changes. Look at the crap that came out of her . My previous owner enjoyed driving in DS mode.

Hey, cool, what DIY guide did you use?
Mind sharing a link... or posting a guide.
Would love to do this too.

[Avex]

Can't say I noticed harsh gear changes. But somewhat feel like these things should've been considered by the workshop that serviced my transmission. Error codes thrown due to slip differentials, would changing the differential oil have been the logical fix to the problem?