[AustinTXBMW]

Good afternoon. First post here and wanted to see if any other owners have experienced anything quite like what just happened to me and my 2016 535i with only 27k miles on it (garage kept, very light usage).

A few weeks ago, I accelerated from a stop sign, took a left, and felt the car go “dead” – like it went to neutral but was unable to get back into gear. Fortunately, was able to glide off the road into a parking lot. The symbol “Drivetrain Malfunction” appeared and would not go away after a few attempts to restart. The car never regained the ability to get into any gear.
Had it towed to my local BMW expert in town, who said he’d never seen anything like it and that the transmission needed replacing. No external signs of anything gone wrong. Took it back to the dealer, who was skeptical at that assessment, but after review, came to the same conclusion. As (un)luck would have it, my warranty expired in March 2020 and this was the first time I did not purchase the extended warranty. I’ve been quoted between $11-$13k for new transmission, $5k for used.

I’m at a loss. BMW corporate offered 20% discount on the transmission, but wasn’t very helpful. I loved the car, and the brand, and just converted our SUV from a Jeep GC to the new X7. I’m no car expert, but just wanted to see if anything had any experience with early transmissions failures and if there is anything else I should look into.

Thanks for any replies.

[beegeezy]

What did they say was wrong? A transmission just doesn't fail without any symptoms, unless it was a sudden electrical or hydraulic fault. Even then, it should be able to be repaired.

And with such low miles and just out of warranty, I would push BMW NA for a goodwill repair.

[JDMSteven]

Man that sucks I don't see too many trans issues in here, I know there's many 535i's with over 150k and all good

[beegeezy]

Also, look at https://www.car-part.com/ I'm seeing numerous options for used transmissions around $1000. So, labor is $4000?! I think you're getting scammed.

[OnlyGerman]

Originally Posted by JDMSteven

Man that sucks I don't see too many trans issues in here, I know there's many 535i's with over 150k and all good

For sure. The trans in these cars are "pretty" solid, much better than in the E60. This is definitely a very strange failure.

[Pierre Louis]

My Mercedes E-class had a defect that would put the transmission into "safety mode" and stranded my wife, which made her want a new car. The car had a lot of miles but the mechanic who bought it off me eventually found a damaged sensor inside the transmission. May have been caused, IMO, by "flooding" damaging the electronics. Just a thought.

[AustinTXBMW]

Thanks all for the replies. Unfortunately, the answers I got from the expert mechanic and from the dealer service department was simply a transmission failure. They don't know exactly why, and "they've never seen anything like it."

There weren't any symptoms, it just literally went "dead" on me and when I put it into park on the side of the road, it never was able to get back into gear.

Will push BMW NA for help. The dealer said they pushed the issue with BMW, but sounds like I need to try myself. Any tips on how to get through the most effective way to BMW NA?

If it needs replaced, pushing for a better deal on the used transmission seems like the best bet.

[OnlyGerman]

Originally Posted by AustinTXBMW

Thanks all for the replies. Unfortunately, the answers I got from the expert mechanic and from the dealer service department was simply a transmission failure. They don't know exactly why, and "they've never seen anything like it."

There weren't any symptoms, it just literally went "dead" on me and when I put it into park on the side of the road, it never was able to get back into gear.

Will push BMW NA for help. The dealer said they pushed the issue with BMW, but sounds like I need to try myself. Any tips on how to get through the most effective way to BMW NA?

If it needs replaced, pushing for a better deal on the used transmission seems like the best bet.

BMWNA contribution should be more given low miles, and recently out of warranty. I would call directly to plead your case.

[Nickco43]

Something does not add up here.

[philipm785]

Definitely worth escalating with BMW yourself. Especially with the new X7 purchase. You may also want to look into / point out the impact of COVID the past few months which has resulted in many companies (Including, I thought, BMW) extending warranty and service periods by a few months.

[Trainwreck914]

That's bs. You should have the codes read to see what exactly went wrong. The zf8 transmission is a dime a dozen out there. Used in numerous manufacturers. And has been pretty solid. Just FYI. BMW dealers will never repair a transmission. It's always replace with them. I'm sure it's something stupid. And probably a minor fix. Try to find a reputable transmission shop near you and get their opinion.

[Surly73]

I would see if you can find an experienced ZF shop - I believe ZF themselves have a list they can recommend. BMW dealers and most other mechanics replace it as a unit. A ZF-qualified shop will know how they actually work.

Major cities should have at least one.

Your low miles and recent warranty might get somewhere with BMW too. BUT If you paid a good ZF shop, say $400, out of pocket and whatever it was was perfectly repaired, I would PERSONALLY take that over having a BMW dealer replace the transmission with another unit for free. "Warranty work" does not get the best technicians. These guys can cause collateral damage and other problems all over the place.

[JackMikk]

Start from simple and watch the fuses.

[chipguy]

I agree. Most likely something is wrong with electronics or hydraulics. Need to find a ZF expert to look into this.

[ramman434]

Geez, I'm hoping you get this worked out man. I just hit 68k on my '16 and haven't had any issues with it *knock on wood*. I bought mine with a little 61k 10 months ago.

[AustinTXBMW]

Hey guys - just wanted to provide an update to my transmission dilemma. I appreciate everyone's feedback and suggestions.

Short story. My 2016 transmission failed at 27k miles...3 months after the factory warranty expired. Both a top independent shop and the dealer said there was a mechanical failure inside the transmission and it needed replaced. The independent quoted me $11k, and the dealer originally quoted $13k for a brand new transmission. Was able to negotiate the dealer down to $8.5k given the situation. From what I was understand, the dealer was giving the discount more so than corporate BMW, or so they say.

At this point, based on feedback from this board, I took it to a transmission specialist who has experience with these ZF transmissions. I wanted someone to take a deeper dive, not just superficially run the diagnostics and tell me it needs replaced. He did, but unfortunately he came to the same conclusion. The electronics were fine, the mechatronic was fine. However, there were clear signs of metal debris when examined meaning something, don't know what, had come apart. At that, it made the most sense to replace. That cost about $200, but gave me confidence that yes there was a real problem, not just electronics.

Fortunately, through the transmission specialist's sourcing network, he was able to locate a "used" transmission with only 10 miles on it. Effectively new. Parts and labor for $4100. Ended up needing a programming specialist to re-code the TCM which was another $400 (BMW dealer said it was "impossible to recode a used transmission)". All in, nearly a third of what BMW originally wanted and half of their discounted rate.

Car now drives great. Still PO'd about the experience, but just happy to have the car back. Everyone I spoke with said they'd never seen anything like it with such low mileage - the exact cause will remain a mystery.

Key takeaway here - flukes can happen, and when it does with a transmission, take it to a true specialist as opposed to the dealer.

[mediocrechris]

Austin, thank you for updating your thread. It sucks that you had a problem with such a low mileage car, but I'm glad you were able to get it fixed.

Did you ever try personally calling BMW NA about it? Sometimes people have a lot of luck by calling BMW personally.

[rkstar9]

Originally Posted by mediocrechris

Austin, thank you for updating your thread. It sucks that you had a problem with such a low mileage car, but I'm glad you were able to get it fixed.

Did you ever try personally calling BMW NA about it? Sometimes people have a lot of luck by calling BMW personally.

Thanks for the update. sounds like a very rare ocurrence. Shit happens.

[AustinTXBMW]

Originally Posted by mediocrechris

Austin, thank you for updating your thread. It sucks that you had a problem with such a low mileage car, but I'm glad you were able to get it fixed.

Did you ever try personally calling BMW NA about it? Sometimes people have a lot of luck by calling BMW personally.

I didn't ever get in touch with BMW personally. If I didn't have luck with the specialist - who basically was able to get me a new transmission for a half the dealer discounted price and almost a third of the normal price - I would have gone back to corporate. Even if corporate did move, it would a) take time and headache and b) probably still not be competitive.

In hindsight, with something as strange as this, wish I had gotten in touch with corporate as a first step. Add that to the lessons learned.

[ComprehensiveBoss189]

Stuff of nightmares here.

[Cvx5832]

Originally Posted by AustinTXBMW

Hey guys - just wanted to provide an update to my transmission dilemma. I appreciate everyone's feedback and suggestions.

Short story. My 2016 transmission failed at 27k miles...3 months after the factory warranty expired. Both a top independent shop and the dealer said there was a mechanical failure inside the transmission and it needed replaced. The independent quoted me $11k, and the dealer originally quoted $13k for a brand new transmission. Was able to negotiate the dealer down to $8.5k given the situation. From what I was understand, the dealer was giving the discount more so than corporate BMW, or so they say.

At this point, based on feedback from this board, I took it to a transmission specialist who has experience with these ZF transmissions. I wanted someone to take a deeper dive, not just superficially run the diagnostics and tell me it needs replaced. He did, but unfortunately he came to the same conclusion. The electronics were fine, the mechatronic was fine. However, there were clear signs of metal debris when examined meaning something, don't know what, had come apart. At that, it made the most sense to replace. That cost about $200, but gave me confidence that yes there was a real problem, not just electronics.

Fortunately, through the transmission specialist's sourcing network, he was able to locate a "used" transmission with only 10 miles on it. Effectively new. Parts and labor for $4100. Ended up needing a programming specialist to re-code the TCM which was another $400 (BMW dealer said it was "impossible to recode a used transmission)". All in, nearly a third of what BMW originally wanted and half of their discounted rate.

Car now drives great. Still PO'd about the experience, but just happy to have the car back. Everyone I spoke with said they'd never seen anything like it with such low mileage - the exact cause will remain a mystery.

Key takeaway here - flukes can happen, and when it does with a transmission, take it to a true specialist as opposed to the dealer.

Thanks for the update. With any luck this replacement transmission will be good for the next 200k+ miles.