1999 E39 Transmission question

I just bought a 1999 528i that is in emaculate shape.

It has 46,000 miles on it. It literally was owned the "a lady who only drove it to church."

I already have a 2000 528i with 185,000 miles and bought the 99 with plans to sell the 2000.

I noticed the 2000 shifts a lot smoother than the 99. The part that is the most noticeable is going from 2nd to 3rd gear. The transmission is not slipping or anything but in my opinion it's shifting "hard."

Any comments on this?

Today at lunch I stopped by the local transmission shop and the mechanic took it out for a test drive. The computer is not picking up any codes and he stated that it "shifts like a honda." but he feels nothing wrong with it.

He said if I was that worried about it I should take it to the BMW dealership. Well, we all know they won't test drive it and give an opinion for free, huh?

does anyone have any experience with the 99's and do you think I'm being too picky? It just doesn't shift like I would expect a $50,000 car should, and especially since my 2000 feels so much nicer.

JB

PS, the Transmission guy said that becuase the car was sitting for a couple of years I might want to have them change the fluid and filter. Should I?

Reply to
JB
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Do you know what make box it has? My '97 528 has a ZF Steptronic 5 speed which is fine - apart from a very occasional hard shift from 1-2 at low speed when cold.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

Most certainly. Excellent advice.

Reply to
John Burns

In Xdrive models manuals there's a transmission reset procedure that has been reported to work in many other models.

It consists in turning the key to running position without starting the engine and then push the accelerator to the floor and hold it for about 30 seconds.

A faint sound it's supposed to be heard while the transmission resets.

Reply to
Yuki

The E39 528 ONLY carries the GM 5L40E transmission. Other models of the E39 carry other transmissions, but the 528 got the GM5 from first production to the end of production.

This tranmission has problems, but they are not fatal, and generally can be cleaned up with a fluid change. One of the problems that this trans will give is that it will randomly refuse to shift into R. It will sometimes accept the gear selection and other times not. This is caused by dirty screens and maybe a defective solenoid, called a TCC/PWM solenoid. The solenoid costs $85-ish for the part plus some other parts that are routinely replaced with a transmission flush -- other screens and gaskets, and stuff like that.

The fluid is SUPPOSED to be "lieftime fluid" that never needs replacing, but this turns out to be a pipe dream. Change the fluid.

Having said that, the 1st to 2nd shift is a bit on the harsh side for my liking too. I haven't noticed the 2nd to 3rd shift so much. Your 2000 and the 1999 should have the same transmission, so they ought to behave the same way. Shifting smoothness is a function of the fluid, so changing fluid should resolve most of the issues.

Reply to
Jeff Strickland

Rubbish.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

Yes. It's probably way, overdue for a fluid change. Change the thing with Red Line or Royal Purple or whatever high grade synthetic your personal religion is.

While you're at it, you'd better change the brake fluid, the coolant, and the differential fluid since those are probably way overdue also. And power steering fluid.

If it were me, I'd change out all the fuel hoses and radiator hoses and belts too.

He's probably about right. Also note that when the brake fluid gets old and gunked up, the clutch won't feel quite right and that can make the thing feel screwy too. That's another reason to change the brake fluid in the process.

You've got yourself a mountain of deferred maintenance under the hood, so you should not expect it to act like a $50,000 car. Do some fluid changes and check the condition of every rubber part under the hood, and I think you may find it behaves a bit better.

There's no filter on the manual, the fluid change is a ten-minute job. You can do it yourself in the driveway. Do not forget the differential!

--scott

Reply to
Scott Dorsey

Say w2hat you want, but I did loads of research when I bought an E46 323 two weeks ago and found that there are two transmissions used on that car, depending on the production date. The 328 and 528 (E46 and E39) all got the same automatic transmission throughout the production run. Other

Sorry, I said they only got the GM 5L40E, I ignored the possibility that they may carry a manual transmission, and I ignored the possibility that the car may have been destined for a different delivery port than the USA. Assuming an automatic transmission and US delivery, all E39 528s and E46

328s only have the GM 5L40E.

I did make a mistake though, the E39 528i and iT carried the GM THM-R1 from first production until Aug. 99, where it carried the GM5L40E from Sep. 99 to the end of its production run. I have no information of any problems with the THM-R1.

The main complaint that I can find with the automatic transmissions from this vintage is the refusal to select Reverse. The GM5 has a problem where the screens get clogged and the fluid gets burned causing tarnish to make some of the solenoids sticky, which leads to random poor operation of Reverse -- Reverse might work fine one time you select it, and not work at all the next, then work again later on in the same drive cycle. The other automatic transmission used in the other E46 and E39 cars is the ZF 5HP19. This transmission has a clutch drum that breaks apart, causing a complete and total failure of Reverse - once the drum breaks Reverse will never work again and the transmission must be rebuilt or replaced, which as far as I can tell costs about the same..

Reply to
Jeff Strickland

I wish I knew more about transmissions, but I don't. The fluid guide for the THM-R1 says to use Dexron III / Mercon, but the GM 5L40E fluid guide says to use only Texico ETL 7045, or a specific BMW part number. The THM transmission fluid is _NOT_ shown as a "lifetime" fluid, whereas the 5L40E fluid is indicated as "lifetime."

I was once a believer in the engineer's recommendations, but my "lifetime fluid" experience gives me pause on that. I found that the lifetime is defined as the life of the fluid, not the life of the mechanical workings. One can extend the life of the workings if the fluid is kept fresh.

I don't know what the impact would be of replacing the fluid with a different fluid -- switching to your favorite brand of synthetic for instance. I was lead to believe that it's damn near impossible to get all of the fluid out of the transmission and torque converter, which makes me wonder if the remaining old fluid would contaminate the new synthetic fluid one was switching to.

Reply to
Jeff Strickland

There is no such thing as a lifetime fluid. I don't care WHAT GM says or what BMW says. They just want to sell you a new car when yours fails.

Yes, when you do a fluid change, you only change about half the fluid in the system, if it's an automatic transmission. This means that whatever fluid you use needs to meet the BMW specs and it needs to be compatible with the original materials. That's why I recommended the Red Line and Royal Purple fluids, both of which are certified to meet the BMW specs.

There are others out there, too.

I was under the impression that the original poster had a manual, though, and with a manual things are a little different in that the stuff is not being used as a working fluid, just for lubrication. So the characteristics that are important are different ones. Again, Red Line and Royal Purple make fluids that meet the BMW specs, but the good news is that it's a whole lot easier to flush everything out and there's no torque converter to hold fluid in.

Rough shifting into second and third on the manual can also be caused by linkage alignment issues and the linkages possibly needing lubrication. Still, it's more than time to change the fluid and I'd do that first.

--scott

Reply to
Scott Dorsey

I get that. My point was that the THM transmission does not claim to be lifetime, and therefore should have a published fluid change interval in the Owner's Manual. The GM 5L40E claims that it is lifetime fluid, and the Owner's Manual states this plainly. I don't happen to agree with the claim of "lifetime," anymore because of the experience I had with one car.

I was thinking he has an automatic because he just bought, or was still considering the purchase, the car from an old lady that only drove to the grocery store. Certainly there are old ladies out there that are adept at the workings of the extra pedal and the near constant manuvering of the lever, but most 5 Series cars in the States are automatics so the old lady on her way to fill the fridge can slip the lever into D and forget about it. I don't think I have ever seen a 5 Series with a stick shift. Sure there might be some, but I don't recall seeing one. Well, the exception being the M5, where I would expect more sticks that automatics, but I haven't looked all that closely to say one way or the other.

Reply to
Jeff Strickland

You're again looking at it from only a US perspective. Just why BMW chose to fit the inferior GM box in the US, I've no idea. Luckily not in Europe where we got the ZF. And a 5 speed from the start - not the four as used on early US cars. Indeed some versions of the previous E34 had the ZF 5 speed from about '92.

The 5HP19 seems to be generally pretty reliable based on the low prices secondhand ones fetch.

As a matter of interest, do you know if the 5L40E has a removable bellhousing?

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

Never heard the term 'rough shifting' applied to a manual. The OP also mentions 'not slipping' which suggests to me it's an auto.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

The ZF has a fatal error that requires replacement or a rebuild. The "inferior" (as you call it) GM 5L40E has a solenoid that gets a glogged screen, which can be repaired by pulling the trans pan and replacing a simple component. I'll take the inferior transmission given the expense of the better one.

No, I don't know. But the ZF has an exploding clutch drum that renders the unit unserviceable, and the complaint rate seems to be pretty high.

Reply to
Jeff Strickland

So you say. But I'd guess neither of these faults happen to all. Like all such things. With the millions in use it's easy to get a possible fault out of proportion.

As I said if the ZF box had this as a common problem, the price of good secondhand units would be high. But it's not.

My previous E34 with a 5HP19 was sold with over 160,000 miles - and the box still fine.

GM at one time long ago made the finest auto transmissions. For good reason others like Rolls Royce and Jaguar etc used them. But no more.

IMHO, 5 speeds are the minimum needed for a medium engined car. Like a

528. Took GM almost a decade to catch up with ZF.
Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

I'm glad my 323 has the GM 5L40E. Too many scary reports of the ZF breaking.

Reply to
dizzy

Flush the fluid.

The GM5 will randomly decide to not go into Reverse when the fluid gets dirty/old.

Reply to
Jeff Strickland

Check Ebay for what a secondhand 5HP18 makes. If those 'scary reports' were true, they'd be in great demand.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

I don't know that's true... Buying a used tranny with known "issues" would not appeal, to many of us...

Reply to
dizzy

Did it at 90k miles.

Reply to
dizzy

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