BMW 5 Series E60 - BMW e60 520d auto gearbox problem - roybad

Hi everyone -

I have a problem with my e60 80k miles (since around 70k miles) .

Changing from 2nd->3rd kicks very badly, especially in stop start traffic.. you can reproduce it in manual mode..

The BMW dealers reckon they want to do two gearbox oil changes to see if it will fix it.. despite it being "sealed for life" .. and my understanding that two oil changes are only to clear out contaminants.. and the onyl contaminants I can think of will be shards of the gears themselves!

I have extended warranry on the car, but a gearbox oil change (£500 worth - £170 oil) would not be covered and may not fix the problem.

Anyone have any ideas? Will BMW listen if I take the car to a transmission specialist? Is it worth doing? Any help would be greatly appreciated

BMW 5 Series E60 - BMW e60 520d auto gearbox problem - Dutchie

Hello,I cant see a oil change fixing the problem if the gearbox is sealed for life.Why so expensive? to change the oil.Your extented warranty should cover any work why having a warranty ?

BMW 5 Series E60 - BMW e60 520d auto gearbox problem - Collos25

It is quite complicated to change the oil on e60 and I doubt whether doing two times will change all the fluid it can also cause as many problems as it cures.If its covered by extended warranty then BMW should make it correct at their expense.I suggest you put the problem on one of the BMW forums .

BMW 5 Series E60 - BMW e60 520d auto gearbox problem - Jonnybgud
Hi there,

Have you tried resetting the gearbox's adaptive learning mode?, turn the ignition to the accessory position (so everything is lit up but the engine is not running) and press the accelorator pedal right down to the floor and hold it there for about 30 seconds, this will now set the gearbox into learning mode again and should help if not completely sort out the gear change kicking problem...
BMW 5 Series E60 - BMW e60 520d auto gearbox problem - Steven Quas

The gearbox reset as has been suggested is certainly worth a try, but it is unlikely to resolve the problem since the learning part of the gearbox shouldn't be able to learn to kick like that! That would suggest poor software development.

If your extended warranty is with BMW then I think you need to be more forceful with them to get them to resolve the problem. If they wish to experiment with oil changes then that should be their responsibility, perhaps just charging you for the oil, should it work. There is a significant chance that the oil change won't resolve the problem so you don't want to pay for that and still be left with the same problem.

Please let us know how you get on.

Steven Quas , Hamburg