BMW 7 series information and links. Links to third party party products and services are. When working on automobiles, please exercise due caution to ensure the. BMW transmissions. Last Monday morning I got in my car to drive to work same as any morning, only to discover that my car wouldnt go in reverse. I could feel it catch, but it wouldnt actually go anywhere. I called my regular shop and told them I would be towing it in. They called me the next day and said the transmission was shot and would have to be replaced, and quoted me 6. Ok, soI admit I learned a few months ago that in 1. BMW started using GM transmissions in the 3 series. And that theyre all crap and mine would need to be replaced soon. But spending 6k on a car thats worth 1. I did some calling around to see if I could get a better price. Dave actually helped me out a lot here, toohe was able to find a used transmission in LA for 1. They said theyd be more than happy to install whatever transmission I brought in, but there would be no warranty whatsoever. I thought about this for a few more days were talking about a lot of money here, and I absolutely hate spending money, then eventually decided to call some transmission places to see what they could do for me. I found a super nice place in San Marcos who quoted me 1. I had the car towed a second time over to them. The transmission shop inspected the car and informed me that 1. Their quote was for the cheaper 4 speed model. The mechanic told me hed worked on three of these in the past year, and those costs ranged from 3. I also mentioned that Id found a Consumer Affairs website on BMW transmissions, and casually commented that I was actually surprised that there hasnt been a class action lawsuit against BMW. E38_740iL/shifter_3.jpeg' alt='Bmw 740I Manual Transmission Swap' title='Bmw 740I Manual Transmission Swap' />The BMW V8 engine is a modern fourvalve design. In 1993 the M60 was the first engine platform to use this design, and were implemented into the E32 and E34 series. Im pretty sure that none of our readers who drives a car with a manual transmission has ever looked down at their shifter and exclaimed I sure wish this was a. Displaying 1 15 of 460 total results for classic BMW Vehicles for Sale. But Dinsmore had one advantage, The State reportswhen the men first put her into the car they couldnt drive it because it had a manual transmission, so they. Find great deals on eBay for bmw v8 swap. Shop with confidence. Anyway, end result of this call is me sucking it up and telling him to go ahead. Heres where I started really getting my education. Shop called me back this morning and said he COULD fix the transmission, but neither BMW or GM will sell him all the parts he needs to do it. BMW just doesnt offer them only whole transmissions, and GM wont warranty the parts if theyre to be installed on a BMW. He said he would supplement with used parts and still guarantee the work since he has no other option, and Im ok with that. He also said hed done some research on my concerns with the 1. Consumer Affairs site, and that there were no technical service bulletins from BMW on it. There was a bulletin on the 2. ZL model transmission but not on mine which he said was a 5. L4. 0 e model, so he doesnt think theres a widespread problem with this transmission. At this point, however, hes done the worst thing any manufacturer could fear that he would dohes given me something to research. BMW in fact did start using the 5. L4. 0 e transmission halfway through 1. And although there is a new complaint on the Consumer Affairs page almost daily regarding failure to go in reverse, BMW has not issued a single service bulletin. This same transmission, however, was also used in the 2. Cadillac CTS, of which there are over 3. TWO of these specifically mention failure in reverse. According to the Consumer Affairs page, BMW denies any knowledge of known problems with this transmission when asked directly. But since its almost impossible for mechanics to get parts to fix them, most cars are repaired using a rebuilt transmission ordered from the factory. I expect thats a fairly significant number of transmissions being rebuilt and shipped back out. SOMEBODY at BMW is keeping track of this number. Why will Cadillac at least admit to the problem, but BMW makes no mention of it in a vehicle thats been on the road four years longer I know a bulletin wont have any effect on my now 5. I thought I had done my due diligence in researching the 1. BMW in general before I bought the damn thing. I knew repair bills wouldnt be cheap if something did go wrong, but I believed BMW produced one of the best performing and longest lasting automobiles provided they are maintained properly. If Id have known the transmission in this car was both non serviceable and prone to failure, Id have bought a Kia. In some respects, I feel better now that Im armed with knowledge. Its a lot easier for me to accept something if I at least know why I have to accept it. Acceptance is not recourse, however, so I still feel screwed over. Im certainly not powerful enough to take on BMW about my poor little used car, but I can at least provide my research for others to use to make a more well informed decision. Disclaimer, thoughI really am a car noob. Everything Ive posted here was either told to me by my mechanics or found on google, and is true and accurate to the best of my knowledge. I highly advise anyone doing anything really really important to do their own fact checking and please make me aware of any errors or omissions. Edit 71. 60. 7 Ive been contacted by Horwitz, Horwitz Associates. Ill update if I get any new info. Edit 1. 080. 8 New comments have been trickling in to this post regarding other failed transmissions, but I havent heard anything new regarding a class action suit. Red Dead Redemption Ps3 Loading Screen Freeze. I did, however, submit a complaint to the NHTSA. The more complaints they receive, the more likely they will initiate an investigation. Complaints themselves can also become public record, so I highly encourage everyone who has had a transmission failure to submit a report. My favorite site to check service bulletins and complaints is mycarstats. I just checked in on the Consumer Affairs page for fun, and saw this tip by Charlotte of Linton, IN Concerning the 5. L4. 0E Transmission made by GM and used in several BMW automobiles. There are a couple of problems that this transmission has that can be fixed with a repair to the valve body that BMW is ignoring. BMWs service department chooses to only replace the transmission thereby making it a huge expense to fix the vehicles. Please BMW owners who have this transmission in their vehicle who are having this reverse problem, there is a company called Sonnax that makes a kit to repair the valve body to fix this problem. The kit is several hundred dollars and the valve body can be removed and worked on without having to remove the entire transmission. I found the companys website and a list of parts she might have been talking about, but I cant verify this claim is valid. Still, it wouldnt be a bad idea to run this by your mechanic. If anyone has any more information, please update in the comments.