It's Baaaack!! '04 330cic Steptronic slipping AGAIN

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cdotger said:
LarryE,

I can tell you that my car doesn't do that (2003 325i with clutch pack fix). Although the care does shift a bit differently when you first start out and the engine is cold. I do believe that is normal though. I also notice that when you are stopped at a stop sign and you already started your turn. (Engine is warm now) that when you start going again with some haste that the car seems to do like a quick downshift. I have noticed this on other cars also.

-Carl
Carl,

You say that you car "doesn't do that". Can you say specifically what you are referring to?
 
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Maybe DSC, not tranny?

cdotger said:
LarryE,

I can tell you that my car doesn't do that (2003 325i with clutch pack fix). Although the care does shift a bit differently when you first start out and the engine is cold. I do believe that is normal though. I also notice that when you are stopped at a stop sign and you already started your turn. (Engine is warm now) that when you start going again with some haste that the car seems to do like a quick downshift. I have noticed this on other cars also.

-Carl

Carl,

I'm wondering if you are experiencing a DSC quirk, not a transmission issue?

In my case, the DSC seems to be a bit over-active in parking lot situations (ie slow speeds w/ sharp turns).

In these situations, I've noticed the DSC sometimes un-necessarily applies the brakes. It feels like a quick short jolt.
 
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Brought my 1000 mile 330CI in for the new tranny today (Wednesday). Car will be ready Friday. I'll let everybody know how it turns out.

The loaner car is a 2004 325i with 800 miles on it!!![;)] After driving it, I'm glad we got the 330 instead. Noticed immediately the difference in low end acceleration. Nice car though!
 

testdummy

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Had ours replaced in an '04 330CiC with 480-miles last week for this issue. So far it has performed perfectly. We've tested three times when very cold for 12-24 hours, using our test method that produced no movement up to 2000-2500 rpm with the old tranny, and it's been fine each time. It's my wife's daily driver and she now says there's instant response from a stop when warm - she hadn't noticed the slight hesitation with the old tranny until she drove the new one.

The dealer was extremely responsive - other than the fact that it happened on a brand new car, and the fact that there's so much chatter about this on the web and the dealer wasn't checking new cars before delivery; so far we are very satisfied with the way it turned out.

(Last time I looked at the survey there was only one vote for "replaced after 12/1 and OK"; that's us.)
 
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testdummy said:
Had ours replaced in an '04 330CiC with 480-miles last week for this issue. So far it has performed perfectly. We've tested three times when very cold for 12-24 hours, using our test method that produced no movement up to 2000-2500 rpm with the old tranny, and it's been fine each time. It's my wife's daily driver and she now says there's instant response from a stop when warm - she hadn't noticed the slight hesitation with the old tranny until she drove the new one.

The dealer was extremely responsive - other than the fact that it happened on a brand new car, and the fact that there's so much chatter about this on the web and the dealer wasn't checking new cars before delivery; so far we are very satisfied with the way it turned out.

(Last time I looked at the survey there was only one vote for "replaced after 12/1 and OK"; that's us.)
I suppose now that we are having more and more people receive service for this problem, I should probably "reissue" that survey. I'll probably wait a few days or a week or so and do that.

So testdummy, upon shifting into "D" after a coldstart, your car is responsive? You can drive the rpms up to say 1200, 1500, 2000 and the car moves in a responsive way?
 

kmueller42

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I had mine replaced last week in my '03 330xi and so far it has worked perfectly. After shifting into "D" it responds immediately.

Now if they can take care of the "clunking/popping" in the front suspension I would be really happy.
 

testdummy

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LarryE said:
So testdummy, upon shifting into "D" after a coldstart, your car is responsive? You can drive the rpms up to say 1200, 1500, 2000 and the car moves in a responsive way?
The street in front of our house is a pretty good slope (don't know how to give it a metric, but you have to put your foot in any car firmly to accelerate up it). Crank up after cold overnight; in reverse almost immediately and back out a level drive maybe 15 yards and down the sloped street; full stop then directly to D, then directly press accelerator - car moves almost immediately. I haven't looked at the tach when doing that but it's not much off of idle before car moves. With previous transmission, the car would actually roll backwards at an alarming rate when shifting into D and releasing the brake pedal and would keep rolling backward until over 2000 rpm (maybe 2500); no noticable backward roll now.
 

mchas11

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Just thought I'd let everyone know - I took my 04 330Ci in to the dealer two days ago for this same problem. They agreed it was a problem, called BMW, and are shipping out a new tranny. I should have the car back within the next day or two. Hopefully the problem will be fixed!
 

Bmw 325i 7803

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They told they would be shipping a tranny from Germany, only its been over 2 weeks now.... They claimed it would be 2-4 weeks, does it usually take this long?
 
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Bmw 325i 7803 said:
They told they would be shipping a tranny from Germany, only its been over 2 weeks now.... They claimed it would be 2-4 weeks, does it usually take this long?
Frankly, I'm surprised that if they really are shipping it from Germany ... that it would take less than a month. Really don't know what to say. Call them and ask them to check on it for you.
 
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sieben said:
I was told they indeed come from Germany originally. It's just BMWNA stocks some in the states.
But it is only recently that the problem has been (supposedly) understood and corrected ... I was told that my replacement was one of the first ... and it was delivered to the dealer in late December. Would think that the latest replacements would be in short supply and would be coming directly from Germany. But I could be wrong.
 

Rpro2k3

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Has anyone been able to figure out what the long term effects of your tranny would be if you left the problem as is (I mean the sliptronic issue). The dealer and you guys keep telling me that the tranny oil is not being pumped in the morning and once it does, it is perfect. So what will happen if you left it like that forever? I hate the idea of having a mechanic touch my car only after 1000 miles.
 
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LarryE said:
Frankly, I'm surprised that if they really are shipping it from Germany ... that it would take less than a month. Really don't know what to say. Call them and ask them to check on it for you.
They do come from Germany, as I saw the box that mine came in. It had several labels, etc. all over it, all of which were in German.

However, from the time mine was ordered until it came in was 3 DAYS. I really doubt that it was air freight delivery ($$$$$) so they must get cargo containers of transmissions in from Germany and keep a stock level in the US.
 
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replacement transmission

my wifes 2004 325 xi wagon , 1200 miles, gets a replacement transmission next Thursday 2/12/04

will keep you posted regarding the outcome
 
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Bmw 325i 7803

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As a side question what is the chances or potential of the dealer messing up the tranny switch..... as in not doing it right or messing something else up in the process? Anyone know how long the job takes and/or who does it?


Also I've noticed that when shifting from p to reverse or from n to r there is a heavy clicking noise and when shifting into d the car feels as if it raises and then shifting off d it lowers..... Kind of like those early 90's Lincoln and Ford taxi cabs that have a rear higher than the front suspension, it makes that loud bump-click noise and when its being put in d you can feel as the tranny is engaging and this is after its been drivin and nicely warmed up. Almost as a complement to the sliptronic which occurs on a cold startup. Seems as if the tranny doesn't like its owner, and upon bringing the car to the dealer they apparently ran a diagnostic and determined from that, that it needed a transmission. And as for the cold startup the engine can rev up to 5-6k without the tranny engaging as opposed to the complaints about it being in the 2's....Guess I really do need the tranny.
 
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Bmw 325i 7803 said:
As a side question what is the chances or potential of the dealer messing up the tranny switch..... as in not doing it right or messing something else up in the process? Anyone know how long the job takes and/or who does it?


Also I've noticed that when shifting from p to reverse or from n to r there is a heavy clicking noise and when shifting into d the car feels as if it raises and then shifting off d it lowers..... Kind of like those early 90's Lincoln and Ford taxi cabs that have a rear higher than the front suspension, it makes that loud bump-click noise and when its being put in d you can feel as the tranny is engaging and this is after its been drivin and nicely warmed up. Almost as a complement to the sliptronic which occurs on a cold startup. Seems as if the tranny doesn't like its owner, and upon bringing the car to the dealer they apparently ran a diagnostic and determined from that, that it needed a transmission. And as for the cold startup the engine can rev up to 5-6k without the tranny engaging as opposed to the complaints about it being in the 2's....Guess I really do need the tranny.
Dealer performs the replacement (vs. a GM tech performs the clutch pack replacement). My work took 1 day. I then told them to keep it overnight and coldstart test it in the AM ... so it was in shop for 2 days.
 


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