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

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LarryE

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wallace said:
They tried to tell me the same bs about warming up my car. I don't think they read the back of our November bills.(if you financed through BMW) The tech tip says don't warm your car up.
Anyways, car will be in the shop for 2 weeks. My second transmission is so bad that you can be driving then stop, go again and it will slip. Going for my third. Talked to a lawyer abou the lemon law, he said that I might have a case. Also, I made the mistake of leaving my cell phone in my car when they came to pick t up. I went back the other day to get my phone and just went to the back were my car was. I asked if i could get into my car and they started to look for my keys. The guy asked were the keys were to the "330 recall". I asked the GM later that day and he told me it wasn't recalled yet. I wanted to see if the guy was full of s#!**. They are offering to pay one of my car payments, I think they know they may have an issue with me. Once I take that payment option I think I won't be able to catch the lemon law.
I also told them to put a smg into it. they thought i was joking!!!!
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You are correct that in general, the car doesn't need to be warmed up. Sure they know that normally the recommendation is not to warmup the car. However, for cars that demonstrate this tranny problem, that is the temporary circumvention to avoid damage. That's all I can say.

Question for you: When did your original tranny problem occur (date and mileage) and when did they replace your tranny? I have read that some of the early "victims" had their trannys replaced with new ones that did not successfully address the problem because they didn't have enough experience with it at that time to complete the necessary redesigns in the tranny. Was your replacement tranny new or rebuilt?
 
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Kirby

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LarryE said:
I have read that some of the early "victims" had their trannys replaced with new ones that did not successfully address the problem because they didn't have enough experience with it at that time to complete the necessary redesigns in the tranny.
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[wave]
I'm one of those "victims", although I prefer [fake] Guinea Pig. It appears I was one of the first to report the problem back in August, when my car was 4 months old. They patched the software in October, replaced the tranny shortly thereafter, and the new tranny is still doing it.

Due to the snow the car sat in the garage for the past week. I anticipated that it would be real bad, and I was right. A good 6 - 7 seconds of slipping until it started to grab.

Still waiting for the dealer to get me scheduled again.
 
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LarryE

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cdotger said:
Why not get the clutch fix LarryE?, Would you rather get a remanufactured Tranny?... I know I wouldn't and didn;t.
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I am seriously considering that. With 2K on the car, I think I'd be better off with my existing tranny + a new clutch assembly rather than someone else's tranny with who knows how many miles. I will call my dealer on Monday and tell them they must guarantee me a new tranny or else I want the clutch assembly.
 
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cdotger

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LarryE,

I doubt that the dealer can make that guarantee, plus how would you know otherwise. They could tell you it is new, and still give you a remanufactured. I don't know if that dealer has the power to grant you a guaranteed new one.
 
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LarryE

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cdotger said:
LarryE,

I doubt that the dealer can make that guarantee, plus how would you know otherwise. They could tell you it is new, and still give you a remanufactured. I don't know if that dealer has the power to grant you a guaranteed new one.
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CDotger: I agree with you. But there are people on Roadfly who claim otherwise ... that they have been given or are being given brand new trannys.

BTW ... I have checked and cofirmed that there is only one tranny part number ... and that this can be filled by new or rebuilt. But you are right ... there is probably a way to tell, but I will probably never know for sure. So ... unless they can guarantee it, I don't want rebuilt parts. I will find out this week.
 
donmbmw

donmbmw

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LarryE said:
So ... unless they can guarantee it, I don't want rebuilt parts. I will find out this week. [/B]
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This raises an interesting question. To my mind, if I have a defective part on a car thats under warrenty, and they choose to replace with a rebuilt part, well thats their choice. I don't see why the replacement should not be covered under the new car warranty.
Anyone with experience on this?
 
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LarryE

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donmbmw said:
This raises an interesting question. To my mind, if I have a defective part on a car thats under warrenty, and they choose to replace with a rebuilt part, well thats their choice. I don't see why the replacement should not be covered under the new car warranty.
Anyone with experience on this?
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You are correct ... they will fully stand behind whatever they do. That, in my mind, is not the problem. I had a car once with a tranny problem (a Mazda) ... they replaced with rebuilt ... and I ended up with 4 trannys in the car (all rebuilt) over 10K miles ... until they cut me a deal for a new one. I just don't want the aggravation ... I want the car fixed right the first time.

The other issue is why should I settle for a rebuilt tranny that could have parts that came out of a car with who knows ... 100K miles on it ... in my car which only has 2K miles on it?
 
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LarryE

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rickhuizinga said:
Will the dealer give you the choice of a new/rebuilt tranny or a new clutch assembly, or will they just replace the tranny if you don't say anything?

Thanks,

Rick
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The dealer claims that no matter what they do, it must be approved by BMWNA. They have tried to be accommodating, and I believe that I could get either option if I push hard enough (they were originally going to replace the clutch assembly until I insisted on a new tranny). So right now, I am slated to get a replacement tranny and don't know whether it will come new or rebuilt. If that cannot be known, I am likely to ask them to go back to a new clutch assembly.
 
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cdotger

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LarryE, My buddy in the biz says that the clutch assembly swap is very simple and not a big deal..... That is why I went that way. Plus I know that I have my orig tranny. Like you said they will stand behind it either way. I would rather have a more known than unknown. If I were you I would push for the clutch pack fix.
 
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LarryE

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cdotger said:
LarryE, My buddy in the biz says that the clutch assembly swap is very simple and not a big deal..... That is why I went that way. Plus I know that I have my orig tranny. Like you said they will stand behind it either way. I would rather have a more known than unknown. If I were you I would push for the clutch pack fix.
Click to expand...

How is yours holding up?
 
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wallace

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LarryE said:
You are correct that in general, the car doesn't need to be warmed up. Sure they know that normally the recommendation is not to warmup the car. However, for cars that demonstrate this tranny problem, that is the temporary circumvention to avoid damage. That's all I can say.

Question for you: When did your original tranny problem occur (date and mileage) and when did they replace your tranny? I have read that some of the early "victims" had their trannys replaced with new ones that did not successfully address the problem because they didn't have enough experience with it at that time to complete the necessary redesigns in the tranny. Was your replacement tranny new or rebuilt?
Click to expand...


First had problem at about 2000 miles (10/15), was looked at on 11/01. They replaced my tranny on 11/30. Back in the shop on 12/10. Have had the car three and half months and been dealing with this problem for two months. Tranny was brand new. They told me the other day that they sent the wrong tranny. Is this a recall Item?[:(]
 
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LarryE

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wallace said:
First had problem at about 2000 miles (10/15), was looked at on 11/01. They replaced my tranny on 11/30. Back in the shop on 12/10. Have had the car three and half months and been dealing with this problem for two months. Tranny was brand new. They told me the other day that they sent the wrong tranny. Is this a recall Item?[:(]
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You're saying the replacement tranny was brand new? I have heard that they didn't correct the problem properly with the early occurrences. As far as the recall is concerned, I have also heard rumors that there will be one eventually.
 
donmbmw

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Just thought I would comment on the suggestion to use the manual mode when car is cold. I have tried it several times and it worked every time. After going into reverse I put the car in drive then immediatly shifted over to m2. Car started moving forward with no slippage at all. I would stay in manual only for a minute or two then back into drive and all is good.
 
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cdotger

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donmbmw,

that is exactly what I have been suggesting, problem does not occur in manual mode. For BMW to say that you need to warm up the car and blah blah blah or we won't replace your tranny is just crazy. This workaround does not cause the issue to happen at all.

Thanks for confirming
 
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LarryE

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Well ... spoke to my SA today. He claims that there are NO new replacement trannys ... only rebuilt ones. That it is possible early in the life of a tranny to get a new one as a replacement because there are no "old" ones to rebuild. But at this point, a rebuild is the only option. In view of this, I am probably going to go with the replacement of the clutch assembly and keep my tranny. He claims I am making a big issue out of nothing. I claim that I have had experience with rebuilt trannys in the past. We shall see. I will hope that the clutch pack resolves the issue.
 
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