SOLVED - Auto 6spd Gearbox - Car wont manually change gear unless over 65mph

K

kammy1975

Member
 West Yorkshire
Hi all

I should have posted on the new owners area first with pictures of my car, but had to ask this question first !

I have a Z4 Coupe 3.0si SE with the Auto\Steptronic box. The car drives fine when in normal auto mode, changing gears correctly, however, when I try and use the paddles on the wheel OR knock the lever across and push up and down to change gears, this does nothing but display the gear I am in within the instrument cluster.

Now what's stranger is that if I drive above 65mph, the paddles and the gear lever in manual both work fine ! Obviously I haven't gone all the way down to first gear, but moving between 4th, 5th and 6th works without issue !!

A friend of mine believes that the gearbox is in limp mode, but having stuck a OBD reader on the vehicle, there are no fault codes being reported.

Any ideas? Should I disconnect the battery for 30mins and hope that this will take the box out of limp mode? Or is there a bigger issue here ?

Thanks
Kam

EDIT - Turns out the issue was actually related to the electric radiator fan not working. As it was throwing a fault code when the DME tried to talk to it, it was preventing the gearbox from manual shifting to protect itself from overheating. Assume the reason it works above 65mph is that there is enough cool air to naturally cool the system. The autobox has coolant fed to it via a thermostat which sits inside the bottom of the expansion tank. More about the issue on another thread of mine, but there was a break in the control wire from DME to fan which was the culprit.

Total cost of fix - a overheated car and blown expansion tank, but at least it got me fixing issues that led me to this solution.
 
kammy1975 said:
Hi all

I should have posted on the new owners area first with pictures of my car, but had to ask this question first !

I have a Z4 Coupe 3.0si SE with the Auto\Steptronic box. The car drives fine when in normal auto mode, changing gears correctly, however, when I try and use the paddles on the wheel OR knock the lever across and push up and down to change gears, this does nothing but display the gear I am in within the instrument cluster.

Now what's stranger is that if I drive above 65mph, the paddles and the gear lever in manual both work fine ! Obviously I haven't gone all the way down to first gear, but moving between 4th, 5th and 6th works without issue !!

A friend of mine believes that the gearbox is in limp mode, but having stuck a OBD reader on the vehicle, there are no fault codes being reported.

Any ideas? Should I disconnect the battery for 30mins and hope that this will take the box out of limp mode? Or is there a bigger issue here ?

Thanks
Kam
Click to expand...

BUMP

Cant believe no one else has had their auto box go into Limp mode...?? Or have I got my diagnosis completely wrong...

Reading on some other forums, it sounds as though my standard OBDII reader wouldnt pick up codes related to the auto box, so anyone local to me with a BMW INPA or equivalent that could read the codes? I am in Huddersfield, in West Yorkshire. Happy to travel a short distance.

Will try removing battery this weekend and see if that clears any codes on the EGS and allows gearbox to come out of Limp mode, assuming it is indeed in Limp mode. (cant seem to find anything concrete to suggest this)

Thanks
Kam
 
I doubt its in limp mode.....

They usually default to setting off in one gear and the cog light will be on....
 
This happened to mine, it is in at the moment under warranty and needs some engine management part, which I can't remember the name of, needs to come from Germany too so without the car for a week.
 
MrGit said:
This happened to mine, it is in at the moment under warranty and needs some engine management part, which I can't remember the name of, needs to come from Germany too so without the car for a week.
Click to expand...

Cheers MrGit. Please can you keep me posted on what the part is that they fit? Am hoping to try a fix myself. Still need to get the time to learn how the BMW INPA software works and see if there is an error code held on the relevant ecu in relation to the issue.

Thanks
Kam
 
I don't think inpa would help

You may need DIS to read the gearbox Ecu. It most likely is a speed sensor which is a cheap and easy fix.

That being said you say in auto it works fine so it could be the gear selection module

Watch this http://youtu.be/NQysOv1MqbE
 
kammy1975 said:
MrGit said:
This happened to mine, it is in at the moment under warranty and needs some engine management part, which I can't remember the name of, needs to come from Germany too so without the car for a week.
Click to expand...

Cheers MrGit. Please can you keep me posted on what the part is that they fit? Am hoping to try a fix myself. Still need to get the time to learn how the BMW INPA software works and see if there is an error code held on the relevant ecu in relation to the issue.

Thanks
Kam
Click to expand...

Hi, Car is back and working fine,
They have billed the warranty for £1038.00
breakdown as....

Vehicle test £ 27.12
Bleeding Brake system with DSC (AWs 11.00) £ 74.58
wire testing/ scoping (AWs 6.00) £ 40.68
R&IorR DCS control unit (AWs 12.00) £ 81.36
control unit part no 34526778492 £787.50
program/code ctl unit(s) (AWs 3.00) £20.34

To explain, i was going away for 8 weeks to the States late Dec and the stealers sent me a letter saying come in and have an end of warranty check before it ran out at end of Jan to put anything right on the car that was wrong.

I told them of the engine ticking noise that happened, every once in a while, after short journeys... and they said they would need to change out the lifters on the engine, if they could keep it while i was away they would do it and test it strenuously to make sure it had worked... as if it didn't work it would be a new head at a cost of £3500.... which if needed, they would do before the warranty expired.

I agreed to this and on my return picked up my car which had had the lifters changed ...as this had cured the ticking noise. (incidentally I extended my warranty because of this whilst in the States)
The day after picking it up I noticed the paddles and gear shifter both only worked at speed but did not work at all at low speeds as it normally did.
I went straight back to the garage and went out with the guy who changed the lifters, he agreed they were not working and started saying that it may have had something to do with the fact they had to recharge the battery twice whilst they had it for 8 weeks and this could have somehow scrambled the programming and I was to book it in to be reprogrammed.

The next morning I got into the car and the battery was flat, got a jump, drove for 30-40 mins, got home, car started and thought all was fine.
The next morning the battery was flat again, got another jump but this time my ABS , hand brake , tyre sensor and traction control light were all light up, also the odeometer and speedo did not work and the stearing felt heavy.

I was told on leaving the car that it would all be connected to the battery going flat and scrambling the programming.
5 hours later I was told i needed a new control unit which had to come from Germany and would be without the car for a week.

So, it's hard to say if all you need is a reprogram, like they originally said or this control unit ...as it is feasible that the unit was on its way out, feasible but unlikely.

The car is fine now, and the engine seems to be more keen at every rev range, also no ticking as of yet...

I hope somehow this has been of help.
 
ba3bas said:
I don't think inpa would help

You may need DIS to read the gearbox Ecu. It most likely is a speed sensor which is a cheap and easy fix.

That being said you say in auto it works fine so it could be the gear selection module

Watch this http://youtu.be/NQysOv1MqbE
Click to expand...

Sorry, I did mean DIS, but I use the INPA term as a generalisation.

THanks for the link to the video, just watched it and read all the comments. Will defo need to strip down and check the condition of the wiring. But I dont believe it is this issue, simply as knocking the lever across does show DS on the dash, and pushing the lever up or down does show the current gear ie M2 or M3, but it doesnt allow you to change, unless of course you are driving above 65mph, and then it goes both up and down of the lever and the paddles. That suggests that the connection is being made, unless of course the wire that is broken is related to some speed setting....

But big thanks again for sharing that.
 
MrGit said:
kammy1975 said:
MrGit said:
This happened to mine, it is in at the moment under warranty and needs some engine management part, which I can't remember the name of, needs to come from Germany too so without the car for a week.
Click to expand...

Cheers MrGit. Please can you keep me posted on what the part is that they fit? Am hoping to try a fix myself. Still need to get the time to learn how the BMW INPA software works and see if there is an error code held on the relevant ecu in relation to the issue.

Thanks
Kam
Click to expand...

Hi, Car is back and working fine,
They have billed the warranty for £1038.00
breakdown as....

Vehicle test £ 27.12
Bleeding Brake system with DSC (AWs 11.00) £ 74.58
wire testing/ scoping (AWs 6.00) £ 40.68
R&IorR DCS control unit (AWs 12.00) £ 81.36
control unit part no 34526778492 £787.50
program/code ctl unit(s) (AWs 3.00) £20.34

To explain, i was going away for 8 weeks to the States late Dec and the stealers sent me a letter saying come in and have an end of warranty check before it ran out at end of Jan to put anything right on the car that was wrong.

I told them of the engine ticking noise that happened, every once in a while, after short journeys... and they said they would need to change out the lifters on the engine, if they could keep it while i was away they would do it and test it strenuously to make sure it had worked... as if it didn't work it would be a new head at a cost of £3500.... which if needed, they would do before the warranty expired.

I agreed to this and on my return picked up my car which had had the lifters changed ...as this had cured the ticking noise. (incidentally I extended my warranty because of this whilst in the States)
The day after picking it up I noticed the paddles and gear shifter both only worked at speed but did not work at all at low speeds as it normally did.
I went straight back to the garage and went out with the guy who changed the lifters, he agreed they were not working and started saying that it may have had something to do with the fact they had to recharge the battery twice whilst they had it for 8 weeks and this could have somehow scrambled the programming and I was to book it in to be reprogrammed.

The next morning I got into the car and the battery was flat, got a jump, drove for 30-40 mins, got home, car started and thought all was fine.
The next morning the battery was flat again, got another jump but this time my ABS , hand brake , tyre sensor and traction control light were all light up, also the odeometer and speedo did not work and the stearing felt heavy.

I was told on leaving the car that it would all be connected to the battery going flat and scrambling the programming.
5 hours later I was told i needed a new control unit which had to come from Germany and would be without the car for a week.

So, it's hard to say if all you need is a reprogram, like they originally said or this control unit ...as it is feasible that the unit was on its way out, feasible but unlikely.

The car is fine now, and the engine seems to be more keen at every rev range, also no ticking as of yet...

I hope somehow this has been of help.
Click to expand...

Saw the control unit and price of £787.50 and almost cried !!! Having said that, I googled the part number, and the control unit appears to relate to DSC, which from what I can tell works perfectly. Have switched it off and sure it enough it disables the system, so fingers crossed this isnt the issue.

But its very interesting you mention the flat battery, as when I went to view the car, the battery was completely flat, and the car was jumped off a portable battery pack. I wonder if this process is the issue, and the reprogramming is what is required now...

Can I just say a massive thanks for taking the time to write all this (took me long enough to read it !!!) and share this info with me. I havent been on the forum long, but have to say that its a fantastic community, which is largely down to the users. Have been on many a car forum, and they could learn a lot from some of the great people on here.

I will definitely feedback what i find and if I ever manage to fix it !

Kam
 
Try a gearbox adaptation reset which is an option in inpa. Will drive like rubbish for a few miles until it adapts properly
 
ba3bas said:
Try a gearbox adaptation reset which is an option in inpa. Will drive like rubbish for a few miles until it adapts properly
Click to expand...

Hi

Do you know where this setting is ? I cant find it in INPA...
 
kammy1975 said:
ba3bas said:
Try a gearbox adaptation reset which is an option in inpa. Will drive like rubbish for a few miles until it adapts properly
Click to expand...

Hi

Do you know where this setting is ? I cant find it in INPA...
Click to expand...

It's in the adaptations section mate
 
Hi Kam, although I've read the start of this thread about a week back I didn't put two and two together and realise it was you having this problem! Hope you get it sorted pronto without having to shell out for that control unit :headbang:
Stevo
 
stevo///m3 said:
Hi Kam, although I've read the start of this thread about a week back I didn't put two and two together and realise it was you having this problem! Hope you get it sorted pronto without having to shell out for that control unit :headbang:
Stevo
Click to expand...

Cheers mate,

The car still drives as normal, the automatic shifts are still quick and not laboured, so its not bothered me enough to chase it further. Plus, the car is a weekend toy, and with 3 kids most weekends are spent with them anyway. Before the kids, I wouldnt have let an issue like this be outstanding for more than a few days, but priorities lie elsewhere..

Will add to the post if I ever do get to the bottom of it ! ;-)
 
Thread resurrection time. My car has this problem too. If there a relay box or fuse for the cooling fan? I've checked the fuse box behind the clove box but there's nothing in there. I've got a 2006 E86.
 
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