Auto Box Issue?

C

cerbera

Member
 Preston, Lancs
Morning Guys,

Finally picked up my, new to me, Z4 sDrive30i with 6sp Auto. Everything was great during the inspection test drive and 300 mile drive home. I bet you can see a but coming here.

But, this morning upon starting the car I got a message on the screen saying that I cannot use N, D on the gearbox and sure enough I couldn't select them. I turned it all off and back on again with the same symptoms.

I then turned it off and for some reason put the electronic handbrake on and off again. This time on start everything was working again.

So my question is to the collective, do you think this was just a blip or have I bought something with a dodgy gearbox? :(
 
Here is a question. So you didn't have the handbrake on so I assume you had your foot on the brake at the time this was displayed? Just as you probably realise you can't change/select a different poisition without the brake being engaged.

If there is 'roll' from the car then the auto box will also not allow you to select a different position until the car is stopped. It can be a sensitive thing.
 
Getting the error again. At the moment the car is stuck on the drive, can't even put it back in the garage.

On the idrive screen I have two errors.
The first says Pos. R, N, D may not be available!
The second says Transmission faulty! Drive moderately.

If this was an existing problem how would the seller have hidden it.

Feeling a little ill now as I think I may have bought someone else's problem.
 
my x3 auto has safety functions , ( doors must be shut correctly, foot on brake, hand brake on,seat belt on ? ) before you can select any gears.
did you buy from bmw, if so they will come out to you if its in warranty.
 
Was a private sale. Until I can find out what's wrong I'm not sure if I can take it to an Indy garage so might have to get BMW to look at it and give me a large bill.
 
Was a private sale. Until I can find out what's wrong I'm not sure if I can take it to an Indy garage so might have to get BMW to look at it and give me a large bill.
 
If the issue goes away after the car warms up then the seller may have done that before you tested it. If that is the case I would be expecting to return the car to the seller. Not sure you have many rights with a private seller but I really wouldn't take no for an answer.

Otherwise it just sounds really unlucky.

On the plus side it could be something as simple as a faulty sensor. BMW charge a diagnostic fee of £75~ so it's worth taking it in for a check. If you need a complete new gearbox then you would want to find a good independent.
 
Alternatively the likes of TWG Automotive or any decent indy will charge you a lot less than £75 for a full diagnostic, and should be equally clued up on the codes/faults.
 
On our car you cannot put the handbrake on and off unless the engine is running.
Thinking about it we may be able to put it on but definately not off without the engine running.
Is your driveway flat or on a slope?
Dont suppose its anything to do with where it is sitting causing problems?
 
download OB2 torque app and get a bluetooth OB2 from e bay less then a fiver and check it youself.
 
Wonder if the previous owner re-set the codes which temporarily gets rid of the problem?

As others have said either get it to a decent indy or get yourself a code reader and go from there. Sorry to hear of your bad news though.
 
It has BMW history for the first two services and an indy for the third. I spoke to the indy garage and they have not fixed any gearbox issues for the previous owner.
I have found the fault to be intermittant and the Zed is currently at an autobox garage awaiting a new brake peddle switch, which is the first thing the mechanic has saud to try as there's a breakdown between the brake peddle and the autoi which is throwing the error and not letting me take it out of park.

Sounds reasonable, just waiting for the call back today. I will update when it's fixed so that anyone else with similar symptons in the future can see what I've had done.
 
Well, it turned out to be an expensive fix. The mechatronic unit required replacement.
Anyway, it's all done now so it's time to start enjoying the Zed.
 
cerbera said:
Well, it turned out to be an expensive fix. The mechatronic unit required replacement.
Anyway, it's all done now so it's time to start enjoying the Zed.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a hefty invoice :cry: seller must have known it was ferked , that's naughty offloading privately :x
 
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