325Ci E46 Telltale warning light - Transmission alert

[Christ29]

Hi guys
So my car has been 100%, until today while driving home this warning sign suddenly comes on, on the dash. Its next to to the gear selector indicator on the dash (i have a automatic) its looks like an exclamation mark inside of a gear cog. The manual says its a transmission alert and the car goes into protection mode. It basically stays in 3rd gear only. So i had to pull and drive only in 3rd gear and thankfully i was able to get it to my BMW mechanic who will have a look at it. Any ideas or has anyone heard of this issue before? What could it be?

thanks guys,hope its not a huge issue!

 

[P1000]

Most likely a big issue. If you are lucky, it is only an electronic problem, but you are most likely looking at a transmission rebuild.

 

[Chucky]

This happened to me twice before, both times i was informed i need a new transmission, but luckily both instances were minor,

In the first instance Water after a engine and under carriage wash got onto a sensor and caused the error, mech told me to just let the engine warm up and the water will evaporate, i thought Whatever man!!! sh!tting bricks already as these boxes are pricey but 10 mins later switched off engine and on again and all was well :clap: transmission error was gone and car shifted smoothly again.(Phew)

the second one was a bit of a pain, car went in for head Job and mech calls me and says i need a new gearbox as it just failed, they had the car for a day and couldnt figure it out and wanted to drop my gearbox to refurbish which i told them if they do they are doing it at their own expense, eventually they discovered while putting my head back on they did not connect the air flow meter properly and that also gave the error and put the gearbox into protect mode.(i was in the workshop at this time fuming and yes they reconnected the airfow meter and viola all was well again)

so there; have the sensors checked and cleaned and also check if the airflow meter is connected properly. thats my 2c its was more like my 4c :mmm:

 

[XMAX]

I had this sort of an issue on my e46 fl 318i steptronic. i was in traffic that was flowing then slowing suddenly, then flowing, then slowing suddenly. All the up and dowshifting sent the car into protection mode.

I was freaked out cos i was in the middle of nowhere on the way to jhb from dbn. I switched car off, waited 15 minutes and voila, all good.

Sometimes these gearboxes go a lil crazy.

hopefully yours is not serious.

 

[Christ29]

thanks guys..well i took the car in and got the gearbox serviced and the fault cleared. the car was fine after that..infact the gears shifts were even smoother. BUT then today it happened again at a robot. AARRRGGHhh i want to pull my hair out. Everyone is telling me that the gearbox will have to be overhauled which costs a fortune. But logically i cant see how it is mechanically related. The gearbox on this car has never given me the slightest issue or sign of a mechanically issue. It has always been ultra smooth and responsive. Im thinking this is definitely a sensor or like Chucky said the AFM, as i heard it could be that. Surely if it was mechanically there would be prior signs of jerking gear changes or gears not changing or something like that before it just bombs out suddenly. The error codes said 'slipped gear' or something to that effect, but the BMW mechanic said you cant be sure on what the error really means. Hopefully its still not big..i dont want to fork out 20K for a gearbox

 

[2LV2]

This happened to me twice before, both times i was informed i need a new transmission, but luckily both instances were minor,

In the first instance Water after a engine and under carriage wash got onto a sensor and caused the error, mech told me to just let the engine warm up and the water will evaporate, i thought Whatever man!!! sh!tting bricks already as these boxes are pricey but 10 mins later switched off engine and on again and all was well :clap: transmission error was gone and car shifted smoothly again.(Phew)

the second one was a bit of a pain, car went in for head Job and mech calls me and says i need a new gearbox as it just failed, they had the car for a day and couldnt figure it out and wanted to drop my gearbox to refurbish which i told them if they do they are doing it at their own expense, eventually they discovered while putting my head back on they did not connect the air flow meter properly and that also gave the error and put the gearbox into protect mode.(i was in the workshop at this time fuming and yes they reconnected the airfow meter and viola all was well again)

so there; have the sensors checked and cleaned and also check if the airflow meter is connected properly. thats my 2c its was more like my 4c :mmm:

Hi There,

Have exactly the same issue. Just had a head job done on my 325.

Can you give me a heads up? Was it the MAF that was not connected properly? Can't see how it could be related. Is it another sensor?

Would be much apreciated.

 

[Ricky318i]

Most likely a big issue. If you are lucky, it is only an electronic problem, but you are most likely looking at a transmission rebuild.

Don't want to say it is a transmission re-build, but that is what happened to my E90 (out of MP) and I have been without my car for a month now.

 

[Chucky]

This happened to me twice before, both times i was informed i need a new transmission, but luckily both instances were minor,

In the first instance Water after a engine and under carriage wash got onto a sensor and caused the error, mech told me to just let the engine warm up and the water will evaporate, i thought Whatever man!!! sh!tting bricks already as these boxes are pricey but 10 mins later switched off engine and on again and all was well :clap: transmission error was gone and car shifted smoothly again.(Phew)

the second one was a bit of a pain, car went in for head Job and mech calls me and says i need a new gearbox as it just failed, they had the car for a day and couldnt figure it out and wanted to drop my gearbox to refurbish which i told them if they do they are doing it at their own expense, eventually they discovered while putting my head back on they did not connect the air flow meter properly and that also gave the error and put the gearbox into protect mode.(i was in the workshop at this time fuming and yes they reconnected the airfow meter and viola all was well again)

so there; have the sensors checked and cleaned and also check if the airflow meter is connected properly. thats my 2c its was more like my 4c :mmm:

Hi There,

Have exactly the same issue. Just had a head job done on my 325.

Can you give me a heads up? Was it the MAF that was not connected properly? Can't see how it could be related. Is it another sensor?

Would be much apreciated.

Hi

In my case it was just the Air Flow Meter that was not connected properly when they put everything together again causing the gearbox to go into protect mode, the mech that found the problem says he was about to cry but phoned a buddie at a dealership that told him to check that and these were my mechs words "nou wat de hey dit uit te waai met die gearbox" none the less he checked that and lo and behold it was not connected properly he clipped in in securely started the car and boom gearbox went into normal mode again

It could be another sensor that's causing the gearbox to go into protect mode.

 

[2LV2]

I am uunder the hood first thing tomorrow! Thanks for the heads up Chucky.

:=):

---

Most likely a big issue. If you are lucky, it is only an electronic problem, but you are most likely looking at a transmission rebuild.

Don't want to say it is a transmission re-build, but that is what happened to my E90 (out of MP) and I have been without my car for a month now.

Oh please do not let it be so.....

But then again, I guess the whole point of not buying a new car is that there is nothing to do on a new car!

:rollsmile:

Luckily, my Italian cars have given me lots of practice. So much for reliable daily transport.

Lancia report for duty :biglol:

 

[2LV2]

It didnt work. :argh:

Any advice...... Anyone?


have downloaded a few books. Will keep you all posted.

 

[BMW M]

Had a e46 325i do the same to me at a robot in Durban Road a few years back. Switched the car off, and restarted, light was gone, so pulled off. 800m down the road, looking in my rearview mirror it looked like it was a car throwing a smoke screen.

Pulled over, gearbox was stuffed. Something failed in the gearbox oil pump which stuffed the filter and pieces of the filter ended up in the gearbox.

It was R17k to rebuild at Triangle Transmissions in Parrow after BMW quoted me R40 - R60k...

 

[Chucky]

It didnt work. :argh:

Any advice...... Anyone?


have downloaded a few books. Will keep you all posted.

Sorry Dude :thumbdo:

 

[Coisman]

imp:
Whatever it is, good luck buddy. I hate it when my car gives problems, but we must understand that just as we get the flu or a stommach bug or something, so our cars also get "sick" every now and then... its not "lekker", but thats the way it is... :dunno:

 

[L~C~G]

imp:
Whatever it is, good luck buddy. I hate it when my car gives problems, but we must understand that just as we get the flu or a stommach bug or something, so our cars also get "sick" every now and then... its not "lekker", but thats the way it is... :dunno:

The difference is that if you spend a few days at home under a blanket you heal up again and it maybe costs your R200 on medication.

The only medication that heals your car is by opening your wallet and digging deep!

 

[Diesel Junky]

Not good to hear when a car cost you money!

ZF in Bellville do those boxes for 15 or 16 grand.

Sorry

 

[Karthik]

That sucks , it seems like an auto problem :thumbdo:

 

[Yulz9081]

I had the same issue on my E46, was the VVT control unit that apparently controlled the vvt unit and gearbox according to BMW. 6k later it was perfect again.

Sorry bud, hope it isn't a major issue and you get sorted asap!

 

[simcot]

Hi all

Don't know if anyone has an answer for me but my 2002 330d auto gearbox decided to check out last week on my way back from Durban to Cape Town. BMW suggested I get a quote from their approved supplier and the total bill was quoted at R31 k. I know, flippen ridiculous hey ! so I found a used gearbox in Joburg and sent my brother in law to pick it up for me. It appears to be the right box but my concern is that the green label on my existing box shows P24 and the label on the new box shows P23, I have attached pictures of the labels, any idea's if this box will be OK for my car before I have it couriered to CT from Joburg ? Any help is appreciated