5HP30 (540i Auto Trans) Question...

[MTechnik540i]

Hey fellows,

Trying to diagnose an issue with the transmission in the M-Sport. Well, for starters the present Transmission is a Remanufactured unit that the PO replaced back in 10/'02 @ 108k miles. Well, the car has ~185k Miles on it now, and newish Amsoil Synthetic fluid (Changed @ 7/'06 w/ 165k). Anyway, the fresh fluid seem to help somewhat, nothing hugely substantial. Just lately I've noticed a pretty distinct 'lag' between changes from R to D, D to R, or wherever. Accompanying this lag, just recently (During these shifts from R to D/etc) there's a point where it bogs down, and RPMs drop pretty significantly, like it wants to, essentially, stall out.

Wondering if anybody might have any clue what's going on, and what I might want to try.

...And, yes I know...

[Tiger]

Call Kirt Koeller.... don't email him... call him up. He would be happy to help you out. Sounds like a valve body issue to me.

[MTechnik540i]

Call Kirt Koeller.... don't email him... call him up. He would be happy to help you out. Sounds like a valve body issue to me.

Thanks for the contact, I'll do just that.

[MBXB]

Same thing happened to me.
I changed fluid (Pennzoil Multi ATF), new filter (the FILTRAN from the local stealer), did the shogun reset.
It took a couple of days for the trans to relearn, but now it shifts smoothly and no lag.

The old fluid was still good and clear, but the filter was the old stule and the housing had collapsed and was concave instead of flat.

[MTechnik540i]

Same thing happened to me.
I changed fluid (Pennzoil Multi ATF), new filter (the FILTRAN from the local stealer), did the shogun reset.
It took a couple of days for the trans to relearn, but now it shifts smoothly and no lag.

The old fluid was still good and clear, but the filter was the old stule and the housing had collapsed and was concave instead of flat.

Spoke to Kirt today, and I'm going to try the Reset and see what comes of that.

I'll keep you guys posted.

[MTechnik540i]

Spoke to Kirt today, and I'm going to try the Reset and see what comes of that.

I'll keep you guys posted.

Did the 'Hard Reset' today (Or, atleast I think we did). Had our trusted, local independent help us out and he explained that leaving it disconnected overnight was way overkill, and that only a few moments were needed to ground out to reset. So, we went about it this way and the results weren't what I'd hoped.

Things started out optimistic, as upshifts seemed to be quite a bit smoother than before. Even sliding it from D to R/etc. seem to be somewhat less dramatic, initially. Well, as things got warmer and I drove it a little longer the same symptoms started showing their ugly self again and, now it doesn't appear the Reset helped us out. I was going to give it a little while, and give it the chance to possibly 'learn.'

Anyway, at this point, I'd just like to confirm that you only need a few moments to properly perform the 'Hard Reset' and if that's true, if we should consider looking into the Valve Body update, which I'm not entirely sure this Reman Transmission had done to it....(Still trying to confirm it's a ZF Rebuild, and also if it even has the Valve Body update).

Any help is appreciated.

[MTechnik540i]

Alrighty!

Well, to keep everyone up to date. Went ahead and did a proper 'Hard Reset' and left it unplugged overnight. Unfortunately, that didn't end up fixing anything so we're onto plan B.

Went ahead and removed the valve body and sent it to Kirt for a update/rebuild. It turns out that the valve body was updated during the Remanufacturing, only Kirt wasn't pleased with the test on the first Solenoid and went ahead and replaced them all. Anyway, Kirt seems to believe that was the smoking gun, I'll keep you fellows in the loop with if this finally fixes our issues.

Did the 'Hard Reset' today (Or, atleast I think we did). Had our trusted, local independent help us out and he explained that leaving it disconnected overnight was way overkill, and that only a few moments were needed to ground out to reset. So, we went about it this way and the results weren't what I'd hoped.

Things started out optimistic, as upshifts seemed to be quite a bit smoother than before. Even sliding it from D to R/etc. seem to be somewhat less dramatic, initially. Well, as things got warmer and I drove it a little longer the same symptoms started showing their ugly self again and, now it doesn't appear the Reset helped us out. I was going to give it a little while, and give it the chance to possibly 'learn.'

Anyway, at this point, I'd just like to confirm that you only need a few moments to properly perform the 'Hard Reset' and if that's true, if we should consider looking into the Valve Body update, which I'm not entirely sure this Reman Transmission had done to it....(Still trying to confirm it's a ZF Rebuild, and also if it even has the Valve Body update).

Any help is appreciated.

[MTechnik540i]

Alrighty!

Well, to keep everyone up to date. Went ahead and did a proper 'Hard Reset' and left it unplugged overnight. Unfortunately, that didn't end up fixing anything so we're onto plan B.

Went ahead and removed the valve body and sent it to Kirt for a update/rebuild. It turns out that the valve body was updated during the Remanufacturing, only Kirt wasn't pleased with the test on the first Solenoid and went ahead and replaced them all. Anyway, Kirt seems to believe that was the smoking gun, I'll keep you fellows in the loop with if this finally fixes our issues.

Hey again folks,

Went to pick up the 540i today, and I must admit over a week and about $600-700 later, I was saying to myself 'this better fix this!.' Well, as normal, things start out promising, but just as always a few minutes into driving, when everything has reached temperature and the car is good and warm, the exact same issues start showing themselves again!

Needless to say, this is really frustrating. I suppose I'll be on the phone to Kirt again Monday, again, trying to figure out what's next.

So, if there's anything you guys can think of that I may want to check, please post away! I'm having to ask myself now, could this issue have nothing to do with the transmission at all.

TIA!

[MTechnik540i]

Bump!

[bubba966]

Hey again folks,

Went to pick up the 540i today, and I must admit over a week and about $600-700 later, I was saying to myself 'this better fix this!.' Well, as normal, things start out promising, but just as always a few minutes into driving, when everything has reached temperature and the car is good and warm, the exact same issues start showing themselves again!

Needless to say, this is really frustrating. I suppose I'll be on the phone to Kirt again Monday, again, trying to figure out what's next.

So, if there's anything you guys can think of that I may want to check, please post away! I'm having to ask myself now, could this issue have nothing to do with the transmission at all.

TIA!

Did the valve body rebuild include new check balls? There's 2 of them that wear and cause problems like you're describing. Symptoms of check ball wear are the tranny not fully engaging reverse (will slowly back up on level surfaces), and also engaging both forward and reverse at the same time. It sounds like you've experienced the forward & reverse engaging problem.

When you loose the reverse clutch pack retaining clip you loose reverse imediately (like it popped out of gear) and it won't work at all.