been a while since i've contributed anything and now i'm begging for some advice.

the tranny on my 91 525ia has been slipping between 2-3 gear as of late. yesterday i changed the fluid and filter. although there was some residue, it wasn't nearly as bad as when i did it last year (don't know if it had ever been done before).

the problem is that i found a broken piece of plastic in the front pan, the shape of a circle with small pegs on the side, about 2" in diameter. only half was there.

i checked on the ETK and from what i can see, it's a spacer located directly behind the bell housing. this is a longshot as i don't have the entire piece. from what i can guess the part number is 24 20 1 422 850 (i have the a4s 310r tranny). my vin is bj67059.

the slipping is much less pronounced with the fluid change. if i drive easy (like other drivers....), it's not a problem at all - no slipping. only when there is spirited driving.....

anyone have an estimate of how much time am i looking at before something really bad goes down (in other words do i have a little time to plan for this)? is this something that can be replaced or is it something that would require a larger rebuild/replacement? are there used trannies available? where could i start looking?

i've done all my own work on this car over the last 3 years without too much of a problem and i'm willing to tear into this. i've been working on other cars for years, although i've never really torn into a tranny. i have winfred's fabulous overview for the zf tranny repairs (great photos and overview) and the bentley. does anyone know of a good overview for the a4s 310r?

thanks in advance guys.

steven
91 525ia