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      07-28-2013, 09:16 AM   #1
igorbmwx6
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Transmission malfunction message

Yesterday I was driving in SF Bay Area on highway 101 with my X6 in 5th gear, nothing out of the ordinary, when suddenly "Transmission malfunction" message appears in yellow with yellow gear displayed on dash board. I was able to pull over, park, put in neutral, shut the engine. I then re-started it and message was cleared. The rest of the day driving, everything as usual, no message, nothing. Seems like nothing ever happened. Has anyone seen this on before? Is it something to get alarmed about or should I wait until I see it again? Anyone knows what could possibly cause this error message to appear? Thank you

Last edited by igorbmwx6; 07-28-2013 at 03:21 PM..
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      07-28-2013, 01:05 PM   #2
Jess///M
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I would check it out whether car is in or out of warranty.
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      07-28-2013, 03:21 PM   #3
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I will definitely ask a tech from Peter Pan BMW regarding this issue, just was wondering if anyone else had seen this
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      07-28-2013, 06:59 PM   #4
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Well, I get engine malfunction. Comes and goes... There's a reason why the messages come out...
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      08-15-2013, 04:09 PM   #5
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Took the car to a local BMW dealership. They took a look at it, read fault codes from the transmission and told me that there is nothing wrong with it. Their solution was to re-set or re-initialize the transmission (learning pattern) to default and take it from there. If the error comes back to bring it back in
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      09-16-2013, 12:40 PM   #6
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This ever recur for you? Same thing just happened to me in my 135i, at around 4900 on the odometer. I was on 101 as well -- maybe its the freeway.

Pulled off the road, shut it down, restarted and seemed to drive OK after that. Its at Sonnen now and I am expecting them to come back with the same looks ok, bring it in if it happens again response. Just wondering how yours has been holding up.
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      09-16-2013, 03:54 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by EatMyDust View Post
This ever recur for you? Same thing just happened to me in my 135i, at around 4900 on the odometer. I was on 101 as well -- maybe its the freeway.

Pulled off the road, shut it down, restarted and seemed to drive OK after that. Its at Sonnen now and I am expecting them to come back with the same looks ok, bring it in if it happens again response. Just wondering how yours has been holding up.
Well, same "transmission malfunction" fault re-appeared for me four times now, in less than two weeks. Last one was very dangerous situation, maybe even life threatening. Going on 101 North, maybe it is a freeway issue , at approximately 65 miles/hr, in left-most lane, with tons of cars in front of me and tons in the back, going between 75-100 mph, suddenly i see this "transmission malfunction" error as well as my car's wheels are completely disconnected from the engine. Basically, it feels like car was switched into neutral gear and there is no control over it, other than brakes and steering wheel. Luckily, I was able to manage to get it into the "emergency lane" and halt it to a complete stop. Shot off the engine, restarted and all is back to normal. Continued on to Peter Pan BMW, where the car has now been for almost three weeks now. Was told that now stability control unit needs to be re-programmed and it will take time to get it back. Will let you know what I hear back from them and what the real issue is here
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      09-16-2013, 05:18 PM   #8
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3 weeks? Four times? Still not fixed? I would be ticked off too.

I just got a call from Sonnen -- issue is more complicated, still diagnosing, we'll get back to you tomorrow. Said he got me a loaner because he figured it was going to take some time to figure out. That, and based on what you report, has me pretty concerned. Last thing I need is to be flying over Waldo Grade ... or sitting in the left lane on the GG Bridge ... and lose the ability to control the car. I was thinking this was some issue with the DCT tranny on the 1-series, but given that it happened on an X6 it sounds like its a much bigger problem and -- based on my guy saying he knew immediately that it would take some time to address -- one that it seems BMW is pretty familiar with ...
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      09-16-2013, 09:32 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by EatMyDust View Post
3 weeks? Four times? Still not fixed? I would be ticked off too.

I just got a call from Sonnen -- issue is more complicated, still diagnosing, we'll get back to you tomorrow. Said he got me a loaner because he figured it was going to take some time to figure out. That, and based on what you report, has me pretty concerned. Last thing I need is to be flying over Waldo Grade ... or sitting in the left lane on the GG Bridge ... and lose the ability to control the car. I was thinking this was some issue with the DCT tranny on the 1-series, but given that it happened on an X6 it sounds like its a much bigger problem and -- based on my guy saying he knew immediately that it would take some time to address -- one that it seems BMW is pretty familiar with ...
I think you may be correct on this one. Most likely BMW does know about this issue and know that it is not simple to fix. Even though, when it happened to me the 1s time, I took it in, they reset transmission memory to it's factory default settings, gave it back to me and said it should not happen again. Then same fault appeared three more times withing two weeks. My biggest concern about all this is that I am loosing safety feeling when I am behind the wheel of my X6 beast and this is no good, because I like to drive it "like i stole it"
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      10-08-2013, 11:01 PM   #10
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Finally, one and a half month later, $1,100 lighter, and with a newly coded DSC module, I have my car back hopefully I will not see the "transmission malfunction" message ever again ...
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      10-10-2013, 06:32 PM   #11
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Hi Igor - hopefully that fixes it...did they replace the DSC module or just reprogram it with updated software?
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      10-11-2013, 03:32 PM   #12
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Originally Posted by dreamalaska View Post
Hi Igor - hopefully that fixes it...did they replace the DSC module or just reprogram it with updated software?
From what I was told by my tech-adviser at the BMW dealership, they updated software on ALL of my modules to the latest version. When they tried to re-program DSC module, they were not able to do so. Ended up replacing it and re-coding it. This may also explain why I was having "Auto-Hold Malfunction" error every time I tried to use the "Auto-H" button. Must be all related to the same, faulty, DSC module. What a pain. I am glad that it's all over ...
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      10-13-2013, 11:03 AM   #13
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Same error message "Transmission Malfunction" re-appeared again this weekend, while driving at highway speed in 5th gear on highway 101. Was able to take it back to the BMW service center. This is my 3rd times now, taking the car in for the same exact problem. After a total of about two months in repairs and still no resolution to the problem. Will see what they say about it on Monday
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      10-13-2013, 11:05 AM   #14
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Originally Posted by dreamalaska View Post
Hi Igor - hopefully that fixes it...did they replace the DSC module or just reprogram it with updated software?
Apparently that did not fix it, happened to me again this weekend
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      10-13-2013, 08:54 PM   #15
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I would bet money It's your transfer case? It's going bad, that's why the new ecu can't fix the issue. The transfer case can go bad in our vehicles. Since it is all wheel drive tranny faulting cause of the transfer of wheel power. Tell them to put a new transfer case in and I bet it goes away.....good luck
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      10-14-2013, 10:40 AM   #16
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Originally Posted by Centrofly View Post
I would bet money It's your transfer case? It's going bad, that's why the new ecu can't fix the issue. The transfer case can go bad in our vehicles. Since it is all wheel drive tranny faulting cause of the transfer of wheel power. Tell them to put a new transfer case in and I bet it goes away.....good luck
I will tell them that. I was kind of hoping that BMW dealership would be telling me what is wrong with my X6, not me telling them
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      10-18-2013, 09:26 AM   #17
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Does anyone know what is the BMW warranty for transmissions? Is it the same 4yr/50k miles or more than that? Also, if same repair was performed on a vehicle by authorized BMW dealership and then re occurred within the same month, are they under obligation to repair it at no additional cost?
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      10-21-2013, 01:37 PM   #18
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Latest news - transmission needs to be replaced to fix this problem
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      10-21-2013, 02:25 PM   #19
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ugh, sorry to hear man!
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      10-25-2013, 06:00 PM   #20
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New transmission has been ordered directly from Germany. With my luck, it is on back-order. Per my service adviser at the dealership, it may take 1-2 weeks to bring the transmission into the US. Once here, most likely another week or more to get the surgery completed. I have already prepared myself to be without my X6 for another month Not fun driving X1 loaner car in the mean time
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      04-09-2015, 12:24 AM   #21
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Hello igorbmwx6, my 2009 X5 threw this message. Luckily, it didn't disconnect the transmission from the engine entirely, but into a limp mode
How much did it cost to replace the whole transmission ?
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      05-09-2015, 04:52 AM   #22
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Igor,

I own a 12' x6 and I had the same thing happen to me, after spending three weeks in the dealership and a couple of emails to the head of BMW NA I got my vehicle back. Long story they replaced the dsc module twice to find out a ground was rusted "loose" which was causing all the issues. It's been a month and no issues at all
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