New 6 speed auto

New 6 speed auto

Author
Discussion

pthomp52

Original Poster:

6 posts

215 months

Tuesday 5th December 2006
quotequote all
Hi everyone. I have a 3 year old 7 series with the 6 speed auto which is playing up. Local gearbox guy won't touch it becuase of the electronic change gubbins, and BMW stealer wants £5k to change it for new one as they can't repair it. any one know anything about them? Local gear box guy told me he had to get someone from ZF to come out to get one he did try to look at to get it off the ramp as it shut down the whole car.
Thanks.

rassi

2,475 posts

257 months

Tuesday 5th December 2006
quotequote all
Did you have BMW do a full diagnostic on it? Sounds a bit strange for a 3 year old auto gearbox to completely die? I would proceed with a filter and oil-change before biting the bullet?

StuB

6,695 posts

245 months

Tuesday 5th December 2006
quotequote all
Sounds really odd.

I take it your warranty has only just run out? The dealer should be willing to offer some help. I can't understand the issue as surely the gearbox is a lifetime item, not a consumable/wear and tear part.

There are issues if you have uneven tyre wear on the rears, but I think that's about all I've heard on BMW forums.

I take it you're not posting to try and advertise your own services? scratchchin

Egbert Nobacon

2,835 posts

249 months

Tuesday 5th December 2006
quotequote all
StuB said:


There are issues if you have uneven tyre wear on the rears,


Or the fronts, but the stealer should be aware and recommend tyre change.

pthomp52

Original Poster:

6 posts

215 months

Tuesday 5th December 2006
quotequote all
I have had the stealer check it out and they tell me it's the mechatronic whatever the hell that is, it stays in first and does not change up no matter what. MPG is naturally great and I can make 15 mph! nothing I do makes any difference. I bought the car 3 months ago and it was fine. The dealer has done a diagnostic and say that it needs replacing, even a ZF parts centre say they can't help and normally they are good. I don't fancy paying the dealer throughh the nose for a new box, and apparently you can't fit a second hand one cause it won't speak to the engine and locks evrything up. At least that's what the gearbox guy said. Bloody electronics, I remember when I could get unde rthe bonnet of my MK1 escort and fiddle with it till it worked. Oh and reverse works too, fortunatley

blackspider

1,038 posts

215 months

Tuesday 5th December 2006
quotequote all
Hi all,have had a few failures with these boxxes,mainly due to the vehicle being belly flopped onto the gearbox-this bad news as the gerbox sump is plastic.
All of the electronics for the gearbox are inside the box.Some parts are replaceable ie mecatronics(this is the electrical valve block that selects/primes the clutches and gears etc),control unit.
But all the ones I have done the test schedule basically asks you to replace the gearbox.This means an unrepairable internal fault.which causes the oil to burn,clutch pack failures etc.
Before any authority to order a box we have to send an internal mail to technical,they can then look at all the data from the vehicle or go live and link to and talk to the gearbox in the car.So when they say it cant be repaired its normally backed up by technical.Your very unlikely to find a ZF engineer to fix it-even BMW had to bring a ZF engineer from overseas to oversee the network
In this case if it is out of warranty and the dealer wont help but you have full bmw history and sensible mileage then its worth contacting customer services

Edited by blackspider on Tuesday 5th December 23:28

pthomp52

Original Poster:

6 posts

215 months

Tuesday 5th December 2006
quotequote all
Bugger! I was hoping that someone knew someone who could do the software thing and let me install a second hand one. I found out that ZF have a place in nottingham, i'm gonna call them tomorrow. The web shite tells you nothing.

rassi

2,475 posts

257 months

Wednesday 6th December 2006
quotequote all
If you bought the car through a dealer (not an auction) three months ago, then surely it would be under some sort of warranty still? You would normally get 1 years warranty, even from non-BMW dealers? New EU rules give a 24 months period on all goods, of which the first 6 months are warranty, and the 18 months are a "reclamation" right where you need to prove the fault was there from the beginning.

Zod

35,295 posts

264 months

Wednesday 6th December 2006
quotequote all
If bought from a dealer, it must have a BMW AUC warranty, surely.

pthomp52

Original Poster:

6 posts

215 months

Wednesday 6th December 2006
quotequote all
Unfortunately I bought it from some guy in the local paper, thought it was a good deal. Spoke to some technical guy at ZFGB in nottingham today, he tells me that a BMW dealer can fit a second hand one as they have all the software to do it. He confirmed that the mechatroic thingy is bust. He also told me that next year they will be refurbing the mechathingy but don't have the test rig yet. Brill don't help me much. I need the car so I'll ask the dealer if he'll fit a second hand one, if I can find one, any ideas anyone? or i'll just have to bite the bullet and see the bank manager. Do any of the independants have the software?

off_again

12,815 posts

240 months

Wednesday 6th December 2006
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Seriously unlucky mate....

As for parts - not used them myself, but know a few people who have and can pretty much source anything:

www.fabdirect.com/

It wont be cheap and you might need to order (none in stock) but they should be able to sort you out pretty quickly!

m12_nathan

5,138 posts

265 months

Wednesday 6th December 2006
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You could always get it fitted by an indy then get a dealer to program it?

m12_nathan

5,138 posts

265 months

Wednesday 6th December 2006
quotequote all
Also worth speaking to customer services about a good will payment if it is a 3 year old uk car with reasonable milage?

Smartie

2,606 posts

279 months

Wednesday 6th December 2006
quotequote all
shouldn't the repair be covered by the sale of goods act etc, as a gearbox would be expected to last more than 3 years - maybe a call to trading standards?