2011 M3 Transmission problems! New Car!!!

[APDspider]

Hi guys,

First time poster, my father is actually the owner of the car. He's had the car 2 weeks, and twice already, when he starts the M3 he can't get reverse. He also noticed that he's only got 2,4,6 gear... 1-3-5 and R is missing. He gets the following message:

"TRANSMISSION MALFUNCTION : Limited gear selections possible. Continued driving is possible. Drive moderately. Have the system checked by the nearest BMW center."

He has to turn off the car and restart it like 9-10 times before the message goes away and he can drive normally. Sucks when you need to back out of a parking spot. Anyway, he took a picture of the message and drove it to BMW. Car has 300 miles. They cannot find anything wrong with it. They claim to have never heard of such problems.

Any input?

[crazeone]

Originally Posted by APDspider

Hi guys,

First time poster, my father is actually the owner of the car. He's had the car 2 weeks, and twice already, when he starts the M3 he can't get reverse. He also noticed that he's only got 2,4,6 gear... 1-3-5 and R is missing. He gets the following message:

"TRANSMISSION MALFUNCTION : Limited gear selections possible. Continued driving is possible. Drive moderately. Have the system checked by the nearest BMW center."

He has to turn off the car and restart it like 9-10 times before the message goes away and he can drive normally. Sucks when you need to back out of a parking spot. Anyway, he took a picture of the message and drove it to BMW. Car has 300 miles. They cannot find anything wrong with it. They claim to have never heard of such problems.

Any input?

Wow sounds like a serious dct issue. I would def lemon that car if I were you or at least get them to swap the trans. Get in contact with BMW NA not the dealer. You will get much better response that way they will send out a master tech to check out the issue at your local dealer. This will take some time hang in there and remember if the dealer gives you a tuff time always go above there heads to corporate.

GL

[RevFreak14]

Originally Posted by APDspider

Hi guys,

First time poster, my father is actually the owner of the car. He's had the car 2 weeks, and twice already, when he starts the M3 he can't get reverse. He also noticed that he's only got 2,4,6 gear... 1-3-5 and R is missing. He gets the following message:

"TRANSMISSION MALFUNCTION : Limited gear selections possible. Continued driving is possible. Drive moderately. Have the system checked by the nearest BMW center."

He has to turn off the car and restart it like 9-10 times before the message goes away and he can drive normally. Sucks when you need to back out of a parking spot. Anyway, he took a picture of the message and drove it to BMW. Car has 300 miles. They cannot find anything wrong with it. They claim to have never heard of such problems.

Any input?

Never heard of that but if you were able to take a picture of it and show it to them then they should give you a loaner immdiately until they fix the car. Not sure if this is you guys first BMW, but don't just let them get you with the "We can't reproduce the message so there's nothing wrong with the car" crap. And don't let them tell you it must have been you doing something wrong. That is typical dealer nonsense when they simply run into something they haven't seen and can't figure out what's wrong. It's not just BMW, Benz does the same crap. I can speak from experience. Take it all the way to the General Manager if need be and if they don't fix it, get BMW NA on the horn immediately and document the problem with them. Don't take no for an answer especially with a brand new car. But make sure you make a stink and stick up for yourself because if you don't they will drag their feet. The squeaky wheel gets the grease !!!!

[08E92M3]

The same thing has had happened to me a couple of times, except that I only have 1st, 3rd & 5th, but no 2nd, 4th & 6th. I took a picture to show the dealer but they still claim they couldn't duplicate the error, no record of such event according to computer, must be a one-time thing each time I brought it to their attention... As if my photos were fake! One time I didn't notice it under it hit the redline. I thought to myself, that was strange because I knew I have pull the right paddle but it didn't upshift... Sure enough, transmission malfunction striked again. I parked the car & restarted it, it clears up each time so far, but it still very annoying! Not to mention possible damage to the drive-train / transmission! Is it possible to do a head count as to how many of us have had the same problem one time or another!

[APDspider]

Originally Posted by 08E92M3

The same thing has had happened to me a couple of times, except that I only have 1st, 3rd & 5th, but no 2nd, 4th & 6th. I took a picture to show the dealer but they still claim they couldn't duplicate the error, no record of such event according to computer, must be a one-time thing each time I brought it to their attention... As if my photos were fake! One time I didn't notice it under it hit the redline. I thought to myself, that was strange because I knew I have pull the right paddle but it didn't upshift... Sure enough, transmission malfunction striked again. I parked the car & restarted it, it clears up each time so far, but it still very annoying! Not to mention possible damage to the drive-train / transmission! Is it possible to do a head count as to how many of us have had the same problem one time or another!

Here's the photo I took...

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo...eat=directlink

sorry, I can't figure out how to post pictures...

[bobbyd1961]

sounds like one of the clutches not working.

[donovan]

...jesus...first of the new dct problems. Sounds like SMG all over again. Except mine of course, "knock on wood".

[Finnegan]

Originally Posted by APDspider

Hi guys,

First time poster, my father is actually the owner of the car. He's had the car 2 weeks, and twice already, when he starts the M3 he can't get reverse. He also noticed that he's only got 2,4,6 gear... 1-3-5 and R is missing. He gets the following message:

"TRANSMISSION MALFUNCTION : Limited gear selections possible. Continued driving is possible. Drive moderately. Have the system checked by the nearest BMW center."

He has to turn off the car and restart it like 9-10 times before the message goes away and he can drive normally. Sucks when you need to back out of a parking spot. Anyway, he took a picture of the message and drove it to BMW. Car has 300 miles. They cannot find anything wrong with it. They claim to have never heard of such problems.

Any input?

What's wrong is half of the transmission isn't working. The DCT has essentially two transmissions, and the half with 1-3-5 and R isn't working correctly. This could be due to a mechanical failure, computer module failure, shifter failure (more modules essentially).

As far as the response from your dealers, sadly, it sounds like standard operating procedure from BMWNA and their trained little minions. "There's nothing wrong", "can't reproduce", etc etc. Take a look at this thread to see what their response has been like for a guy with a DCT who's car keeps stalling. It's ugly.

You really have two options: keep fighting while the problem comes and goes (low chance of success); drive the car and just let it completely break down--let the transmission blow up (highly chance of success as then they will have to fix it). Keep the paperwork so you can prove you brought it in for the issue that will eventually kill the transmission. Having the paperwork to show you brought it to their attention is key, as the next step after it blows will be for them to try and blame you and deny coverage.

There are too many cases where your experience is sadly the norm, not the exception, and unless something "blows" I'm doubtful anything will be done to address the problem. That's the conclusion Lucid and many others, including me, have come to. If there isn't a SIB (service bulletin) or recall on your particular issue, you're kind of stuck. (Just ask those with the dreaded DCT lag that plagued year 1 and year 2 DCT cars....) Here's a thread with suggested escalation avenues and methods, along with a discussion of the overall issues getting service in general. Give these a try, but know your experience, sadly, is quite typical.

Issues that come and go simply are not addressed by the company and their representatives--either due to policy (we hope you'll go away and not bother us); incompetence; difficulty iin getting authorization from the company for warranty work; and/or due to the lower rates the dealer receives for actaully performning this kind of work. Or all/some of the above.

I know it sucks, and I know that on a 70K you'd expect the service/warranty to be of some use.

To post a picture, go to advanced, then scroll down to "manage attachments" and there you can upload photos (a large size photo probably won't upload, 300-400 KB photos work fine).

[Sandye90m3]

Balls, I'm on transmission #3 (DCT) on my 09 E90 with 13,XXX KM

[Finnegan]

Originally Posted by Sandye90m3

Balls, I'm on transmission #3 (DCT) on my 09 E90 with 13,XXX KM

Wow, here in the People's Republic of California that would be a one way ticket to Lemonsville--after the second one went bad.

Symptoms, experience (you know, did you get the usual denial speeches), etc.?

Totally sucks buddy, I'd be so done with the car.

[icemang17]

odd........I have over 25K miles on my 08 DCT with no problems at all......

I'll be following this one...

[CarForHire]

Originally Posted by bobbyd1961

sounds like one of the clutches not working.

I think so too. One clutch operates the gears you stated don't work, while the other clutch works the rest, correct?

[Finnegan]

Originally Posted by CarForHire

I think so too. One clutch operates the gears you stated don't work, while the other clutch works the rest, correct?

Yes, and, essentially two half transmissions....

Start about 1.30 in....

[PrePharm]

I had that message before for couple days and then it went away. Good luck!

[Finnegan]

Originally Posted by PrePharm

I had that message before for couple days and then it went away. Good luck!

Did you get a crowbar and tap it into your hand while explaining to the car that it better behave, or did it just go away on it's own? How many trouble free miles since it happened?

Based on this, and the others who posted they'd seen a similar issue that cleared up on it's own, I'm sticking with my original advice for the OP: drive the car, and if the transmission blows up worry about it then. Arguing with BMW over an intermittent issue is like trying to teach a pig to dance: it's wastes your time and annoys the pig.

[FStop7]

Sounds like either a defective transmission or the dealer changed the fluid for the 1200 mi service and put the wrong stuff back in.

Anyway, just take it to the dealer, there isn't much anyone here is going to be able to do.

[kpneverdies]

if that happens, i thought they replace the car with a brand new one.
when my parents bought a brand new benz, the engine just shut down. he told the dealer, and the dealer said they'll give my dad a new one if it happens again. (of course they fixed the problem, so it didn't shut off again).

[ChrisK]

Originally Posted by FStop7

Sounds like either a defective transmission or the dealer changed the fluid for the 1200 mi service and put the wrong stuff back in.

Anyway, just take it to the dealer, there isn't much anyone here is going to be able to do.

Op said the car only had 300 miles in it. Considering no other problems have been reported on 2011 cars, I wouldn't worry. BMW will figure it out.

What pises me off is when the dealership says they can't reproduce it and do nothing, yet you know the fault code is stored and they can retrieve it.

[PrePharm]

Originally Posted by Finnegan

Did you get a crowbar and tap it into your hand while explaining to the car that it better behave, or did it just go away on it's own? How many trouble free miles since it happened?

Based on this, and the others who posted they'd seen a similar issue that cleared up on it's own, I'm sticking with my original advice for the OP: drive the car, and if the transmission blows up worry about it then. Arguing with BMW over an intermittent issue is like trying to teach a pig to dance: it's wastes your time and annoys the pig.

My tranny has been trouble free for 9K miles now. When I saw the message, I snapped a pic and showed it to my SA. The car was looked at and nothing came up (of course the message goes away ONLY at the dealer , LOL). I said screw the message and drove it like I normally did; therefore, my tranny message went away and car still drives strong.

I agree with just driving it.. After all, the tranny is still under warranty and OP made the attempt to having it checked out.

[ss134]

Sorry to hear this OP i take delivery of my car next week......with DCT, hope this is not going to be a common issue.

Good luck in getting your problems resolved.

[APDspider]

Great feedback guys.... I'll keep you posted.

[kenwelch]

The next time the problem shows up do not clear the code by restarting. Call BMW roadside assistance and have it towed to the dealer with the problem. If the car arrives with the problem they might be able to diagnose the cause.

Go with the car to the dealer so you can show the SA and Tech what is happening.