Gear Changes not smooth, holding on to the gear for too long?

[rickz]

Hi Guys,

I've got a 40d M Sport with 94k on the clock and feel like the gear changing isn't as smooth as it should be?

Feels like it's holding onto the gears for too long and I find myself letting go of the accelerator to let it change gear/drop revs.

Drove my brothers who has the same car but with 82k on the clock and his seems a lot smoother.

I've tried the reset whereby you hold the accelerator down whilst in ignition but hasn't really done a great deal.

Any ideas?

[Riggie]

I had the g/box, diffs and transfer box fluids changed on mine at 70k. Made a difference to the smoothness of the changes.

[X5Sport]

Check that your thermostat is opening correctly.  Mine does this but only when it is cold.  As soon as the engine warms up it stops.  The car has a cold/hot running mode and if the stat is staying open (common on the E53) this could be slowing the warm up cycle down to the pont that it won’t fully warm up so that it will hold the gears for long

[neo61uk]

I would start with gearbox service
It should be around £400 at gearbox specialist but worth the money if you are planning on keeping the car.

I always service my autos in every beemer despite them telling me it's lifetime oil

Bought my x5 40d 3 months ago with 84k miles and first thing was to service the gearbox.

Much much better and smoother changes and overall gearbox experience is better.
You also extend the life of gearbox

Touch wood, never had an issue with any bmw (zf) gearbox since I service them at 80-100k miles.

Good luck

[rickz]

Thanks for the replies guys...best price i've had so far is £500 from my local bmw specialist. does that sound reasonable?

will try a few more bmw specialists and see what prices I can get.

Will also look into getting a software update done.

[neo61uk]

Well if you are looking for a gearbox service to be done right I would look for Automatic Gearbox Specialist not bmw specialist...

Never used BMW specialist for it tbh.
They do have some knowledge but gearbox being super sensitive equipment made by another company ZF is a different story.

My local specialist Bristol Transmission charged me £350 for a service including new oil Pan with filter.

[X5Sport]

BMW’s view is the box is sealed for life (that’s a mere three years in BMW parlance).  A specialist should be fine as long as they are using the correct fluids and proper change procedure.  If they do it regularly then they should know what they are about.

A ZF Specialist will follow the same procedure (they publish it after all, regardless of who does the job) and again use the correct fluids.

Whoever does it, make certain they have experience with that box (ZF will do) and they must change the filter.  Many 8sp boxes will be below the 60,000 mile change point still.