The LURCH

[TimX5]

[quote="Entwicklung34"]
Just found this thread, lots of positive evidence for oil changes: http://xdrivers.co.uk/forum/https://xdr ... ic.php?t=6

I'm really glad to hear of so many others with similar 'lurch' issues not ending in a major box catastrophe!
[/quote]

Mine made no difference having the gearbox oil and filter changed.

[chelsea]

[quote="TimX5"]
Mines had the lurch since I've owned the car and it isn't the subframe bushes,  it's the gearbox going from 2nd into 1st gear it does it with my driving sometimes and rarely when the wife drives,  you get used to it lol
[/quote]
agreed it isn't the gearbox bushes, but they would exaggerate it if they are worn like mine. Mine is fine when the engine is cold and does not do it at all, it's only when things have warmed up does it start doing it.

[Entwicklung34]

The more I'm driving the car the more I'm noticing this lurch feature. It's annoying, but I can drive around it if I brake later that I normally would and come to a complete stop. Not something I would expect to be doing in such a luxury car! I can only speak for my car but this ZF 6spd is nowhere near as refined as the GM 5spd I had in the e39 3.0d.
A few people suggest driving in sport mode avoids the lurch problem, but in town driving the sport mode on this car seems cumbersome and it doesn't seem to 'listen' to the drivers input, it will just hold the gear even if you're not wanting to make rapid progress at that moment. Really hard to explain, but I know I could drive the e39 in sport mode and it would be useable even if I was driving 'normally' (and the same goes to an old XJR I owned). The sport mode is great if you want to make rapid progress though I have to say that! A wise person has suggested I drive some other diesel x5's with the same box and see how they feel... I will be doing this as soon as I get the time. I'll obviously update the thread to discuss.

*End of rant*

Other than the box being slightly annoying, I'm still enjoying the car. Says a lot!

[AW8]

I know you are getting this looked at just in case of fault but meanwhile I would drive in D, knock it across to sport on approach to a stop push it back across to D once moved off. Should reduce lurch and avoid the driveability issues. Hassle you shouldn't need to contend with but should improve matters....let me know how this goes if you try it.

[Dickster]

We've got this on our new to us 2005 X5. Two transmission specialists have confirmed that a rebuild is required. One told me the torque convertor is the same as used on the Z3 and marginal on the X5.

We've also noticed that reverse takes a while to engage. Ours is getting a rebuild next month - dealer has agreed to contribute £1000 plus VAT..

[Dickster]

[quote="chelsea"]
I have also had the "Lurch" for over a year and 14,000 miles now (owned 1 year), it was barely noticeable when I brought the car but I have noticed it a little worse lately. I am putting this down to the fact that the rear subframe bushes are on their way out (diagnosed by the thump at the rear I have experienced twice recently)??

I will report back if as expected, it's better when I swap out the bushes.

The Lurch is not just a BMW problem alone, it can also be found on other makes of car that also use the same ZF 6 speed box, landrover, jaguar etc, I did a bit of digging when I first brought the x5 and it is a universal problem with this box. I did read somewhere on another maker forum that the problem was down to a very cheap poly-plastic bush on the primary gear shaft that fails prematurely, whether this is correct or not I do not know but I remember thinking that it made much sense when reading it.
[/quote]

Possibly, one of the specialists I spoke to said there were worn bushes and this meant that the oil pressure has increased to compensate - the high oil pressure was the cause of the lurch - dont know, but makes some sense?

[TimX5]

[quote="Dickster"]
[quote="chelsea"]
I have also had the "Lurch" for over a year and 14,000 miles now (owned 1 year), it was barely noticeable when I brought the car but I have noticed it a little worse lately. I am putting this down to the fact that the rear subframe bushes are on their way out (diagnosed by the thump at the rear I have experienced twice recently)??

I will report back if as expected, it's better when I swap out the bushes.

The Lurch is not just a BMW problem alone, it can also be found on other makes of car that also use the same ZF 6 speed box, landrover, jaguar etc, I did a bit of digging when I first brought the x5 and it is a universal problem with this box. I did read somewhere on another maker forum that the problem was down to a very cheap poly-plastic bush on the primary gear shaft that fails prematurely, whether this is correct or not I do not know but I remember thinking that it made much sense when reading it.
[/quote]

Possibly, one of the specialists I spoke to said there were worn bushes and this meant that the oil pressure has increased to compensate - the high oil pressure was the cause of the lurch - dont know, but makes some sense?
[/quote]

Bushes don't make a difference  , I did mine not long since and the lurch is still there .

[RenoHuskerDu]

My indy mechanic gets all red in the face talking about E53 auto gearbox issues. I had to give him a schnapps to calm him down. Frenchmen.

In any case, we searched out the hen's tooth in finding a manual gearbox E53 facelift. My sons will use it for their driver license training, and manual gearbox is required for that.  So the only Lurch I know of is John Kerry.

[grumpywurzel]

Sorry for dragging this out of the mud, as some know of you know I have had a gearbox failure recently and currently the car is having the gearbox rebuilt as I type (hopefully back tomorrow). Anyway I spoke to the specialist who was surprised that we are still getting this issue as the "Lurch" was identified by BMW sometime ago and released a software patch/update to the TCM (Traction Control Module???).

So if some of you are still getting this it might be an idea to see if your module needs updating

[Dickster]

We had ours rebuilt six months and 3k miles ago, and it runs great now. No more lurch! The repair shop said they have done lots of X5's and they need a rebuild after 100k miles..

[Colin]

First i heard of software update , thanks for that i must look more info from my local BMW .

[Horizon]

[quote="COLIN"]
First i heard of software update , thanks for that i must look more info from my local BMW .
[/quote]
Software update works for some but not all, some have serviced the gearbox and improved the lurch, some have fitted oil coolers to I prove the lurch. Some it takes a rebuild to get it sorted.

[TimX5]

My gearbox has been serviced and updated and no different still the same after 2 yrs or more , never seems to lurch when the wife drives it .

[grumpywurzel]

[quote="Dickster"]
We had ours rebuilt six months and 3k miles ago, and it runs great now. No more lurch! The repair shop said they have done lots of X5's and they need a rebuild after 100k miles..
[/quote]

Picking mine up today, thats what my gearbox guy said, approx 80-100k is all that these boxes seem to be good for. Dropped mine off to what looked like a mini x5 meeting.... Just hope it feels better than it was, he did say all of the internals were suffering from the normal wear n tear expected from these big cars.

[Colin]

  well how you and gearbox get on today , all sorted out ? how many miles were on yours ??