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      07-25-2014, 09:04 PM   #1
SherryK CT
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Transmission line failure - 2014 X3 28i with less than 600 miles on it

I am new to this forum so forgive me if I am doing this all wrong, but I wanted to start a new thread in case other people had this problem ...there were probably other cars made on the line the same day mine was. I had posted a reply to a 2011 thread, but wanted to put this as 2014.

My 2014 X3 has less than 600 miles on it. I have had it since June 2014 and bought it with 6 miles on it. Pristine.

Yesterday I am driving home and the 'drivetrain malfunction' light comes on and says I should go to service center to fix and to drive slow. Of course in a 4 week old car I thought perhaps the indicator was out of whack. THEN it flashes again in about 5 seconds and the car is in neutral...I cant accelerate. The engine is revving. I seriously hate to think what would have happened if I was on a highway with trucks behind me with no pull off. Like where I had been 15 minutes prior.

I pulled off the road into a parking lot and the car would not go into drive or reverse. BMW assist (who I thought I might not have to contact this early!) was great and sent a flatbed and went to the dealer. While waiting I noticed there was transmission fluid puddling out from under neath and was all sprayed on the drivers side door and the back end (probably from driving on the highway for an hour prior).. Same issues as first poster. from 2011....can't get it on the truck and then they could not get it off the flatbed at the dealership. transmission is now locked.

So dealer says today that the transmission coolant lines failed, rubbed together to release them or something. That clips or 'holders' were not on the car so it might be oversight in manufacturing. The transmission is fine (yeah? right?). There is an investigative case now with my VIN with BMW to see what happened during production. It will take 5 business days to get the parts from Germany, so I insisted on at least a 3series to drive during the wait. Which I got. They told me they will have more info once the parts come in and they can fully check out the transmission. If 'worse came to worse' they would replace the whole transmission. Of note I smelled no burning tranny fluid and it was still clear.

So help me out there all you motor savvy folks. I am scared to death the tranny is injured and/or this might happen again. I don't know if I can insist on a replacement X3 at this point. Do I trust this vehicle and the tranny? I think I trust the dealer...my second BMW there. But I feel like with cars and being female I get taken advantage of easily sometimes.

After this post, did the original poster ever have problems like this again once fixed? Problems with transmission? What is the outcome?

Thoughts out there from anyone as to if I should be very concerned or 'things like this happen sometimes'

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

***************************************

update after repair:

Ok the BMW head service guy explained to me today when I picked up my X3 (4 days from incident so parts came in earlier than I was told..YAY!) that during assembly, there were clips or holders that were left off the transmission line that went from the tranny to the radiator. As a result the connections between the two were fine but the line was rubbing against the driver side wheel well and caused a hole and then rupture.

The tranny is fine since any damage was prevented with the car shutting down due to 'no' or 'low' pressure with the tranny fluid 'sensor' in the car. Line and other parts replaced..tranny fluid drained, flushed and refilled. Test drive = ok.
The service manager took my email and will send me photos. Offered to have me come in in 500 miles and put the car on the lift where we can both look and see if there are any issues or leaks. I told him I would take him up on it. He was good and sincere and spent about 30 minutes with me.

As far as extended warranty on drivetrain/tranny, he said to go to BMW NA to see if they could do anything; but let's say if in 45K miles after warranty runs out (my warranty will run out with time and not miles), and there is a transmission problem, it will be considered under warranty. Not sure about that. Something about a a courtesy warranty or something (I can't remember the term) ...of course no paperwork on that. But that the 'incident' is in the system and will be picked up with future problems. I plan on calling BMW NA and sending an email to at least get me in that customer service system for future possible events.

So we will see. If it is a line mishap during manufacturing, I bet there are other X3's out there manufactured the same day that might have the same 'clips' missing. hmmmm....thus why I want to share here.

Just thought I would update this in case anyone has this problem. The car did not blow up on the way home..good thing. Will try to remember to update in a while after say 600 miles when I bring it in on the lift.

Take care and I welcome comments here. Man I do love this car though! :-)

Safe travels BMW lovers!!!!
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      07-26-2014, 12:42 PM   #2
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Sorry for your misfortune only days into owning it. Could you post pictures of the clips that hold the lines ? Or post the invoice showing the part number ? Then someone could look up the parts diagram exploded view for reference .

As for the transmission, I think every incident is a case by case basis. I could see BMW replacing the transmission under warranty with no hassle under 50k miles. Now within 5k miles after warranty expiration is usually "goodwill" . Now since I think you mentioned time would run out first . You may want to try to complain of any slight noises you hear, shift issues , or whatever as you get to the end of your warranty. They are more likely to do a goodwill replacement or half cost remedy.

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