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      03-22-2022, 01:24 PM   #1
Kjessie
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Drivetrain malfunction warning

So I was driving my 2014 X3 on the highway in a rainstorm the other day when suddenly I got an orange-colored warning light on the dashboard that said “DRIVETRAIN MALFUNCTION….stop- call bmw roadside assistance”. The transmission slipped into neutral on its own and I coasted to the shoulder, as soon as I pulled over and stopped the transmission shifted into park by itself, and then every time I tried to put it into gear, it automatically went back to park on its own (when I pulled over, I unlocked the steering wheel, so I could adjust it and while I have no idea if it was related, or just coincidental, I could not get it to lock into any position again.). I contacted BMW roadside assistance and they sent a flatbed tow truck to take me to the nearest BMW dealer. Now the dealer is telling me that while they aren't sure about their diagnosis yet, they think it needs a new transmission (and of course the warranty has expired)…they are going to do some additional diagnostic tests and get back to me tomorrow. I’m retired and bough this car in 2017 as a used/certified vehicle, with 32k miles …it only has 60k miles on it now and as far as I know has never been driven “rough” nor been used for towing (prior to my purchase it had been leased to a woman in upstate NY)….does it seem realistic that the transmission could have gone bad this soon and under these circumstances, or is the dealership trying to make a fast buck. Anyone have any idea what could be causing this (I'm not particularly mechanically oriented.) thanks!
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      03-23-2022, 11:32 AM   #2
Kjessie
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UPDATE : turns out the hoses recirculating fluid to the transmission sprung a leak and all of the transmission fluid drained out…the warning message I got elated to that and the car shifting into neutral, then park as soon as it was stopped, and not allowing it to be put into a driving gear is BMW’s safety feature to help prevent damage to the transmission. Now the dealership is going to fill the transmission case with new fluid in an attempt to find and fix the leak, after which they will test the car to see if the transmission is still good. I’ll get the results tomorrow…wish me luck! (I’ll post another update here)
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      03-23-2022, 08:58 PM   #3
brianhinton77
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Good luck and post update!
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      03-24-2022, 08:00 PM   #4
brianhinton77
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Any news on this today?
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      04-10-2022, 01:23 PM   #5
Kjessie
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Final(?) update

UPDATE: After repairing the transmission lines leak and refilling the transmission fluid reservoir, I got the car back, and everything seems to be back to “normal”, the transmission is fine and operating perfectly (altho the technician couldn't predict that it would continue to do so in the future, but its been a week now….). It seems the “drivetrain malfunction” warning and the fact that the transmission automatically shifted into “park” as soon as I pulled over and stopped the car is BMW’s fail-safe to prevent transmission damage when the sensors determine the transmission fluid has dropped to unsafe levels….at least thats the only thing I could surmise when it went into park and couldn't be shifted into any gear until fluid was again added…now it shifts without any hesitation. I asked the service manager if my theory was correct, and he just responded “maybe”, so perhaps this is a feature not widely known, or I just got fantastically lucky!
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      04-11-2022, 05:51 AM   #6
pole1980
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kjessie View Post
UPDATE : turns out the hoses recirculating fluid to the transmission sprung a leak and all of the transmission fluid drained out…the warning message I got elated to that and the car shifting into neutral, then park as soon as it was stopped, and not allowing it to be put into a driving gear is BMW’s safety feature to help prevent damage to the transmission. Now the dealership is going to fill the transmission case with new fluid in an attempt to find and fix the leak, after which they will test the car to see if the transmission is still good. I’ll get the results tomorrow…wish me luck! (I’ll post another update here)
This is amazing, the exact same thing happened to me last year (mine is a 2016 2.0xd), precisely on Christmas Day.

The pipes that circulate the oil from the transmission to the oil cooler, somehow popped out from the transmission, lost all fluid in seconds, car shifted in N immediately, same "drivetrain malfunction" showed up, and I called BMW Road Assist to tow the car to the shop, as now it was locked in P.

it's a safety feature, that automatically prevents the car to be driven when it detects low oil pressure in the transmission, otherwise the transmission would be damaged.

Got the fluid replaced, new pipes, transmission reset and I was good to go.

enjoy, also the cause of the failure is detailed:

https://x3.xbimmers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1885902

Last edited by pole1980; 04-11-2022 at 06:14 AM..
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      05-08-2022, 01:12 PM   #7
Kjessie
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How has yours been driving since then? Ive had mine back out on the road for about a month now, and evidently the incident did not harm my transmission, its been driving smoothly since then, with no further problems.
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      05-10-2022, 05:27 AM   #8
pole1980
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kjessie View Post
How has yours been driving since then? Ive had mine back out on the road for about a month now, and evidently the incident did not harm my transmission, its been driving smoothly since then, with no further problems.
No issues whatsoever, drives perfectly normal.
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      05-19-2022, 08:08 PM   #9
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