E46 323i no reverse update

[dizzy]

Some of you may recall that a few months back I reported that my 2000
323i (inevitably) developed the "no reverse" problem. Fortunately for
me, my car was built before March 2000, so has the GM tranny.

Here's a good write-up on the issue.

http://blog.bavauto.com/13206/bmw-automatic-transmission-the-other-no-reverse-a5s-390r-a5s-360r-5l40e/

I drove the car for several months with this intermittent problem.
Sometimes it would work fine for weeks. I back into parking spots, so
that I know that I can get out.

I was taking my time because the car was still usable, and it took
some time to get a solution figured-out. BMW told me that they don't
work on transmissions - they replace them. Assholes. Calling some
transmission chain like Kennedy was out of the question. I know what
those assholes would have told me - remove and rebuild the tranny.

A local German-car repair shop told me that they don't work on
transmissions.

I called an independent place that looked good, but they claimed to be
skeptical that the TCC solenoid could be the problem, and wanted to
dig into it themselves.

God forbid, when there is a known problem with a known solution like
this, that a mechanic would just agree to do what you ask. What a
world!

Anyway, I lucked-out and got a mechanic friend of a friend to do it
for me. I bought the solenoid, filter/gasket kit, and fluid from
bavauto.

So, last week, we finally got it done. The solenoids (five of them)
are visible once the pan is off, but he valve body needs to be removed
before the TCC solenoid can be removed.

The TCC solenoid is one of the four smaller ones, and is next to the
big one, on the opposite side of the valve body from the other three
small ones.

The job seems fairly straightforward, with just a couple glitches.
Getting the drain plug off the pan was difficult, and snapped his
wrench. He was able to chisel it off. I would advise having a spare
plug (with a nice hex head on it, preferably), and taking it off while
the pan is off.

The most surprising thing that we encountered was that my old TCC
solenoid did not have an outlet filter (or the black plastic thing
that would hold the filter in place)! The other three small
(supposedly identical) ones did, but the one did not!!!

http://blog.bavauto.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/2013-01-02-13.19.11a2.jpg

There was no obvious issue with crud or particles or broken filter
screens or anything. So, what we did was remove the little rod that
is pushed-on by the TCC solenoid and acts as the valve, and lightly
sanded/deburred it. We put things back together with the new
solenoid. A pump is needed to pump new fluid into the drain hole - a
messy pain in the butt. Top off, run car forward and reverse to fill
torque converter, top off again.

The job took him about 3 hours. With a lift, it could probably be
done in half that time.

I've had no problems since then, but, because of the intermittent
nature of the problem, it may take a month or two before I'm confidant
that the problem is fixed. So I'm still backing into parking spots.
For a total cost of less than $400, it was worth the try, in any case.

[Jeff Strickland]

"dizzy" <di...@nospam.invalid> wrote in message
news:a5bl59h1tpjprula3...@4ax.com...

I don't remember you posting troubles, but I found the same solution as
you -- the TCC Solenoid -- 3 or 4 years ago. I took my car to my mechanic to
change the fluid and filters AND (and this is the main reason) to replace
the solenoid. He did not replace the solenoid and he told me so. The car
worked pretty well for a few weeks, maybe two months, and then went back to
not shifting into R. I went back and asked that he replace the solenoid, but
this time he not charge because that was all I really wanted him to do the
first time. I agreed, of course, that I should cover the part, but I
objected to the labor because it was the labor that he already did when
changing the filters and screens and such. But I digress, the solenoid fixed
the trouble of No Reverse in my GM5 transmisison installed in my '00 323i
with a production date of 03/00.

I actually bought my car because of the No Reverse problem. The seller was
dumping it because he was told it had to have the transmisison replaced. I
got the car for pretty much the normal value, minus the price of the
transmission. When I read that there was a solenoid that I could get for 80
bucks, I jumped on the deal for my daughter.

And, you're right, the job goes much faster on a lift as opposed to laying
on the floor with the car on jack stands. The mechanic pulled the pan,
changed out the filters and screens, put the pan back on and filled it in
less than an hour and a half. He coulda put the solenoid in in another 15
minutes or so, if he had done it the first time like I asked.

I do most of my own work on my car, and the car went to Texas for a year or
so, so I have not been into the shop for a lonng time. I needed some
diagnostics done for a failed smog on my E36, so I called for an
appointment. The woman that answers the phone said, "We were just talking
about you!" They had a GM5 come in with No Reverse, and my insistance on the
solenoid came to mind, and they got the customer fixed up for a fraction of
the cost that had been quoted by other shops.

Bottom line, if you have a GM5 transmission and cannot get a reliable
Reverse gear selection, you probably need the TCC solenoid. If you have the
ZF, and NEVER get Reverse to work, then you need the Reverse Drum. Either
way, you do not need a new transmission, and if you can work on your car at
home then your parts cost is very low -- less than $100 for the GM5, but I
don't recallwhat the reverse drum runs.

The E46Fanatics forum has an excellent write up on the transmissions used
and the fluids each one takes. Check it out,
http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=706809

[dizzy]

"Jeff Strickland" <crwl...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>I actually bought my car because of the No Reverse problem. The seller was
>dumping it because he was told it had to have the transmisison replaced. I
>got the car for pretty much the normal value, minus the price of the
>transmission. When I read that there was a solenoid that I could get for 80
>bucks, I jumped on the deal for my daughter.

I contemplated selling mine, years ago when I first heard of the
problem. That damn noreverse.org site with countless 323i owners
complaining... What a poor site - nowhere (that I saw) do they
clarify the GM vs. ZF issues, even though they show the service
bulletin that shows the change to ZF in March of 2000. Lots of people
cursing GM up and down for what is really not a big deal, if you can
do the work yourself, or convince someone to do it.

Obviously I stuck it out, and I was able to rack-up 140,000 miles
before the problem started. Then, some people that I know advised me
to sell the car while it still mostly worked, but that's not my style.

Of course, part of the problem is that no one since has made a car as
good as the E46. 8)

>Bottom line, if you have a GM5 transmission and cannot get a reliable
>Reverse gear selection, you probably need the TCC solenoid. If you have the
>ZF, and NEVER get Reverse to work, then you need the Reverse Drum. Either
>way, you do not need a new transmission, and if you can work on your car at
>home then your parts cost is very low -- less than $100 for the GM5, but I
>don't recallwhat the reverse drum runs.

The reverse drum is, of course, a major repair to the transmission.

[dizzy]

dizzy <di...@nospam.invalid> wrote:

>I've had no problems since then, but, because of the intermittent
>nature of the problem, it may take a month or two before I'm confidant
>that the problem is fixed. So I'm still backing into parking spots.
>For a total cost of less than $400, it was worth the try, in any case.

Well, 17 days after the "fix", I had another no-reverse event. Damn
it. This could spell the end, for this car, because I'm not putting
thousands of dollars into a transmission for it.

I feel that after almost 13 years, I've gotten my moneys-worth out of
it, but it looks like I'll be shopping for a replacement. I guess it
wouldn't kill me to buy a new car, once every decade or so... I did
really enjoy my little 323...

[mbl...@archermoreno.com]

I've experienced the No Reverse issue and researched it the best I could before I bit the bullet for the repair. I have the GM Tranny, so I changed out the solenoid and they did some work on the valve body. One week later and the reverse is intermittent again. I'm at a crossroad because I really love this little car, but can't see investing so much in her. Has anyone discovered the definitive answer besides swapping out the tranny?

[Scott Dorsey]

<mbl...@archermoreno.com> wrote:
>I've experienced the No Reverse issue and researched it the best I could be=
>fore I bit the bullet for the repair. I have the GM Tranny, so I changed o=
>ut the solenoid and they did some work on the valve body. One week later a=
>nd the reverse is intermittent again. I'm at a crossroad because I really =
>love this little car, but can't see investing so much in her. Has anyone d=

>iscovered the definitive answer besides swapping out the tranny?

The problem is that a lot of different things can fail to cause the same
symptom. You have dealt with the two most common failures, but there are
still plenty more (including the normal issues with tiny hydraulic channels
clogging that have many different possible symptoms).

Think of this as an opportunity to drop in the 5-speed Getrag that this
car really deserves. Yes, I know it's a whole bunch of linkages that need
to be installed and carefully tweaked but you'll never regret doing it.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

[dizzy]

Scott Dorsey wrote:

> <mbl...@archermoreno.com> wrote:
>>I've experienced the No Reverse issue and researched it the best I could be=
>>fore I bit the bullet for the repair. I have the GM Tranny, so I changed o=
>>ut the solenoid and they did some work on the valve body. One week later a=
>>nd the reverse is intermittent again. I'm at a crossroad because I really =
>>love this little car, but can't see investing so much in her. Has anyone d=
>>iscovered the definitive answer besides swapping out the tranny?

I still get a no reverse event once a month or so. I'm going to get a
new car but, I think, keep the 323i as a "beater". It's still usable,
making sure to back into parking spaces and stuff so you know that you
can get out.

Occasionally I've had to push it out of my garage, where, once
rolling, there's enough of a slant to get me out into the street.

Not really acceptable, as a primary car. I may be cheap, but I'm not
that poor. 8)

Out of principle, I neither want to invest the $thousands to fix it,
nor do I want to dump the problem onto someone else.

>The problem is that a lot of different things can fail to cause the same
>symptom. You have dealt with the two most common failures, but there are
>still plenty more (including the normal issues with tiny hydraulic channels
>clogging that have many different possible symptoms).
>
>Think of this as an opportunity to drop in the 5-speed Getrag that this
>car really deserves. Yes, I know it's a whole bunch of linkages that need
>to be installed and carefully tweaked but you'll never regret doing it.
>--scott

That's pretty extreme, for a car that may be nearing the end of it's
service life, may be starting to rust, etc.