1994 BMW 540 Trans Problem

[KSL540]

I have a 1994 BMW 540i with 178,000 miles on it. The engine was rebuilt under warranty at 97,000 miles by BMW. I also had the trans fluid changed while the engine was rebuilt. For the past few days the car seemed to delay moving after it was put in reverse. Then tonight it wouldn't move at all in reverse so I put it in drive and drove home. After I got home I put it in reverse and it moved as normal no problem. What do you think, is 178,000 miles the magic number for a BMW trans. The trans has never given me any other problems and the car drives like a dream in all gears. The car is almost perfect, no other issues. What is my next move?

1. Sell the car (i.e.-give it away) for what price and do I disclose the trans issue.
2. Have the trans rebuilt if so by whom.
3. Get a used tans if so where.

Thanks for your help

Kevin

[F4Phantom]

Mate I had the exact same symptoms, I looked for a lot of answers but in the end the reverse clutch was metal on metal. I know a lot more about transmisisons through this site than I did then, and if you rip the thing to bits to replace the reverse clutch then you may as well do it right. A bit of other info you need to know is that there are around 20 or more rubber seals in the trans. These get brittle over time and allow fluid to leak through (not onto the ground but it looses hydraulic pressure) this can make a million different symptoms for the car, anything from having no probs to having little glitches here and there that either only happen when hot, only when cold etc,, basicly you could be fault finding for 100 years when there is not realy problem. After 270km my foward clutch (there is only one of them and it's half the size of the reverse clutch) was perfect and could have gone back in. It was the rubber seals, the reverse clutch which was my problem. So the answer, a rebuild. After that, you have a brilliant car with a tranny which will last another 250k's.

[F4Phantom]

Oh yeah, My tans cost $2360 to rebuild, a used one was ~$2k, so why bother.

[Tiger]

Call Kirt Koeller at Autosport Unlimited in MI... You need a rebuilt valve body. You can look up his number via search on this forum.

Don't drive your car anymore until you talk to him. You don't want to damage the tranny any more that you need a rebuilt tranny instead.

Other thing... You should top off your fluid... if fluid is low, then it is possible you don't have reverse because the fluid is low and cold... after you drive home... fluid is hot and expanded.

[SharkmanBMW]

ditto, call Kirt and do nothing else.
I had the same, slipping in reverse, I caught it before it was too late,
cost me $700 or so for a valve body job by a bmw tranny specialist.
He knew exactly what to do.