1994 BMW 525 Transmission Slipping

GHEEC

MEMBER
1994 BMW 525
6 CYL
2WD
AUTOMATIC
178,000 MILES

Hello, my car has been great since I purchased it in 1999 with only 60k miles on it. Since, then I have kept it current with routine and scheduled maintenance. However, now my transmission is starting to fail. It started with the car slow to engage in reverse during the first start of the day. Now, from the lower gears, trying to accelerate, the car seems to be missing as my RPMs are increasing and the car isn't going into gear. Once I decrease my RPMs and finally get the car into the last gear, it's fine. It's just getting to that gear is the problem. I've never had transmission problems with my BMW before, this just started.
With my above explanation, is my transmission fixable, or would I have to replace it, and how much am I looking at? Thank you for your time.

1 Reply

DOCHAGERTY

MECHANIC
9,601 POSTS

I am sure the tranny is repairable, it's just a matter of what out of pocket expenses you are comfortable with. The GM made tranny is probably toast at 178k miles and replacement with a known good remanned tranny is likely to cost 2500 or so and there is the installation cost as well. I would avoid a used tranny as then you are rolling into unknown territory and possibly with a bad unit. To tell if you have a rebuildable unit will require dis-assembly of the tranny, often what happens is there is a clutch pack that wears enough to cause that clutch distress and then it is a domino effect from there.