[m5ch]

Hi all

I am new here and new with a 2005 M5 i bought used with 50k km. Just after buying it got the car to a long 2 weeks trip and i am now 2000km from base station... On the highway in Italy i saw for the first time the "Transmission fault, error". It comes quite consistently, with around 2500-3000 rpm and 6th or 7th gear. After this happened (Or despite this) i went up a mountain road to see how the lady behaves under stress (could not help it... :biggrin: ) . Metaphysical experience and most important no Transmission fault whatsoever...

The problem only happens around 2500-3000 rpm when floor it with 6-7 gear. But having also read the forums i am concerned that the clutch might have started to slip. Whether the transmission fault happens or not the rpms jump a bit, then come down and then normal acceleration starts.

I have videos that may help you form an opinion: First Transmission fault with 7th gear:

then with 6th gear:

and finally a case where there is no transmission fault but you see what makes me concerned with the clutch slipping

As i have 2500km on the road till i am home... You can see i am a bit concerned....
??????


any help??

 

[ZINC]

well if it was me and i had 2500 km before i got home i sure wouldnt be trying to make the problem appear....

 

[potassium]

Yes its the clutch...you are lucky that you have picked it up while the car is driveable so take it to your nearest dealer before your stress levels go through the roof as you breakdown on a motorway and have to watch a novice tow driver attempt to get your car on a flatbed without scraping the spoiler.

 

[bimmerman5]

Prob best to take it easy and go str8 to dealer / mechanic

 

[Ahmed]

What does your iDrive say?

 

[///power]

If the clutch is slipping, you should feel it in any gear.. Is it only slipping in 6th gear?

 

[sephiroth529]

it's your clutch. you can easily tell. shift to one of the top gears, low rpm ~2000 ish, floor it. if your rpms shoot up and you're not going anywhere, your clutch is slipping. like someone already said, get it fixed before it starts slipping in the lower gears... then you won't be able to drive it at all.

 

[m5ch]

thanks all, for the advice, it seems i overestimated reliability...
Ahmed: iDrive shows nothing. If thats simply clutch nearing end-of-life, should it not come up on iDrive?
power: I actually noticed it today on 5th, also with around 3k rpm.
sephiroth529: When i floor it it the clutch appears to slip. either with transmission fault warning or without, but its really a small increase in the revs, like 300 or so

will take it very easy now and i am bringing it to a dealer tomorrow for a check. problem is that with new year's holidays it is likely that it will not be fixed on time. I am in Greece now and have to be back in switzerland, on the 4th... So i wonder: If i go with low revs, and very light foot what is the chance it can make it through the 1500 km to the finish line?

btw the previous owner replaced the hydraulic pump two months ago in reputable dealer in Zurich. I find it very strange that this happens so soon after that change...:dunno:

 

[Ray J]

wow, a bit early for a new clutch isn't it!?

 

[sephiroth529]

thanks all, for the advice, it seems i overestimated reliability...
Ahmed: iDrive shows nothing. If thats simply clutch nearing end-of-life, should it not come up on iDrive?
power: I actually noticed it today on 5th, also with around 3k rpm.
sephiroth529: When i floor it it the clutch appears to slip. either with transmission fault warning or without, but its really a small increase in the revs, like 300 or so

will take it very easy now and i am bringing it to a dealer tomorrow for a check. problem is that with new year's holidays it is likely that it will not be fixed on time. I am in Greece now and have to be back in switzerland, on the 4th... So i wonder: If i go with low revs, and very light foot what is the chance it can make it through the 1500 km to the finish line?

btw the previous owner replaced the hydraulic pump two months ago in reputable dealer in Zurich. I find it very strange that this happens so soon after that change...:dunno:

it's not so much low revs... it's more how much load is being placed on the clutch. like my test case high gear, low revs, floor it = high load on the clutch. 1st gear, doesn't matter what rpm = low load (easy to rev / get moving). you are lucky M5's have no torque. i would try not to use gears 5, 6, and 7. as for 1500km, hopefully it's all highway. you may be screwed if it's stop and go traffic.

 

[m5ch]

Update: I just came back from the dealer. The story is interesting.

So they run all the tests and they did not find any issue with the clutch. Instead they found a fault code about "Error in SMG Basic Control Unit communicating with CAM channel" or something like this (they did not want to give me the controls/errors dump). They were affirmative that the clutch is OK and that the SMG control unit has to be replaced. FYI the part id is: 23607842205 and here the info: RealOEM.com BMW E60 M5 Basic control module SMG

They were puzzled about the reasons of the error, asking me if there were any non standard tunings done, which is not the case or any significant reprogramming of the cars software (only recent changes: An iDrive update to install Aux input, changing to 18'' Winter Wheels, and the SMG pump change 2-3 months back.

On my side, i will continue driving carefully for the rest of the 1500km as this part would have to be shipped from Germany and i have no time to wait.
I still wonder
a) what is CAM and what kind of problem that is that is manifesting itself like clutch slipping
b) how come this control unit failed just now? How can it be my fault and could i claim a manufacturing default to BMW although its out of garantie?

 

[m5ch]

my mistake. Its actually CAN (Controller Area Network) still that makes me no less baffled...

 

[///power]

That's something new to me.. Please keep us updated.

Good luck!