03 330D sport. auto box failure

03 330D sport. auto box failure

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randombits

Original Poster:

17 posts

116 months

Tuesday 22nd July 2014
quotequote all
After some advice really. I bought this from a private seller on sunday. It seemed like a great buy and everything checked out. 100miles down the motorway transmission warning came up but it seemed to lose no performance. pulled off at next exit (luckily only 1 mile away) and switched it off. When I started off again, box was slipping and missing gears out and went into limp mode. what is the likely hood of the box failing so suddenly? Took over 12 hours to get home from that point :-( seller isn't responding now.

jasesapphy

726 posts

208 months

Tuesday 22nd July 2014
quotequote all
Think you have been had

Just suck it up and put a recon box in

He probably had same issue, got codes cleared and as it was intermittent sold the car on

My guess is you will get no response and if you do sold as seen

Osinjak

5,453 posts

120 months

Tuesday 22nd July 2014
quotequote all
Difficult to call. You could have been unlucky or bloke could have pulled a fast one but the fact that he's not responding suggests he knew about it. Not a great deal you can do I'm afraid.

randombits

Original Poster:

17 posts

116 months

Tuesday 22nd July 2014
quotequote all
Thanks for the responses. He mentioned a new gearbox in the ad as it had a recon put in 2010. He also described it as "drives great and in excellent condition throughout" now I know the sale of goods act doesn't apply as it's private but you do get certain rights in that it has to match the description in the advert and as it happened on the day of sale....??

Osinjak

5,453 posts

120 months

Tuesday 22nd July 2014
quotequote all
I'm no expert mate but much has been posted on this site about that sort of thing. Head over to Speed, Plod and the Law and have a search, you should be able to find something that will clarify things for you.

philmots

4,630 posts

259 months

Tuesday 22nd July 2014
quotequote all
As you've bought an 11 year old automatic with I'm guessing around 100k on the clock, I'd assume you've got some sort of Bork fund sat to one side to pay for a recon gearbox WHEN it fails?

As you're aware, you've got no comeback at all with a private sale, you tested it properly and were happy with it, yeah?

I wouldn't of even considered getting in touch with the seller about it.. How embarrassing for you! I'd not even give them the pleasure of knowing you're having issues.

Use your bork fund, get a recon box in and enjoy the car for a good few years more.. Just don't map it. That does break them!


jasesapphy

726 posts

208 months

Tuesday 22nd July 2014
quotequote all
Reason I went manual

Remapped, decat, and a few other bits

Remapped at 32k 5 years ago, driven enthusiastically when give the chance

Clicked 199k yesterday

randombits

Original Poster:

17 posts

116 months

Tuesday 22nd July 2014
quotequote all
A lot of assumptions and a fair bit of arrogance "plilmot" I asked for advice not attitude.

I went for this one specifically because it had already had the box done. It also had a complete engine rebuild when it ate the swirl flaps, new injectors, new turbo etc. I also know that in a private sale you do have rights when an item is not as described.and at the very least the idiot who sold it to me knowing i have a young family should have enough of a moral compass to refund the costs of a recon box, when the car is rendered Un use ableless than 12 hours after sale!

philmots

4,630 posts

259 months

Tuesday 22nd July 2014
quotequote all
Apologies, I could of put it better..

But my experience of buying cars (I buy a lot) really is, eyes wide open, expect and budget for the worst.

Re as described, if there was genuinely no issue when it was sold to you, how does the seller know you've not got a mile down the road and done an hours worth of burnouts etc? Would that be fair? What if that happened to you and you were expected to lay out 4 figures for a new box that someone else broke?

Anyway, where are you in the country? There's 2 gearbox places in Yorkshire I know of that are reasonable and apparently do a good job if it helps?

randombits

Original Poster:

17 posts

116 months

Tuesday 22nd July 2014
quotequote all
Other end of the country. But thanks anyway.

t400ble

1,804 posts

120 months

Tuesday 22nd July 2014
quotequote all
Hard luck really, just one of them things

tgr

1,129 posts

170 months

Tuesday 22nd July 2014
quotequote all
Random you have two options: get rid, if you've lost confidence in the car, or fix the gearbox, if you think the rest of the car is a keeper.

There will be tried and tested gearbox rebuild places (ask for recommendations), or contact ZF UK who will point you to your nearest accredited rebuild centre (fairly certain it's a ZF but maybe the diesel's torque was too much for the ZF and BMW also used GM).

There's no easy way out I'm afraid, I have every sympathy

randombits

Original Poster:

17 posts

116 months

Tuesday 22nd July 2014
quotequote all
Oh the rest is spot in. Engine is sweet, suspension is good, Interior is great, it had the msport factory upgrade. Etc etc

It was also just over my very top budget. No transmission fund!

And can't afford to take the loss on getting rid of it. It is unfeasible to be without transport where I live.

Had a manual '95 525 TDS before this that was sweet as a nut, stopped to let somebody cross the road and got written off by white van man ploughing into me, only had 63K on her. I haven't stopped to let anybody cross the road since :'(

redtwin

7,518 posts

181 months

Tuesday 22nd July 2014
quotequote all
That car will have a GM gearbox. The bad news is (besides the fact yours is broken) is that they have a bad track record for breaking. The good news is, because of that bad record, many transmission specialists know how to fix them and the cost of repairs/rebuilds is lower than that of ZF transmissions.

Best I can suggest is that you seek out a transmission specialist in your area (which you don't state) and get a few quotes.

I can understand buying at the top of your budget with no contingency, because that is exactly what I did. If my car were to break, well, that is why 0% credit cards were invented.

randombits

Original Poster:

17 posts

116 months

Tuesday 22nd July 2014
quotequote all
Thanks redtwin and tgr I am in cornwall btw.

Ionkontrol

466 posts

195 months

Wednesday 23rd July 2014
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Have you checked the fluid lvel?

You would be surprised what an auto does when low on fluid.

bga

8,134 posts

250 months

Wednesday 23rd July 2014
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If it's any help I know a couple of people who have used these guys to refurb autoboxes: http://www.cdtransmissions.com/

The autobox in my 5 series was fine one minute and suddenly ceased to function properly though I would be suspicious in your situation too.

randombits

Original Poster:

17 posts

116 months

Wednesday 23rd July 2014
quotequote all
Thanks bga. Have heard mention of them a couple if times, only thing that deters me is the warranty seems short.
Will start a new thread as wouldn't mind a bit of travel for a highly recommended place. It's a pain in the arsenal to get anywhere from here tbh, so cornwall/Devon and Somerset are all options.,

Welshbeef

49,633 posts

197 months

Wednesday 23rd July 2014
quotequote all
Interesting

You bought a car with a fully rebuilt engine and gearbox in a model which doesn't have issues with these parts and are in plentiful supply.

If it was repaired within a year take the car back to the place which did the gearbox work (assume you have all the invoices and history not just took his word.


If that fails it could just need a gearbox oil and filter change c£350 or worst case a reconditioned gearbox.


Another option if you've lost confidence in it sell as is - and accept the hit

randombits

Original Poster:

17 posts

116 months

Wednesday 23rd July 2014
quotequote all
Recon on box was 40k ago and engine 10k engine rebuild was down to it eating the flaps (known issue) and from what people are saying on here the box is known to be a common failure point.