E39 poss auto box issues... advice please!

[sam303]

Having decided to sell my Alpina to raise cash for a house move, I bought a 2001 E39 530i via eBay recently. It had a stalling problem - which the seller had higlighted - and which I got fixed at a cost of £155 for a new Idle Control Valve. However I have also since had to replace the oil cooler and radiator at a further cost of £600. Now, the purchase price of the car was £2200, and the book cost is about 3 grand, so for what I've paid I've got a car at decent value. (It's a 2001, Y plate, SE with sat nav etc, 103k miles).

The thing is, I am wondering if the auto box is also on its way out. It has thrown up a couple of errors on the dash - 'Transmission Failsafe Mode' and is a bit clunky at times. This morning when pulling out of my side road it was kangarooing somewhat alarmingly just when pulling away at the same time as turning.

So my dilemma is do I persevere with what is a very nice car that I've already sunk a fair bit of cash into, or flog it just in case there's summat nasty round the corner?

[gmarks1]

May be worth checking the transmission fluid level, or even doing a fluid change. Many BMWs are sealed for life automatic transmissions (don't know if this includes the E39), although concensus seems to be that a fluid refresh can help the older units. Not sure if this is linked to the warning light you've got, but at least topping up the level (if it requires of course) is cheap and simple.

Other than that, it's probably worth having it plugged into diagnostics - I do know that in the E53 X5, the automatic gearbox (which I assume is similar to the E39) is a weak point and can fail.

Regards, Gary

[fme]

I've just bought a 525i auto on a 02 plate. Sunday the gearbox light came on the dash and the car world not drive off when in drive; put my foot down harder ion the accelrator and it began to move; took it to a ocal BMW independant, who said could be a blockage or solenoid on the gearbox; he put his computer on and came up with a fault stall monitor. he cleared this and the car drove perfectly.