NHTSA Complaint #10641342 — 2006 BMW 530I

THE TRANSMISSION HAS A HARSH 2-1 SHIFT DOWN TO STOP. THIS HAPPENS AT 5 MPH AND WHEN THE TRANSMISSION IS SHIFTING FROM SECOND GEAR TO FIRST GEAR. SOMETIMES IT IS MILD SOMETIMES IT IS VERY ROUGH AS TO MOVE YOU AND YOUR HEAD IN THE SEAT, AS IF ANOTHER CAR TAPPED INTO THE BACK OF THE CAR. SOMETIMES THE TRANSMISSION WILL JERK WHILE SITTING AT A TRAFFIC LIGHT OR STOP. I SEE REFERENCE TO THIS PHENOMENON ALL OVER THE WEB BUT WHEN I APPROACHED A BMW SERVICE WRITER AND EXPLAINED THIS TO HIM, HE WOULD NOT ACKNOWLEDGE THAT HE WAS EVEN AWARE OF IT. HE WOULD ONLY SAY THAT THEY COULD LOOK AT MY CAR BUT THEIR POLICY IS THAT THEY DO NOT REPAIR TRANSMISSIONS, THEY ONLY REPLACE THEM. SO IF THERE IS ANY TRANSMISSION OPERATION OUT OF THE NORM, IT WILL BE DEEMED FOR REPLACEMENT. DID I STILL WANT THEM TO LOOK AT IT? A NEW TRANSMISSION FOR MY CAR IS $8,000.00 AND ALMOST ANOTHER $700.00 TO PROGRAM THE COMPUTER TO MATE THE NEW TRANSMISSION WITH THE CAR. BLUE BOOK ON MY CAR IS $9,000.00, THEREFORE YOU COULD SAY IT'S TOTALED! BMW NEEDS TO STAND BEHIND THIS PROBLEM AS IT IS NOT AN ISOLATED CASE. WHEN I PUT THE TRANSMISSION IN M+S MODE THE 2-1 SHIFT DOWN DOES NOT OCCUR BUT THERE ARE ROUGHER SHIFTS GOING UP THROUGH THE GEARS. EITHER WAY IT IS A TRADE OFF AND NEITHER IS A SATISFACTORY RESULT. *TR