NHTSA Complaint #11307581 — 2011 BMW 535I

SES LIGHT ILLUMINATED. CHECKED THE OBD2 SYSTEM FOR A CODE. P-2763 IS PRESENT. TROUBLESHOOTING FOR THE ISSUE REVEALED THE ORANGE TCC PRESSURE CONTROL SOLENOID IS MALFUNCTIONING. ZF WILL NOT SELL THE SOLENOID INDIVIDUALLY. THEY REQUIRE THE CONSUMER TO PURCHASE A MECHATRONIC UNIT. THE ORANGE SOLENOID IS A SCARCE PART TO FIND LOCALLY IN THE U.S. ONLINE PRICES ARE AROUND $90. ON THE GLOBAL MARKET. THESE ARE NOT NEW SOLENOIDS. THE MECHATRONIC UNIT, OVERHAULED IS $1600 PLUS A CORE CHARGE. PLUS LABOR. MY COMPLAINT IS THAT ZF WILL NOT SUPPORT THE 8HP TRANSMISSION BY SELLING THE SOLENOID INDIVIDUALLY. COSTING ME SEVERAL THOUSAND DOLLARS WHEN A SINGLE PART AROUND $100 DOLLARS WILL REPAIR THE TRANSMISSION. ZF CUSTOMER SERVICE INFORMED ME THAT I SHOULD SOURCE THE PART THROUGH A USED PARTS DEALER OR LOCAL JUNK YARD. I TRIED BUT NO TRANSMISSIONS ARE AVAILABLE. I HAVE BEEN LOOKING SINCE MAY OF 2019. I TALKED TO BMW AND CHRYSLER PARTS DEPARTMENTS AT MY LOCAL DEALERS. THE TELL ME THEY CAN ONLY ORDER THE MECHATRONIC UNIT.