# Automatic transmissions by GM for BMW?



## BMW 3-SERIES (Jun 8, 2007)

Hows the auto-tranny on a 2003 330i, are they reliable?


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## shointake (Aug 4, 2008)

i own a 2001 330i with a ZF steptronic Tranny

i have 105k miles on my motor and transmission, engine is SUper quiet,.. and tranny shifts SUPER SUPER SMOOTH.. no lag or wierd noises..

im going to do a tranny flush once i get more money dont get me wrong.. id rather pay and have it changed while its in GREAT condition then wait for something to go wrong.. then pay for it.. finding out the Transmission needs a new torque converter + a Flush LOL

whats the serivce maintence time on changing the AUTOMATIC FLUID in ZF steptronic Trannies *getrags* in our cars? 60-90-120-150k Miles?


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## autoque (Jul 29, 2008)

shointake said:


> Thank u for reading my post.. and thats how I feel, KEN!


Sure thing, Barbie!


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## Saintor (Dec 14, 2002)

Some Ayatollahs should cool down here.


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## SkyDog (Aug 1, 2007)

shointake said:


> Id be pissed off, buying a BMW without all BMW parts.. i buy a car knowing that all the oem factory parts are there.. If i wanted a MUT/mixed up ride.. id buy a TUned ride from the get go, instead of buying a all factory OEM car.. and tuning it myself..


If you bought a BMW with "all BMW-made parts", you wouldn't be driving far. The car would be missing a whole lot of important parts:

* Transmission (GM, ZF)
* Most of its suspension
* A whole lot of electrical parts (Bosch, Bremi, Siemens, etc.)
* Radiator (Laengerer & Reich)
* Wheels
* Brakes (Ate, Jurid, Textar, etc.)

I could go on and on and on... Subcontracting is just part of the business for car manufacturers.

Even the Hondas you used to work on had a whole lot of 3rd-party components. Maybe not the transmission since Honda manufactures trannies in-house. There may be some transmission types they don't make themselves, though, so I wouldn't be surprised if there are some Hondas out there with transmissions made by JATCO, Tremec, ZF, Getrag, NVG, Aisin, or even *gasp* GM.


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## van556 (Mar 13, 2007)

I used to own f150 back in the 80' and it was a great big surprise to me when I foundout that the 5speed tranny was manufactured by zoom-zoom. this was before ford own any of its shared, I believe.


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## Fast Bob (Jun 4, 2004)

van556 said:


> I used to own f150 back in the 80' and it was a great big surprise to me when I foundout that the 5speed tranny was manufactured by zoom-zoom. this was before ford own any of its shared, I believe.


In the late `70s, FoMoCo sold compact Mazda pickups re-badged as Fords, Chrysler sold re-badged Mitsubishis, GM sold some Korean pieces of sh!t re-badged for their lines.... "Badge-engineering" has been going on for a long time....if you look at semi-recent (maybe 2003-2004) Jag XJ sedans from a rear three-quarter view, they look just like the Ford Taurus....


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## Stevej2001 (Jan 26, 2008)

*I wouldn't worry too much about getting a GM tranny...*

One day I was driving down a mountain in my '98 suburban. For those who've never driven one of those behemoths, they're a comfortable ride, but the brakes are marginal. So I was using the transmission to slow the car on the undulating fairly high-speed highway. At one point, I forgot what gear I was in and shifted from Overdrive to Reverse... at about 35mph, going down hill.

The engine immediately died along with the PS and power brakes but I was able to wrestle the truck to the side of the road. I actually looked in the rearview mirror to see if I could see the transmission lying in the road. It wasn't there. I put the car in park, started it up, and tried Drive. It was fine. I tried reverse, it was fine. In fact the transmission, which had tended to occasionally shift harshly, actually got smoother. That occurred at about 40k miles. I went on to put another 70k on it before trading it for my 535i last winter (there's a change of vehicle).

Never had a single problem with the transmission, before or after. I certainly had lots of other mechanical issues with the truck, but the tranny was, as their ads say, 'like a rock'.


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## SkyDog (Aug 1, 2007)

This thread brought my old Jeep CJ-5 to mind. It seemed like every major component was made by a different company.

Engine & Rear Axle: AMC
Carburetor: Carter (@#$%)
Transmission: Borg-Warner
Transfer Case & Front Axle: Dana

I didn't think it was any less of a Jeep because AMC didn't make all of its components. Actually, I would've preferred to have a little _less_ AMC in it. The Dana 44 was a common rear axle in a lot of Jeeps and it was better than the AMC 20 I had.


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## shointake (Aug 4, 2008)

I understand.. But i did say zf was from getrag 

and I loved the GASP.. GM 

that would be hella funny if GM made a tranny for Honda.. LOL

i mean i could understand.. since America Muscle cars back in the day were automatic.. bullet proofd trannies.. and Jap trannyes in automatic stance are POS!

so then again.. But still if i buy a GERMAN car i want GERMAN euro parts.. if i buy a Jap car i want JAP parts!


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## slyfocks (Jul 3, 2008)

shointake said:


> But still if i buy a GERMAN car i want GERMAN euro parts.. if i buy a Jap car i want JAP parts!


I feel the same way about Swedish meatballs and French fries.

(ssshhh...don't tell 'em where the oem spark plugs come from... they'll freak)


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## shointake (Aug 4, 2008)

Swedish Meat ballz and Frrench Fries LOL

Lets say this..

U go to a Chinese restuarant.... why do u go? cause u want the chinese expierence rite?.. a straight Up *********** restuarant.. Buddhas everywhere.. Chiense girls serving ur food.. a real Live breathing Chinese guys cooking ur food..

U dont want some Mexican making Dim Sum.. and having a african american taking ur order.. and having Hispanic decorations everywhere.. and cino de mayo banners everywhere.. 

U want Chinese food, u should get CHINESE food.. and not some HALF ass ****.. where U went for a Oriental expierence.. and got the Jamacian Bombay Dancing QUeen Drag queen festival!!


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## jkp1187 (Jul 2, 2008)

SkyDog said:


> Even the Hondas you used to work on had a whole lot of 3rd-party components. Maybe not the transmission since Honda manufactures trannies in-house. There may be some transmission types they don't make themselves, though, so I wouldn't be surprised if there are some Hondas out there with transmissions made by JATCO, Tremec, ZF, Getrag, NVG, Aisin, or even *gasp* GM.


And as people who purchased a '99-'03 Accord V6, Acura TL or Acura CL could testify, Honda doesn't always do a good job on manufacturing those transmissions in-house.


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## Bmwcat (Jul 30, 2004)

vocalthought said:


> IMHO, GM is only bad when you sums its parts.
> 
> By themselves, there is nothing wrong with the components. Add in the union, the retirement benefits, careless employees, bean counter integrators and you get a car put together by a committee with no engineers.
> 
> ...


Well Vocal using this logic you could never buy a BMW. BMW's car builders are members of IG Metall, Germany's largest indutrial labor union. Any BMW built there is built by Union members. Whats your response, Vocal??


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## plien69 (Apr 11, 2005)

shointake said:


> But wtf?.. think about it.. If u bought a FERRARI, wouldnt u want all FERRRARI parts? and not a Tranny by GM or Lets say HONDA..


The Ferrari 599 uses major suspension components from Delphi, a company spun off from GM 10 years ago.


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## autoque (Jul 29, 2008)

I guess the issue is that some people don't want to pay for a high-end car and find components made/supplied by a lesser reputable manufacturer.

No one would have a problem if BMW outsourced the transmission to...I dunno, say Lamborghini or Ferrari. But wouldn't be too excited to find transmission manufacturered by Kia or Hyundai, even if it was made to the specification that BMW demands.


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## Fast Bob (Jun 4, 2004)

autoque said:


> I guess the issue is that some people don't want to pay for a high-end car and find components made/supplied by a lesser reputable manufacturer.
> 
> No one would have a problem if BMW outsourced the transmission to...I dunno, say Lamborghini or Ferrari. But wouldn't be too excited to find transmission manufacturered by Kia or Hyundai, even if it was made to the specification that BMW demands.


Personally, I would`nt want many Italian-made parts of *any* description in my BMW (too many close encounters back in the day involving Alfa Romeo, Lancia, Fiat, etc. Of course, I could say the same thing about the BritBikes I`ve owned....they made GM-built stuff look like the Rock Of Gibraltar by comparison)


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## slyfocks (Jul 3, 2008)

Fast Bob said:


> Personally, I would`nt want many Italian-made parts of *any* description in my BMW (too many close encounters back in the day involving Alfa Romeo, Lancia, Fiat, etc.


How _dare_ you!! Are you possibly inferring that the Spica mechanical fuel injection system on my Alfa Spider was potentially troublesome? Just because I still occasionally wake up screaming in the middle of the night.....:wailing:


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## Fast Bob (Jun 4, 2004)

slyfocks said:


> How _dare_ you!! Are you possibly inferring that the Spica mechanical fuel injection system on my Alfa Spider was potentially troublesome? Just because I still occasionally wake up screaming in the middle of the night.....:wailing:


I feel your pain....


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## Bcube (Apr 12, 2007)

Would it be appropriate at this time to mention the use of the General's THM400 automatic in the Ferrari 400/412 from 1976 to 1989? Or the Ferrari 456 GTA (1995-2005) use of GM's 4T80-E that was built for the FWD Northstar Caddies?


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## lild (Sep 11, 2007)

oh i can also say, that one thing my s10 blazer and bmw have in common is, on cold start, they have the long period of shifting from 1st to second. and i can back that up too.


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## ProRail (May 31, 2006)

lild said:


> oh i can also say, that one thing my s10 blazer and bmw have in common is, on cold start, they have the long period of shifting from 1st to second. and i can back that up too.


I always thought that was my car's way of telling me to drive gently until it warms up a little.


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## lild (Sep 11, 2007)

yeah, she can be a little cranky, if i don't let wake up a little.


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## sunny_j (Sep 24, 2006)

w5lx said:


> GM builds excellent transmissions. I have a GM transmission in one car and a ZF transmission in another car and I can't tell the difference between them, except for the shifters.


the zf tranny in the e65/66 is a pos. me and 90% of the e65/66 board have had their tranny replaced. i just had mine replaced in feb and now its starting to act like how it was before bmw replaced it.


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## jkp1187 (Jul 2, 2008)

lild said:


> 3 nissans, 3-gms,1 mits., 3 fords, 1 bmw, 1 honda, and kawasaki. it's not harsh, i was stateing that the s10 blazer with the 2.8L 4wd, 700r tanny was crap, and i had others who had told me so. i had 1 go out 3 days after i bought it, and the second one gave me problems. also that on my 528 which has a gm tranny runs great, even at 200k on the orginal fluid. just saying that gm can build a crappy tranny at times. i had proof. so i don't know what your gettin at. and you may know this but a s10-blazer is a small size gm suv, i find it funny that they couldn't build a better tranny for their own product.


I've had three GM cars, two had no transmission issues, one had chronic transmission issues (though that was probably a maintenance problem from the owner's side, since I kept forgetting to change the transmission fluid. Also, it had well over 100k miles at the time, and the previous owner had clearly abused it.)

My dad has never had transmission problems with a GM vehicle. He (as well as other people I've known) has had transmission problems with Chrysler products.

Another friend has had transmission problems with a Honda.

There are very few car manufacturers that make truly inferior products with regard to build quality anymore. (I sometimes wonder about VW, but I digress...) But no one is perfect, and you can always find examples of quality failures.

I would be more concerned about whether or not I liked how the transmission felt when it shifted, and whether or not the gearing was sporty (or fuel-efficient enough) for my purposes.


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## big-tex (Jan 25, 2008)

GM can make a good transmission, can anyone say Turbo 400? but autos need alil more attention if your manual gets a hole knocked in it and you lose all your fluid, you can still limp home, but you're gonna scortch your clutch. If an auto loses all its fluid, you better have a AAA card. If you take care of a auto then it'll be fine, but if its neglected then you're gonna have the problems I'm havin...


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## lild (Sep 11, 2007)

jkp1187 said:


> I've had three GM cars, two had no transmission issues, one had chronic transmission issues (though that was probably a maintenance problem from the owner's side, since I kept forgetting to change the transmission fluid. Also, it had well over 100k miles at the time, and the previous owner had clearly abused it.)
> 
> My dad has never had transmission problems with a GM vehicle. He (as well as other people I've known) has had transmission problems with Chrysler products.
> 
> ...


never owned oned that didn't give me a problem, gm that is.
but honestly i have more problems with the bimmer that i did with those. wait, no one ate starters, and carb was crap, the other blew a head gasket, and the thrid, well i was happy to sell it.


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## Leaf (Sep 22, 2008)

*could go on and on and on... Subcontracting is just part of the business for car man*

I agree with you but in part.
The MECHANICAL components of the car is what we are most interested in. The speakers and radiators can be 3rd party (no one will really care).

With your idea (subcontracting is just....), how long before the engines in our bimmers are made by Daewoo.

BMW should make all the MECHANICAL components of their vehicles (and back them up) because that is the sole reason why we buy them at the price we do.

Engines and transmissions must be built by BMW, hoses and radio buttons can be outsourced, no problem.

Leaf, cheers


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## Fast Bob (Jun 4, 2004)

Leaf said:


> I agree with you but in part.
> The MECHANICAL components of the car is what we are most interested in. The speakers and radiators can be 3rd party (no one will really care).
> 
> With your idea (subcontracting is just....), how long before the engines in our bimmers are made by Daewoo.
> ...


Nice idea, but totally illogical....a (relatively) small company like BMW is basically *forced* to outsource transmissions, because doing the R&D and production for several different trannies (to accomodate the various models) would mean that they`d never make a profit, and soon follow the likes of Studebaker and DeSoto to the graveyard. Outsourcing provides them with a proven product (well, you know what I mean  at a realistic cost.


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## EdCT (Mar 14, 2002)

Leaf said:


> I agree with you but in part.
> The MECHANICAL components of the car is what we are most interested in. The speakers and radiators can be 3rd party (no one will really care).
> 
> With your idea (subcontracting is just....), how long before the engines in our bimmers are made by Daewoo.
> ...


Except it doesn't work that way.

Some 70 percent of all the parts in most cars, including BMW, are sourced out.

BMW doesn't make transmissions, anti-lock braking systems, shocks, antiskid systems, engine management chips, power steering units, wiring harnesses etc. etc. etc.

What they do do is make the body in white, put the engine together, stuff like that - the other 70 percent is either assembled by third party contractors according to BMW specs or just purchased off the shelf.

Many of those parts are mechanical AND quite important to the driving experience, hence the tranny .......

Ed


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## synenergy52 (Apr 10, 2008)

Key word here is design. BMWs are BMWs and every BMW has 'BMW' built into it. Driving dynamics, feel, sporty-ness (sp?). 50/50 weight dist, lightweight materials, chassis rigidity/safety, aesthetics, ergonomics, comfort, durability (even if they must CHOOSE or design those parts to be made by other mfgrs so they are durable, meet bmw guidelines, etc.) 

bavaria pride


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## captainaudio (Jul 17, 2007)

SkyDog said:


> If you bought a BMW with "all BMW-made parts", you wouldn't be driving far. The car would be missing a whole lot of important parts:
> 
> * Transmission (GM, ZF)
> * Most of its suspension
> ...


GM has made some awful automatic transmissions (Oldmobile Dynaflo, Chevy Powerglide, for example) and some very good ones (Hydramatic). Rolls Royce and Bentley used GM Hydramatic transmissions for many years.

Most european car companies (including Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche, etc.) source parts from a variety of subcontractors.


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