2011 135i DCT Failure HELP!!!

[Chaotic317]

Good Evening All,

I thought I'd come to fellow enthusiasts for some help. I recently purchased a 135i with 32,000 miles on the car in November. After a few weeks of ownership I was having issues with the Transmission. I took it into BMW Fairfax for some service as I did with my previous E46 Platforms if I couldn't do it myself. My first time being there I was told the DCT was fine but there was a major oil leak coming from the pan and valve cover. I got that fixed. Less than a month after I took it there again due to sluggish throttle response,"grinding", and lurching movement at dead stops. The SA had it for almost 3 weeks. He concluded it was a update that was needed and my car reeked of coolant. So they did a flush and changed the thermostat. After receiving the car I took advantage of the Dinan discount and upgraded to a Stage 2 tune. I absolutely had no issues....Until one month later. Transmission related issues. I went back to the SA and he held the car for 3 weeks more. He then told me it was the transmission cover leaking which he knew about from the first time, but didn't want to charge the Warranty due to him believing it might draw suspicion. So he fixed that and said it should be fine. I literally had the car back this last time for a month and was cruising highway speeds 55 mph and boom the transmission light finally cut on. No loss of power as I could here the smoothness from the engine. But man did it smell like a burning transmission and the car seemed to be spinning gears as i tried to overcome with power to get safely off the road to shut it off. I rested the car for 2hours and then attempted to limp it back to the shop. It made it there with no issues coming from the engine, "Power" was there but hesitation coming from the Transmission trying to shift gears (sport or regular mode). I arrived in the SA bay and kept the car on so he could hear the metal clicking around. He then admitted it was the transmission and i thought i was finally about to get this resolved. Less than 3 days of having a rental he leaves me a message and explained the Charge pipe was "blown-up" and the warranty wasn't going to cover it, please call him back. I called him the next day explaining I learned a lot from this forum and the plastic charge pipe was crap. I'd replaced it, but what would the cost be. He quoted me $1600. I immediately stated no he can continue to complete the work on the faulty transmission we agreed upon while i purchase a metal charge pipe myself. He then stated BMW could not check the transmission without the charge pipe being done! IDK, does this sound shady? or am I'm missing something with a DCT transmission. I've had NA E46 and FI E46 platforms. All manual vehicles, but I've never had issues checking a transmission with something else "up top" interfering with my or other Indy shops judgement. I'm in limbo, I'm not arguing about $1600 work if this is the root, but I've approached this problem for 4months in Service hours with them and this seems to be another shady interaction.

P.S. I just received my bonus from my sales job and I finally can invest $7k in my Project S52 E30. Please help if you understand my urge to make this right.

[Chaotic317]

Also, before I go to sleep. I've babied this car no launching, or speeds past 85mph due to living in a highly populated area and my commute being a bunch of fun backroads through Clifton, VA daily. I've planned on dropping money with Mods since my finances can afford to, but I feel my E30 might be more reliable after I invest half the money into it, then fixing this car.

[Chaotic317]

Bump

[zx10guy]

I'm about to send my car back to the dealership for DCT problems again. While I can cope with the recent issues, I'm just getting annoyed and want to get it looked at again before my factory warranty runs out. At least this time, I can reproduce the problem at will. All I have to do is turn the A/C on and the trans immediately starts to act up.

[Chaotic317]

Hey are you going to Fairfax? If so let me know I can meet you up there. That was my first issue when I bought my car they bleed the coolant system and replaced my thermostat. It fixed that a/c issue. But then the transmission gotten worse.

[c1pher]

Have you guys check with the Fairfax Service Center? I am pretty happy with their work so far. They are practically next door to BMW Fairfax service and the dealer.

[c1pher]

Would love to see some other 135i people.

[zx10guy]

I'll be dropping it off at BMW of Rockville. But have used BMW of Fairfax for oil changes.

I'm not at the point of seeing if an independent can fix it. I'm still under the factory warranty.

There are a few of us in the DC Metro area. Matticus is local. I haven't met up with any 1 owners yet. It'll definitely be cool to meet up some time.

[Dackelone]

Originally Posted by zx10guy

I'll be dropping it off at BMW of Rockville. But have used BMW of Fairfax for oil changes.

I'm not at the point of seeing if an independent can fix it. I'm still under the factory warranty.

There are a few of us in the DC Metro area. Matticus is local. I haven't met up with any 1 owners yet. It'll definitely be cool to meet up some time.

I would avoid BMW of Rockville at all costs. None of my friends like that place. BMW of Sterling or Tischer or even Alexandria are better options I think.


Chaotic317 - you should stop dealing with your SA and start dealing with the service manager. Sounds like your trans is burnt up. Maybe BMW NA can give you some good will - bc a new trans won't be cheap.

Good Luck,
Dackel

[WhatsADSM]

$1600 for a charge pipe? No way!

[Chaotic317]

Yea I went past Fairfax Service Center and Reese is a honest Shop owner. He knew that I've been complaining about this DCT for a long time especially since he did my flash tunes in the first place trying to remedy the symptoms. I did not know that he had Dinan loaners if you needed them. So I'm going to order the ER charge pipe and replace it then if BMW Fairfax still refuse to do the work then I'll escalate it then. I reside in Fairfax and see 1 or maybe 2 135i's per week. One tailgated me through Clifton, but I couldn't move much due to the Sluggish shifts.

Has anyone had their DCT's Replaced. There's no threads I could find explaining how long the procedure would be.

[Gizmo135i]

I don't understand the $1600 charge pipe? How much labor are they quoting you? Afaik a factory charge pipe is ~$500 so are they charging you 7.5 hours???

That being said, if your charge pipe is broken then yes it needs to be replaced before diagnosing any other drivability concerns as that could be the root cause.... the car would deffinatly not drive or shift correctly with it blown off. I would be willing to bet that's your issue to be honest.

[Chaotic317]

funny you mentioned that as i've been searching charge pipes since day one after getting my Dinan Tune back in February. The charge pipe was fine when my SA popped the hood to hear the metal clinking. But, i've already ordered a ER charge pipe and should have that changed asap. I don't mind paying for the work due to understanding warranty for the labor. But, BMW cheap plastic isn't my cup of tea.

[Gizmo135i]

Originally Posted by Chaotic317

funny you mentioned that as i've been searching charge pipes since day one after getting my Dinan Tune back in February. The charge pipe was fine when my SA popped the hood to hear the metal clinking. But, i've already ordered a ER charge pipe and should have that changed asap. I don't mind paying for the work due to understanding warranty for the labor. But, BMW cheap plastic isn't my cup of tea.

I doubt they will warranty your er charge pipe... but deff a smart choice, I have one and it fits perfectly. What I'm saying is it is only about a one hour install... I can see them charging you maybe 2 hours, and an hour diag... so maybe 3 total, but the price you said is outrageous in my opinion unless there is more going on then a simple charge pipe replacement.