[AM1N]

Here's the rundown:

At about 17,000 miles my car started making a nasty grinding noise when shifting from 1st to 2nd (only that shift). Took my car to the dealership and they said there were metal particles in the transmission fluid. They informed me that they needed to replace the fluid but BMW would not pay for it. I asked why and my CA explained that they ran a full "FAST" test on my car (whatever that means) and they ruled that the damaged was caused due to abuse on the car. I succumbed and paid for it. The fluid fix did nothing and the car was still making the same noise. Turns out that my synchro from 1st to 2nd is shot and they said that the ONLY way to fix it is for a brand new transmission and that would cost 7K, for which they would not cover either.

Clearly, I am furious about the situation and don't really know what to do at this point. The exact phrasing from BMW to my CA was that diagnostics show that "the car was being shifted from over 5,000 RPM's from 1st to 2nd." I explained how this is a performance car and should be able to handle high RPM shifts and that there is no reason the transmission should be failing me at just 17,000 miles. He agreed but said that BMW already said they wouldn't cover it and there's nothing the dealership could do about it.

I really want to get this issue fixed as the car is my DD, and the 1M is an extremely rare car.

I guess my question to the people of this forum is: does the whole tranny really need to be replaced because of this one gear issue?

And,

Does anyone have any tips/advice/suggestions as to how to handle this situation?

Thanks all!!!