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      08-20-2018, 03:21 PM   #1
rothwem
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If you were going to own your car to 200k, would you get a DCT 135i?

I know this is a bit of a silly question. If I were picking the most durable 1-series to keep until 200k, I'd get a 6mt 128i. Less moving parts, less to break.

However, I hurt my left knee about a year ago, and driving a manual sucks now. I can do it, but after about an hour of traffic, I'm in severe pain and it doesn't matter how many perfectly timed rev-matched downshifts I do, I'm not having fun anymore. I sold my unicorn 6MT E91 and bought a cheap X3 while I decided what to get and I'm really in a conundrum. Basically what I'm looking for is:

-RWD
-Two pedals
-Fun to drive
-Decent gas mileage
-Reliable to 200k and maybe beyond with no major rebuilds

The N55 135i with the DCT seems to check most of those boxes, but the last one is a mystery to me. So, with that in mind, do the DCTs hold up pretty well? Any major reliability problems? I won't be modifying the vehicle, except for maybe some coilovers. I'd like to do some road trips, a couple track days a year and maybe some autocross. Anything I need to look out for specifically on a PPI?
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      08-20-2018, 04:16 PM   #2
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I'm currently at 108,500ish KMs on my bone stock (mhd stage 1 tune) 135i. It's not quite as fun as a MT but it will kick your butt into to seat while you speed to 200km/hr easily. I DD my car, use it in snow here in Toronto Canada, and it hasn't been a let down. Also drove the car out to the PEI coast to sight see and no issues. My suggestion would be to either drain the trans fuild every 100,000 km or leave it be. Some people have had issues with leaking pans and such but about 90% of us have had issue free driving so far.
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      08-20-2018, 06:31 PM   #3
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I agree. I'm at 58,000 miles & no issues. I plan to do a drain & fill at 65-70k miles.

I think it's more like 99% have no issues with DCT. I plan to drive mine to 200k miles. But I only drive 10,000 miles a year. So that's another 15 years. It'd be 23 years old by then. Lol!! That like buying a 1995 BMW 328i.
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      08-27-2018, 07:36 PM   #4
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Absolutely not.
I have a negative bias towards DCTs and long term reliability.
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      08-27-2018, 08:05 PM   #5
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I don’t think there’s an issue provided you take care of the car just like everything else. My DCT is downright brutal when I want it to be. Love it. A lot of people don’t know what a 135i so I surprise a lot of them.
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      08-28-2018, 09:35 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MGM135is View Post
I don’t think there’s an issue provided you take care of the car just like everything else. My DCT is downright brutal when I want it to be. Love it. A lot of people don’t know what a 135i so I surprise a lot of them.
So, when "taking care of the car", what all is involved besides changing the DCT fluid on 50-60k interval?

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Originally Posted by seanva View Post
Absolutely not.
I have a negative bias towards DCTs and long term reliability.
I do too, though it seems like people love them and problems seen few and far between, so I'm slowing coming around. Plus I really like how they drive compared to a regular automatic.
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      08-29-2018, 12:29 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by seanva View Post
Absolutely not.
I have a negative bias towards DCTs and long term reliability.
The DCT is probably the most reliable thing about these cars. And anyone that disagrees, I have yet to see a failure that isn't related to user error. Boosted_Shu ran his FBO E85 e90 M3 DCT racing it to 213k miles on the stock dct.
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      08-30-2018, 10:32 AM   #8
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the DCT is pretty solid from what i hear, definitely not like the old SMG boxes from the older M cars

i'd probably consider one in the future tbh
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      08-30-2018, 12:45 PM   #9
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If I was looking for reliable / inexpensive to repair I'd be thinking Toyota 86, perhaps Miata. I suppose you've considered them already.
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      08-30-2018, 01:07 PM   #10
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Absolutely Yes! if your going to 200k then your probably driving it daily, the luxury of being able not to shift is a must for simple things like phone calls in traffic or when I just don't want to shift, for example being tired AF coming home.. I dont daily my 135 when I drive it the trans is in Manuel sport mode it satisfies me

Idk its all personal preference. plus I have a 5speed E30 if I really want that experience.
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      08-30-2018, 11:18 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by WeekendWarriorz View Post
The DCT is probably the most reliable thing about these cars. And anyone that disagrees, I have yet to see a failure that isn't related to user error. Boosted_Shu ran his FBO E85 e90 M3 DCT racing it to 213k miles on the stock dct.

^^^what he said


I'm more worried about a turbo failing than the DCT on these cars.
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      08-31-2018, 12:02 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FrostyDC4 View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by WeekendWarriorz View Post
The DCT is probably the most reliable thing about these cars. And anyone that disagrees, I have yet to see a failure that isn't related to user error. Boosted_Shu ran his FBO E85 e90 M3 DCT racing it to 213k miles on the stock dct.

^^^what he said


I'm more worried about a turbo failing than the DCT on these cars.
The stock turbo won't fail unless running it hard (FBO and custom tune) and if it does get a pure stage 2 and enjoy 400+whp. The only things that are needed on the way to 200k miles are:

-lots of oil changes
-oil leaks (big one being oil pan gasket)
-1-2 DCT fluid/filter services which are around $400 each
-other normal wear times
-electronics going bad over time
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      09-02-2018, 08:46 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by WeekendWarriorz View Post
They're phased out not really due to reliability, it's that the DCT clutch packs aren't able to withstand high loads of torque without an upgraded costly unit. The ZF8 can take torque which is why it's used in the new M5. Every modern car is being transformed into low end torque throbs. The DCT matched with a N/A engine phases no problems with clutch slip
It's also because most of the cars listed have a dry clutch pack, unlike our cars which have a wet clutch pack. A dry pack cannot take heat very well and are jerky in city traffic as a result.
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      09-03-2018, 08:04 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rothwem View Post
It's a shame, I really blame Ford for putting a DCT into an application that wasn't ready for it with hardware that wasn't ready and programming that wasn't refined at all. Because of the Ford Focus, everyone thinks that DCTs are garbage. Even I have a bit of prejudice against them, though I've been pretty impressed in the VWs I've driven with the trans. And as unreliable as VWs are known to be, the DSGs are pretty solid.

I mainly started this thread to figure out if the BMW DCT is more Ford or more VW-like.
BMW DCT is more like Porsche PDK (aside from it being hard as balls to launch these things consistently off the line), reliable, durable, and trust me they take a beating on the track. A DCT fluid change every 60-80k miles won't hurt but BMW does rate it as "lifetime".
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      09-04-2018, 10:26 AM   #15
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And if you are in my situation, you would curse the very existence of the DCT used in the 1 series. If you do a search on the forum, you'll find I've been very vocal about my hate of the DCT...up until about a couple of years ago. That's when I finally got a dealer tech that knew what was going on and was able to tweak my DCT to make it function properly at low speeds.

The complaints voiced by the Ford owners were exactly what I've been experiencing. It was down right dangerous. I didn't know when I would get a dead gas pedal. Didn't know when the car would just jump forward while I had my foot on the brake. So BMW isn't immune to the issues being reported by other manufacturers with their DCTs...dry or wet clutch pack.

My opinion of my DCT has changed now that it works 99% of the time. I do get the occasional dead pedal as the trans gets lost momentarily on what gear to engage. Again at low speeds.

Oh and if someone thinks I don't know how manuals feel and operate, other than my first car when I was 16, this is the only other automatic I've owned. All the cars in between including my motorcycles are all manuals.
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      09-04-2018, 10:33 AM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by zx10guy View Post
And if you are in my situation, you would curse the very existence of the DCT used in the 1 series. If you do a search on the forum, you'll find I've been very vocal about my hate of the DCT...up until about a couple of years ago. That's when I finally got a dealer tech that knew what was going on and was able to tweak my DCT to make it function properly at low speeds.

The complaints voiced by the Ford owners were exactly what I've been experiencing. It was down right dangerous. I didn't know when I would get a dead gas pedal. Didn't know when the car would just jump forward while I had my foot on the brake. So BMW isn't immune to the issues being reported by other manufacturers with their DCTs...dry or wet clutch pack.

My opinion of my DCT has changed now that it works 99% of the time. I do get the occasional dead pedal as the trans gets lost momentarily on what gear to engage. Again at low speeds.

Oh and if someone thinks I don't know how manuals feel and operate, other than my first car when I was 16, this is the only other automatic I've owned. All the cars in between including my motorcycles are all manuals.
What did the dealer do the fix that? My car has what you describe only at low speeds with the A/C, which absolutely sucks since SoCal is 90-100*. Did you just reflash the software update?
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      09-04-2018, 10:59 AM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by WeekendWarriorz View Post
What did the dealer do the fix that? My car has what you describe only at low speeds with the A/C, which absolutely sucks since SoCal is 90-100*. Did you just reflash the software update?
Much lamented error. A software patch fixes it.
https://www.1addicts.com/forums/show....php?t=1205265
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      09-04-2018, 11:27 AM   #18
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Originally Posted by WeekendWarriorz View Post
What did the dealer do the fix that? My car has what you describe only at low speeds with the A/C, which absolutely sucks since SoCal is 90-100*. Did you just reflash the software update?
In addition to the thread Real Dodger posted up, here is my thread/sticky on what I did and what was done by the dealer.

https://www.1addicts.com/forums/show....php?t=1402323

For many people the SIB fixes their problems. For me, it did not. I think I'm the only person that did all the common recommendations and still didn't have the function of my DCT fixed. It was only after the dealer tech went in and made some adjustments to the operating parameters of the DCT and performed an adaptation reset is when my DCT finally functioned properly. Again, this was done after I tried the PPK, SIB, and then a Dinan S2 tune.
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      09-04-2018, 11:31 AM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by zx10guy View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by WeekendWarriorz View Post
What did the dealer do the fix that? My car has what you describe only at low speeds with the A/C, which absolutely sucks since SoCal is 90-100*. Did you just reflash the software update?
In addition to the thread Real Dodger posted up, here is my thread/sticky on what I did and what was done by the dealer.

https://www.1addicts.com/forums/show....php?t=1402323

For many people the SIB fixes their problems. For me, it did not. I think I'm the only person that did all the common recommendations and still didn't have the function of my DCT fixed. It was only after the dealer tech went in and made some adjustments to the operating parameters of the DCT and performed an adaptation reset is when my DCT finally functioned properly. Again, this was done after I tried the PPK, SIB, and then a Dinan S2 tune.
I've been across your thread before, will sub it. Only thing stopping me from fixing it is that I'm out of warranty and not looking to pay 500-1000 for a SoCal dealer do something like that, would rather save for mods and live with the annoying ness with the A/C on
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      09-04-2018, 11:46 AM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by WeekendWarriorz View Post
I've been across your thread before, will sub it. Only thing stopping me from fixing it is that I'm out of warranty and not looking to pay 500-1000 for a SoCal dealer do something like that, would rather save for mods and live with the annoying ness with the A/C on
I hear ya. Although I got an extended warranty, I marched into my dealer after yet another white knuckle experience in stop and go highway driving before the factory warranty expired. I wasn't going to take a "I don't know what is going on" as an answer. What also helped was my SA took my car out for a drive and experienced first hand how bad the situation was.
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      09-04-2018, 08:43 PM   #21
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I'm Halfway there on Mileage. I've owned it since 50k and still love it. It's only left me stranded when the water pump went out. Luckily I was a few blocks away and limped it home. I'll let you know when I get to the bottom of this though. Yep it's a DCT issue https://www.1addicts.com/forums/show....php?t=1516336
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