E39 questions for the ones who know

[mons2b 0]

Hi guys.

Got some questions. Since buying a 1997 e39 540 ive noticed a few things.

When its stone cold in the morning or after sitting at work all day it holds 1st and 2nd gear longer until the car warms up? Normal?

Sometimes the car has a loud electrical buzzing sound that seems to be coming from behind the climate control area?

Today after extended watching of the little tv screen followed by playing cds the image on the screen became unreadable and squashed in on itself. I turned off the car and restarted and it was back to normal? Any ideas?

JW

Christchurch

[nz320i 0]

Im really guessing, but may be similar through all models, your auto g/box may need a new filter and oil, check when it was last replaced, it could be a cheap fix now rather than a large auto repair bill at a later date..

You said your in CHCH, when my car was an auto, i took my car to *cough* Autotek *cough*, who (apart from charging me a whooping $2000, had the car back 14 days later) then took the car to Aceoautomatics on the back of their towtruck....

Maybe take the car to Aceo and get it checked out i think they do a diagnostic free road test too..

Hope this helps, my car is an e30 but still..

[mons2b 0]

Im really guessing, but may be similar through all models, your auto g/box may need a new filter and oil, check when it was last replaced, it could be a cheap fix now rather than a large auto repair bill at a later date..

You said your in CHCH, when my car was an auto, i took my car to *cough* Autotek *cough*, who (apart from charging me a whooping $2000, had the car back 14 days later) then took the car to Aceoautomatics on the back of their towtruck....

Maybe take the car to Aceo and get it checked out i think they do a diagnostic free road test too..

Hope this helps, my car is an e30 but still..

doesnt seem like the transmission is faulty. I can change to manual mode and change gears as I please. What Im talking about is it goes to over 2 grand before changing up from 2nd gear. When warm its brilliant. I was planning on leaving auto service until next oil change..

JW

[joshnz 2]

My auto box does exactly as you describe ... its wicked once its warmed up, but takes until engine temp is reading normal, Ive just had new oil in it.

[BMW POWER 2]

My Mums E39 Holds 1st and 2nd as you said, especially up hills. Its been into BMW a few times but shes just learnt to live with it.

And sometimes while I'm sitting in her car while its off, I've noticed this buzzing too. Never told Mum because the car still runs and it'd freak her out.

Sorry can't tell you what to do other than see BMW about it, but at least you know you're not alone.

[rxsumo 33]

I guessing that your "issues" might be common to a number of the later BMW's.

My latest E34 purchase has the same issue, except that we dont have the luxury of full manual selection.

Symptom:

When cold, car will hold 1st gear under load, as in it will attempt to change gear and go back to selecting first. However if you come off load the box will change up into a neutral and first will either need to be selected manually or allow the speed to drop enough that the box follows its programming and selects first.

When the car was in at Pages for a WOF, the boys checked with their Auto repair place and they reckon that the box has a sticky solenoid, that can be freed up. However they did say they would take the trans sump pan off and look for metal fragments, if there were any then the job probably wasnt worth attempting to repair.

One observation that I did make was when I asked the previous owner about the state of the trans, he did remark that he looked after the car by warming the car up for 10 minutes every time he drove it, and he had no problems. The guy wasnt the cleverest person in the street, and I reckon that he had been suckered by the last owner. The car also had a fault */E/S selector switch which had locked the car in * mode, it was only after bashing the switch a few times that I actually got 1 & 2 working. The guy was selling it to get something faster, so I suspect it had been a 2 speed auto for a while, which could have accounted for the sticking 1 - 2 solenoid as they hadnt seen much action for a while.

The buzzing behind the dash, has been "normal" in both of my NZ New Climate Air E34 535s, suspect its the Air Conditioning Systems "parking" their vents and valves. The E34 servo driven heat control, parks in the "open" (or hot) position, so one of the noises will be the motor opening the valve if you have had the air conditioning running cold.

[rxsumo 33]

I guessing that your "issues" might be common to a number of the later BMW's.

My latest E34 purchase has the same issue, except that we dont have the luxury of full manual selection.

Symptom:

When cold, car will hold 1st gear under load, as in it will attempt to change gear and go back to selecting first. However if you come off load the box will change up into a neutral and first will either need to be selected manually or allow the speed to drop enough that the box follows its programming and selects first.

When the car was in at Pages for a WOF, the boys checked with their Auto repair place and they reckon that the box has a sticky solenoid, that can be freed up. However they did say they would take the trans sump pan off and look for metal fragments, if there were any then the job probably wasnt worth attempting to repair.

One observation that I did make was when I asked the previous owner about the state of the trans, he did remark that he looked after the car by warming the car up for 10 minutes every time he drove it, and he had no problems. The guy wasnt the cleverest person in the street, and I reckon that he had been suckered by the last owner. The car also had a fault */E/S selector switch which had locked the car in * mode, it was only after bashing the switch a few times that I actually got 1 & 2 working. The guy was selling it to get something faster, so I suspect it had been a 2 speed auto for a while, which could have accounted for the sticking 1 - 2 solenoid as they hadnt seen much action for a while.

The buzzing behind the dash, has been "normal" in both of my NZ New Climate Air E34 535s, suspect its the Air Conditioning Systems "parking" their vents and valves. The E34 servo driven heat control, parks in the "open" (or hot) position, so one of the noises will be the motor opening the valve if you have had the air conditioning running cold.

[mons2b 0]

I guessing that your "issues" might be common to a number of the later BMW's.

My latest E34 purchase has the same issue, except that we dont have the luxury of full manual selection.

Symptom:

When cold, car will hold 1st gear under load, as in it will attempt to change gear and go back to selecting first. However if you come off load the box will change up into a neutral and first will either need to be selected manually or allow the speed to drop enough that the box follows its programming and selects first.

When the car was in at Pages for a WOF, the boys checked with their Auto repair place and they reckon that the box has a sticky solenoid, that can be freed up. However they did say they would take the trans sump pan off and look for metal fragments, if there were any then the job probably wasnt worth attempting to repair.

One observation that I did make was when I asked the previous owner about the state of the trans, he did remark that he looked after the car by warming the car up for 10 minutes every time he drove it, and he had no problems. The guy wasnt the cleverest person in the street, and I reckon that he had been suckered by the last owner. The car also had a fault */E/S selector switch which had locked the car in * mode, it was only after bashing the switch a few times that I actually got 1 & 2 working. The guy was selling it to get something faster, so I suspect it had been a 2 speed auto for a while, which could have accounted for the sticking 1 - 2 solenoid as they hadnt seen much action for a while.

The buzzing behind the dash, has been "normal" in both of my NZ New Climate Air E34 535s, suspect its the Air Conditioning Systems "parking" their vents and valves. The E34 servo driven heat control, parks in the "open" (or hot) position, so one of the noises will be the motor opening the valve if you have had the air conditioning running cold.

Buzzing starts when I open the door. Ie. I can walk into garage open unlocked car and the buzzing starts. Thats with no key in the ignition. Buzzzzzzzzz. Just seems to go away after a few minutes of driving.

JW

Christchurch

[greenday-rulz21 4]

In my dads '98 540 if its a cold morning it does tend to hold in first or second for about 1km until it warms up. And the buzzing behind the climate control is normal, in his car in happens quite a bit after you turn the car off, just as rxsumo decribes.

[AntonyG 0]

Hey guys,

Humming noise is normal. Its the sampling fan for the climate running. Dont worry about it.

E36 do this to.

I've driven alot of E39's. It depends on what software revision the control units have as to

how they drive when their in the cold start programme. Unless its banging or slipping

between gears I wouldnt worry about it. I havent seen many E39 auto trans failures,

most of the auto trans problems I have come across are related to cheap E36 Japan

imports with JATCO boxes, RUBBISH!!!!

[joshnz 2]

most of the auto trans problems I have come across are related to cheap E36 Japan

imports with JATCO boxes, RUBBISH!!!!

Oh dear, how do I find out if my box is this JATCO crap? markings?

[Jazzbass 1]

The temperature sampling fan has a tendency to get noisy bearings. I personally can't stand any extraneous noises in my car - that's why I have a very quiet exhausted E39. Any squeaks and rattles and I have to fix them immediately. Anyway that fan noise pissed me right off, so I did some research on it and found several people who have silenced it by stopping the fan, with no deleterious effects.

Being a Kiwi - I first did this using a black paper clip, which I straightened out and inserted through the small vents in the panel until it caught in the fan blades (very low torque) and stopped them, then bent the end back into an adjacent vent so the paper clip was not noticeable. Bliss!

However, after the paper clip fell out a few months later I decided to take the unit out and desoldered one of the power legs. This is a more permanent, but reversible fix.

I have had no problems whatsoever with it being out of commission.

To the best of my knowledge, your concern over the car holding itself in a lower gear is a perfectly normal cold engine behaviour, as the motor tries to warm up as quickly as possible.

[SKT174 1]

I actually want to know what purpose does that damn sampling fan do?

[kiwi535 538]

it "samples" the interior cabin temperature

[mons2b 0]

Ok guys youve been excellent and really easied my worries! Thank you.

Anyone ever had their TV/Monitor screen go spazo then come right?

JW

Christchurch

[jochen 4]

I have a 1997 E39 540i with the same symptoms as yours

Auto Steptronic Transmission holds 1 & 2 longer when cold, goes normal after approx 1k driving. I treat it gently in this period, and put it down to cold engine / cold trans. Normal.

Buzzing noise from climate control is sampling air fan with noisy bearings. Replace climate control, or disconnect fan, or live with it. Mine does same sometimes. I live with it.

TV monitor losing horizontal hold can be sometimes a battery voltage / reset thing.

Pulsing backlight is more serious, symptom of high-voltage circuit failling. Or may be related to the above. When the high-voltage circuit fails, you'll need a replacement LCD screen.