2008 BMW 5 Series Transmission and drivetrain Problems

“My 2008 Bmw 528i has now shifted into neutral, and then down-shifted, at high speed (60mph) without warning 4 times. Three of these incidents occurred on the freeways of los angeles. This latest incident almost caused me to be hit by multiple cars as I coasted to a gorepoint at a freeway offramp.”

“On or about may 2013 I was traveling at 60mph on the freeway when suddenly I heard a loud bang sound and my vehicle came to an automatic stop. Scared as vehicle behind me screeched and turn away avoiding me. I remained in the middle of the road for approximately 30 minutes before the vehicle restarted and I traveled fearfully to complete my assignment. Same day on my return home vehicle stopped about 3 times but I drove straight to dealership. Without inspecting my vehicle I was told my alternator and battery was gone. …”

“Bmw 535xi sport wagon 2008- .. Driving on highway, icon came on above speedometer - orange engine/half black and on dashboard below navi readout engine malfunction-reduced power. From then on we had no thrust with gas pedal. Car went in for service and was supposedly repaired. This then happened four more times. Each time the car was in the shop and parts were thrown at it and each time we were told the issue was probably fixed but they really did not know what the problem was. The car was in the shop about 30 days since the original incident. …”

“Transmission locked in parked and vehicle blocking moving truck. Unable to tow auto because dealership was unable to provide assistance for unlocking mechanism. Necessary to contact Bmw directly for assistance to unlock transmission and vehicle subsequent towed to dealership.”

“When engine is cold, car will not shift into reverse. It must be shifted into drive before it will shift into reverse. The first time this happened was in august-september 2007. The gear shift was replaced by the dealer. It happened again in october or november, 2008. The dealer downloaded all the software related to gear shifting and re-loaded it. The shift worked about one month until it happened again. As soon as I can get the car back to the dealer, they will have a third opportunity to fix the same problem.”