Just bought an '03
 

Hi folks,

Just bought an '03 base model, auto trans for my daughter. 100K miles, 1 owner, all svc records, runs great, tight little car. I've been reading about the tranny issues, and now I'm a bit worried after hearing that they fail without warning.

One thing I noticed is that when you shift in to drive, the motor idles down, then returns to normal, and then accelerating is pretty normal. I thought it was just the CVT type trans, never having driven one before.

I'm a decent auto mechanic but see that the trans itself is pretty expensive, so replacement becomes an issue of the expensive part, not the labor.

Hoping for the best.

it's really a crapshoot , I;ve got a neighbor thats got 250K on hers and the tranny runs like a champ .. I've seen others go out at 10k.. I think that allot depends on HOW it's driven

Thats kewl. It was a local car, serviced at the local BMW dealer where purchased and has pretty much a full svc history according to CarFax.

I drove it again last nite. I believe my thoughts spur from the difference between a conventional trans and the Mini's. I'll probably change the tranny fluid to start fresh, and see how it goes from there.