Random Rough Shifts 1-2 gear ZF8HP

[ingl0405]

Hi,

I have found a few posts online regarding rough transmission issues pertaining to the ZF8HP transmission, but none of them actually had a real solution posted, so I thought I'd document my issue.

I have a 2012 650i (F12 chasis) with a ZF8HP, I believe Gen 1. Approx 90k kms. I don't drive the car too hard, mostly in comfort and moderately and I am very careful with not abusing it.

The symptoms:
- When trying to drive smoothly (IE trying not to leave everyone behind at the stoplight), the transmission will surge into second gear (around 1500 RPM). It feels like being kicked in the a** and the car lunges forward.
- This seems to happen randomly. There are times when this will happen, and days when it behaves and does not "kick".
- Usually I know it's either going to be a smooth day or a day where the car will decide to kick me for trying to drive smoothly.
- If it's a smooth day, the shifts are barely noticeable.
- If it's a bad day it will kick my a** into 2nd every other time I start slow from a stoplight.
- On one of its bad days, if I drive aggressively, the rough shift can't be felt although I suspect it's still happening.

What I ruled out:
- It's not temperature related. Happens both when engine is cold or warm, though slightly more when warm
- The drive mode (Comfort, Sport, Sport+ has no impact)

What I noticed:
- Seems to happen more often after being stuck in stop and go traffic.
- Less obvious if going uphill, such as a parking ramp.

What I have done so far:
- I had the dealer perform a major service (replace fluid and filter)
- They also reset the driving adaptations. I know the 6HP has a re-learning procedure but I tried to look for one for the 8HP but found none.
- After the reset it was ok for a few days then it started acting up again.

Since I doubt the solution is to punch down on a transmission that may have issues , I would very much like to get to the bottom of this.

If you have experienced similar issues, please let me know, otherwise I will document my experience below.

Thank you
A.

[rasa bmw]

sounds like clutch wear,clutch E was the one that used to go first on the zf h26 tranny,sometimes a service and adaptions reset cures it,,get gearbox adaptions read,via inpa/ista or carly or even foxwell tool,,send them to zf,they will send you results,,few in england have done it

[ingl0405]

Originally Posted by rasa bmw

sounds like clutch wear,clutch E was the one that used to go first on the zf h26 tranny,sometimes a service and adaptions reset cures it,,get gearbox adaptions read,via inpa/ista or carly or even foxwell tool,,send them to zf,they will send you results,,few in england have done it

I am actually supposed to receive my Carly adapter 1 day before taking it to the dealer. I will have them read the adaptations as well and send them to ZF to see if that helps.

I have had the service and adaptations reset 3-4 days before it started acting up again.

[rasa bmw]

Originally Posted by ingl0405

I am actually supposed to receive my Carly adapter 1 day before taking it to the dealer. I will have them read the adaptations as well and send them to ZF to see if that helps.

I have had the service and adaptations reset 3-4 days before it started acting up again.

yeh,,some say do not reset adaptions,,but when i had my older e92 gearbox serviced,,they guy said bring it back in a week,i had other work scheduled,,anyway he reset adaptions,he said he always does it 1 week after,,there is also a driving procedure to follow after adaptions been reset,,my car used to lurch from 2nd-3rd gear in sport mode light throttle ie 2k rev's to 2.5 k revs,thatbsort of range,,car was gratbafter and still when i sold it,,but yeh get the gearbox adaptions read and write them down,,then get in touch with zf,,i also have had my gearbox serviced on my 640d,,,no idea if they reset adaptions,,but they were zf approved gearbox specialist

[jurek_purek]

hi.
did you fix it?

same s´´´´´on my side also
f30 325d 80t km

-flushed gearbox, changed oil
->Nothing better

-reseted adaptations
->worser


i did adapations like in document belove in PDF..

First 2 pictures are before adaptation reset, then secound 2 after

[Esthero]

Does anyone know the solution to this problem?
I'm having the same issue right now.

I'm planning to flush the transmission & gearbox oil to see if that will solve the problem.

[jurek_purek]

nop, read above!

We all did oil and flush and does not help

[Jerome10]

Adding to the discussion here as I've been trying to help a family member with a 2011 535i with very similar issues as described here. It might be more the 2-3 shift, but 1-2 do exactly as described, doesn't matter outside temp, happens randomly, often in stop and go traffic being much worse etc. Pretty much spot on the description above.

I'd posted in 2019 on another forum about this issue, I will search every 6 months to see if I can find ANYONE that had this problem description and said "oh it was a solenoid" or "it was the mechatronics".... I'm still not finding the solution.

It has been to the very well-respected local BMW mechanic for fluid and flush at about 65000 miles. He said the fluid still looked decent, no metal shavings or anything else that stood out in there. Didn't make any difference. He said the car didn't have any codes or malfunctions related to the transmission. Basically he was willing to start digging into it but admitted that it gets expensive quickly and it would be very possible he would not find the problem and we'd have a very big bill and likely nothing to show for it.

Anyway, stuck here too. I'd like to find a ZF transmission specialist but live in a midsize city and I never know how to find a shop you can trust ACTUALLY knows these transmissions.

Would be willing to put some money into it if I knew it would solve the issue.

If I ever get anywhere, I'll post back.

[ingl0405]

Hi everyone, been away from this thread for a while now.
I had another incident (apparently not related), where the engine would go into limp mode and freak out under heavy acceleration.

Took it to the dealer and it turned out to be a coil that was causing a misfire.
I had it replaced and the car now seems to be fine overall, no more rough shifts or kicks in the behind.

The car is down for the winter, but if the issue comes back when I start driving it again, I will post an update here.

Checked with BMW and their coils are supposedly rated for 100k kms which is roughly around where my car is now.

I'm sure this won't fix everyone's issue but in my case it may have been a symptom of another issue.

[cdog2964]

Originally Posted by ingl0405

Hi everyone, been away from this thread for a while now.
I had another incident (apparently not related), where the engine would go into limp mode and freak out under heavy acceleration.

Took it to the dealer and it turned out to be a coil that was causing a misfire.
I had it replaced and the car now seems to be fine overall, no more rough shifts or kicks in the behind.

The car is down for the winter, but if the issue comes back when I start driving it again, I will post an update here.

Checked with BMW and their coils are supposedly rated for 100k kms which is roughly around where my car is now.

I'm sure this won't fix everyone's issue but in my case it may have been a symptom of another issue.

Has anyone else tried this and had any luck? Im taking mine to the shop in a couple weeks for regular maintenance and i thought i may try it out. Mine has nowhere near 100km, but coils are also pretty cheap... thx