Engine began suddenly making a very loud knocking sound without any warning, and I drove it straight to sandy sansing bmw service center, where they stated that the vehicle has suffered a catastrophic crank bearing failure. The engine has to be replaced now... Car has been meticulously maintained and always serviced at bmw dealers since it was new... A car with 56k miles on it should not have such an extreme failure in this nature...
2008 BMW M3 transmission problems
37 complaints (45% of all complaints for this car). Typical mileage when it fails: 6,400. 1 crash reported.
- owner complaints
- 37
- of this car's complaints
- 45%
- typical mileage
- 6,400
- crashes
- 1
- recalls
- 1
Which part fails
- Automatic transmission28
- Manual transmission2
- Driveline1
At what mileage
Complaints by mileage at the time of the problem.
BMW M3 transmission problems in other years
Specific symptoms reported on the 2008 BMW M3 transmission
Phrases found in the owners' own descriptions, so one complaint can mention several symptoms.
Related recalls
Power train: clutch assembly
- What is wrong
- Bmw is recalling 2,500 my 2008-2009 m3 passenger vehicles with an optional double clutch transmission. The problem involves the double clutch gearbox. In a situation of rapid vehicle deceleration, the transmission software may perform a multistage downshift.
- Risk
- In that situation, at low vehicle speeds, it is possible for the engine to stall increasing the risk of a crash.
- Remedy
- Dealers will reprogram the engine and transmission electronic control unit with updated software free of charge. The recall began on december 3, 2008. Owners may contact bmw at 1‑800‑831‑1117.
Recall number 08V595000 · Recall details
What 2008 BMW M3 owners say
Most recent owner complaints, unedited.
Incident 1 I was making a left turn after the signal and entering into the freeway at 25 MPH, and during the turn, there was a slight inclination in the road like a bump and the car landed on the front right wheel and immediately the I lost steering control and had dsc (dynamic stability control) and brake warning and I was this close to getting rammed by a truck from behind and I hurt my hand during this event because I could hardly steer my car and barely pulled on to the curb of the freeway. How can a bmw be so delicate, it cant handle a bump and if it cannot, then why did I loose steering control ? Incident 2 2 weeks before this incident had a clutch bearing failure, which resulted in the clutch pedal stuck to the floor and did and retrieve, I could not change the gear and almost ran into another accident because the car came to a halt in the middle of the road. The vehicle is pre-certified by bmw and it's been only 4 months since I purchased the vehicle.
There's an issue with the car's dct/transmission. The problem occurs when you slow down- like for a turn, but do not come to a complete stop. The dct transmission seems to have trouble figuring out what gear to select because when you step on the gas to accelerate, there is a very significant delay in the onset of power- up to 2-3 seconds. By this time, the driver is usually really digging into the throttle. The transmission finally picks a gear, which results in the car suddenly lurching forward, sometimes invoking the anti-skip control. This has happened several times since I bought the vehicle and can prove to be very dangerous when you're in close proximity to another car and the car thrusts forward.
I own a 2008 bmw m3 with dct transmission. When in auto mode and you slow down and then wish to accelerate the car hesitates and then lunges forward. This is going to cause a problem with losing control of the car or could crash into vehicle in front of you. Took it to the dealer and they said nothing is wrong. Their needs to be a recall on this. Vin number [xxx]. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).
The problem occurs when you slow down- like for a turn, but do not come to a complete stop. The dct transmission seems to have trouble figuring out what gear to select because when you step on the gas to accelerate, there is a very significant delay in the onset of power- up to 2-3 seconds. By this time, the driver is usually really digging into the throttle. The transmission finally picks a gear, which results in the car suddenly lurching forward, sometimes invoking the anti-skip control. The danger in this behavior occurs when making a turn into on-coming traffic after slowing down to around 10-15 MPH. After the turn, the car is positioned in the traffic lane, but you have no power to accelerate into the flow of traffic. The oncoming cars are now closing in on your car at a fast rate, and you're basically stuck. This situation is most pronounced in the "auto" mode of the dct transmission, but also occurs to a lesser degree while in the manual mode when you select second gear in preparation for the turn. It is also very repeatable in both modes.
I am very happy to see your organization taking an interest in this issue. It is a very dangerous problem with this vehicle that bmwna is well aware of, but insists that it is "normal behavior" for my car/transmission. I brought the car into the dealer, and they were able to reproduce it, but they were told by bmw that this was "normal behavior." the problem occurs when you slow down- like for a turn, but do not come to a complete stop. The dct transmission seems to have trouble figuring out what gear to select because when you step on the gas to accelerate, there is a very significant delay in the onset of power- up to 2-3 seconds. By this time, the driver is usually really digging into the throttle. The transmission finally picks a gear, which results in the car suddenly lurching forward, sometimes invoking the anti-skip control. The danger in this behavior occurs when making a turn into on-coming traffic after slowing down to around 10-15 MPH. After the turn, the car is positioned in the traffic lane, but you have no power to accelerate into the flow of traffic. The oncoming cars are now closing in on your car at a fast rate, and you're basically stuck. This situation is most pronounced in the "auto" mode of the dct transmission, but also occurs to a lesser degree while in the manual mode when you select second gear in preparation for the turn. It is also very repeatable in both modes. These problems started occurring after a previous recall on this transmission where the engine would stall under hard braking or not shift under hard braking. The recall fixed that problem, but introduced this problem, which occurs almost every day whereas the previous problem only occurred during a specific situation. Thank you for looking into this dangerous matter.
Hesitation in the automatic mode when decreasing speed then trying to initiate a turn. For example going down the road at 50mph then braking to turn left, once braking occurs a significant hesitation will occur which may result in the oncoming traffic hitting you.
2008 e92 m3 with m-dct transmission. Transmission tends to "lag" after medium to hard braking causing unresponsiveness to throttle for 2-3 seconds before either 1)slowly regaining throttle, or 2)sudden forward jerk. Bmw has tried updating the m-dct software, which seemed to fix the problem temporarily before starting to occur again.
Despite multiple software updates to correct this flaw my m-dct (automated manual transmission) car still exhibits a delay between throttle application and any response from the vehicle. For a small period of time the vehicle is utterly unresponsive to the throttle input. This happens when attempting to accelerate immediately after coming to a near stop. The lack of acceleration can be a safety hazard in many cases.
Shifting into 2nd gear produces lag and upon accelerating the car jerks and jumps forward, which is scary in traffic and absolutely a big safety issue!
Questions about the 2008 BMW M3 transmission
Does the 2008 BMW M3 have transmission problems?
Owners have filed 37 complaints about the transmission of the 2008 BMW M3, 45% of all its complaints, more than any other problem.
At what mileage do 2008 BMW M3 transmission problems start?
The typical (median) mileage in owner complaints is 6,400 miles.
Was there a recall on the 2008 BMW M3 transmission?
Yes, 1 recall: 08V595000. Check your VIN to see if your car still needs the free repair.
What year does the BMW M3 have bad transmission?
The BMW M3 model years with the most transmission complaints are 2008 (37 complaints), 2009 (24 complaints) and 2003 (14 complaints).
Other 2008 BMW M3 problems
Engine 21Airbags 9Electrical 9Fuel system 5Acceleration 3Driver assistance 3Body 2Brakes 2Seats 2Steering 2Locks 1Visibility 1
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