![2001 Bmw X5 Trans Failsafe Program 2001 Bmw X5 Trans Failsafe Program](https://cdn4.pelicanparts.com/BMW/techarticles/BMW-5-Series-E39/90-TRANS-Automatic_Trans_Fail_Safe/images_large/pic01.jpg)
.the car will not start at all. The battery is fine it just won't start.
Q: Transmission failsafe program comes on dash 2001 BMW X5 asked by Mike on January 08, 2017 Recently transmission failsafe program comes on my dash.did a manual reset of my computer and changed battery didn't resolve the issue. X5 transmission failsafe program. Any thoughts. Oh yeah, the 2. K is basically a new transmission according to the mach. Trans Fail Safe Program Bmw X5. I have an 01 x5 4.4i and just recently the transmission fail safe light came on. When this happens the transmission is usually warm. If I move it into.
Any suggesstions? How do you know that the battery is fine? Are you judging by the fact that some things still turn on even though the car won't start? Or did you actually get a reading from TEST #9 (if the OBC has been unlocked).or used a meter and it read that the battery voltage got a consistant reading between 11.5v-128v? If you didn't do the latter.it COULD be a battery on its last leg.
It's an easy thing to check and cross off the list as the possible culprit. How old is your battery? Is it the original BMW battery from the factory?
Batteries usually have a life span between 4-6 years (especially in hot climates). I had the same problem 2 days ago in my 530i 2003. While I was driving, the battery light came on, I ignored it, after a short period, I noticed that the gear was stuck in a high gear - 3rd gear I guess - then the (Trans Failsafe Prog) message appeared on the dashboard.
I parked the car and switched it off, then I tried to start it but it failed, I waited for around 20 minutes then it tried again and it started with the (Trans Failsafe Prog) on, and the gear was still stuck. Next day I bought a new original BMW battery and replaced the four-years old one, but the problem was still there. I agree with Qsilver7 by having things turning on in the car don’t mean that the battery is fine, and that the battery needs to be replaced every 4-6 years depending on the weather. Now what I am sure of is that the problem has been caused by the old weak battery, but I wonder why replacing the battery didn't solve out the problem, Any suggestions? '01 740iL First had engine starting problem, dealer changed the thermstat. Next day same problem, took it back fix they they said switch problem.
2 days later had ABS light up and Trans Failsafe Prog as well as all gages went dead. Dealer looked & recommended to start with replacing the instrument cluster - big ticket. I turned down & took car out. Question 1: could this be related to first problem. Q2- what is the chance they caused it. Service rep not sure even that would resolve the problem. Reading the thread here may be the alternative or battery.
Q3 any idea which more logical to start. 2000 540iT, 116K miles. Throws the Trans Failsafe mode. Take it to Bellevue BMW, says the internal harness is faulty, $900 to fix (with a trans service, since they'll have it open).
Also got an internal fault in the TCM, but couldn't (wouldn't?) say what it was or when it happened. I declined them fixing it, and did the harness and trans service myself. When I got the part, and opened the trans, I knew it wasn't going to fix it. You guessed it. Called BMW back and asked if I had them do the job, and it didn't fix anything, what recourse would I have. She said, 'Well, nothing. We need to do the TCM now, and the part is $1165, plus 1.5 hours of labor.
Should I schedule it for you and order the part?' Must be nice. What are these people- weathermen? If I have to replace the TCM, AND have someone program it, why can't I re-program the one that has a 'fault'?
Software controls hardware, not the other way around (in my experience), but they are telling me I have to replace it. Anyone got anything on this? The TFP seems to be the #1 biggest mystery I have come across after countless hours searching this site.
I just bought a 2000 740il to replace my stolen 98 740iL. I got a trans failsafe message today after picking it up. I stopped and let it rest for a few minutes and it went away when I started it. Tonight the car will not start and is acting like it did today before I got the failsafe message. I turn the key and it sounds like it will start right up but it just keeps cranking. In fact I have to turn the key to the off position to get it to stop cranking.
It has 125,000 miles on it and is in really nice shape. I picked it up for $6200.00 but don't want to spend a boatload of money on it. My error code reader got stolen with my 98 but I am not getting any error messages on the LED. Anyone have any ideas, should I take this thing back?
One other thing, the tailpipe on the drivers side looks like somebody backed into a curb and bent it shut, could a restriction on the exhaust have anything to do with the starting problem? I was going to take it to a muffler shop first thing in the morning to have it cut off or opened up. Hi, Since there's a lot of talk about transmissions and batteries I also want to confirm that a weak battery and/or dead alternator caused the transmission failsafe prog to pop up.
The battery light also went on and before the car finally stopped, the ABS and brake lights came on as well. BUT on a different occasion I got the tranny error when my transmission neutral safety switch died.
I have the tiptronic tranny so on the dash I saw the gear number change quickly between 2 and 3 (it did not know what gear it was in) then the prog error came on and I could not start the car. The car would not even crank (probably because the tranny was not in park). So it's always good to check your battery and alternator first, but if all those are ok and the car doesn't want to crank then it could be the neutral safety switch. There is a code that will tell you exactly that as well so you can confirm it that way. I've read the thread and I'm having a similar problem.
Here it goes. Trans fail safe light comes on. After letting it sit and re-starting the car, the light is off and the SES light is on. After letting the car idle for about 10 minutes, the trans fail safe light comes back on, the temp hand shoots to hot (red), the tach goes to '0' and the DSC triangle comes on.
Again, let it sit for a while and restart the engine and only the SES light is on. Let it idle and it starts all over again. Oh yea.its a '01 740 sport, 91k miles. I've got it at an independent shop and they are only getting codes for the thermaostat. Could this be all that is wrong? Could this also cause the tach to go to '0'? Thanks for the help!
But what about the temp guage shooting to hot all at the same time as the tach going to zero and trans fail safe light. Could it be that the alternater (or some other electrical items) is working properly?
UPDATE.I just spoke to my mechanic. It seems that there is an electrical can bus fault being triggered by my ABS control module and the thermostat was just a previously stored code. To test that it was the ABS control module, they unplugged it and my instrument cluster came back to life except for the ABS light (temp guage back to normal, tach working properly, trans fail safe light off, DSC triangle gone.). Replacing the module should only run me about $800. Hopefully, this is the fix.
I have a 2001 BMW X5, a few months ago the car felt like the transmission was slipping. The car would hesitate and then slam into gear. This would happen every so often. One time when this happened the hazard lights also came on. Another time the ABS / stability / SES control lights came on.
A few months have passed and now the car is sluggish and then kind of kicks into gear. Kind of like the feeling with a manual transmission when it's going out and you step on the gas and it revs, then kind of starts taking off. It doesn't slam into gear like before but the 'transmission fail safe message' come one the dash but then went away but car is still acting the same sluggish. I took my car in when it was slamming into gear a few months ago but my mechanic said no codes were showing up. Just bought a 98 740il last week that reads 25k on the dash. Super clean car but i knew it couldnt be right.
Windows, locks, trunk button and fan blower didnt work. Air bag light on too. A friend came over and found that the window had been leaking and water seeped into the floor and corroded TONS of the wiring in the floor by the passenger door. He pulled some fuses, relays ect, put them back then WHAM the next day i start my car it goes into fail safe with a check engine light. Went to a shop and they said the code is saying #3 silinoid in the trans. I cant believe its something in the trans its too coincidental that it happened at the same exact time.
Anyone had a failsafe due to wiring?? He also said front right airbag sensor (which is supposed to be somewhere on the floor near the wet wiring but i cant seem to find it, does anyone know where it is?) Sorry for the long post! Thanks to everyone that's posted on this issue. Adding my experience with trans failsafe prog message: - 2000 740i, 150k miles Left lights on overnight, had to jump start the car. On initial start, got trans failsafe prog message on cluster. Reverse worked but no forward gears. Sort of felt like I had 4th gear but I didn't have the guts to test it:).
Let the battery charge for a few minutes, shut it down and on restart the trans failsafe prog message was gone. Keeping my fingers crossed but she's driving smooth as ever. A resurected thread from 2003. Same problem for me very recently. Trans safe message. It was a low battery.
Low because the alternator failed. New rebuilt alternator and a charged battery and all is well again. OMG i freaking love you guys. I JUST fixed a engine failsafe program illness of my 01' 740iL and the next day i got a trans failsafe program warning.
I immediately said f. it, this car is fickle as hell. Then later that day I got both a DSC and BRAKE light. WTF to say the least.
I will replace the alternator and hopefully get the same results.
Well i bought my m5 at 97k miles an right around 99k miles my SES light started coming on so i took it to advance auto an it said o2 sensor bank 1 sensor 2 or whatever but anyways i got the paper for it. So i cleared the light but didnt get o2 sensor because i was being kinda lazy an cheap. So i noticed the light coming on alot more now an the car would like 'break up' when i would pull off at stop lights it would hesitate sometimes but once you got up to speed it drove fine. But there are time when im keeping a steady speed on highway doing like 65mph in 6 gear it would break up or hesitate. So one nite i was driving an my SES light comes on an engine fail safe program light. So im like what the hell is this so i go to advance an check what it says an it said TPS sensor an o2 sensor so i clear the light an start driving an the light wouldnt come on.
But a few hundred miles later the light comes on like i can clear the SES light an it wouldnt come back on until the car either breaks up or hesitates an both SES an engine failsafe program light an they both come on at same time no more than maybe 5 minutes after clearing light. So my guess is, can the engine fail safe program light come on for these 2 sensors, but mainly just TPS? Im gonna get the o2 sensor an tps sensor an do the work myself, but im hopeing this fixes the problem. The car is now a bit over 100k miles.
From what i know Fail safe program puts our cars into limp mode an thats just what it does my car drives normal but as soon as u give it a bit of gas it feels like a turd an is dog slow. Hmmm one other thing when both lights come on, i can turn the car off an let it sit for 2 mins an start the car an SES light will be on but not the failsafe program but i drive for about 2-3mins an it comes right back on.
Any suggestions? Thanks for the advice why should i buy a peake? I used to work at the advance auto that i took my car by so i checked the code myself, is there a different between the code reader at advance an the peake? An yes im going to get the o2 sensor an tps sensor next week an replace them, an with those 2 sensor mainly the tps those will make the engine program come on, i figured it would only come on if there was a super major issue with my car. But yes i see what you mean i was being a cheap. my uncle told me to take care of this car because if your not than dont buy it because stuff isnt cheap. He also drives an m3 an a z3 roadster.
Myself ive came from 240sx's an swapped civics. You get recurring codes for the same issues so that confirms that the parts are bad. The problems won't go away on their own. You need to replace the parts.
You either pay now or pay later and usually with interest. The engine fail safe can come on for the failing TPS because the car doesn't have a throttle cable. Without a correct reading, the fail safe program is engaged to prevent unintended acceleration. I'm not convinced the Peake is worth the money. I just got an Actron CP9180 and it can do more diagnostics than the Peake, which seems antiquated in comparison.
Even though the Bentley manual doesn't specifically cover the M5, it may not be a bad investment to at least use as a cross reference. Yeah your right beleive me im on it right now ive found the oxgen sensor online, but i cant find the tps sensor worth. just regular 5 series. An yeah the actron reader is good stuff thats the same one my old job uses an its great.
Im just tired of the lights coming on an its kinda embarassing. As soon as its fixed im gonna invest in a afe intake system an shark injector chip. As you say you are 'cheap and lazy'. Lets hope this changes quickly Get the TPS from people who sell BMW parts online, like Getbmwparts.com or something like that. Get the 02 sensors from Amazon, believe it or not, they have some pretty cheap original Bosch ones on there sometimes.
Which 02 sensor are you going to change, pre cat or post cat? If you want a DEDICATED code reader, then it should be a Peake Coder Reader, there should be zero to very little debate about this. Anyone who tells you anyother, doesn't know the E39 M5 very well I am afraid.
Ideally you want the full dealership GT1 or INPA/DIS setup. Good Luck mate and keep us posted. If you want a DEDICATED code reader, then it should be a Peake Coder Reader, there should be zero to very little debate about this. Anyone who tells you anyother, doesn't know the E39 M5 very well I am afraid.
Ideally you want the full dealership GT1 or INPA/DIS setup. I haven't used any particular code reader long, but as a serious question, what are the benefits of the Peake? It's supposed to read manufacturer specific codes, but the generic code reader I used pulled the manufacturer specific error code and gave me the error description, same as the Peake (throttle control, return spring in my case). There was a small benefit not having to flip through the Peake booklet though you may at some point need to search for the error code pulled by a generic reader (I bought a higher model generic, perhaps it varies). I also don't like that the Peake doesn't spit out the actual OBD II code. It spits out a code for a code, which I must always look up. If I then try to ask a mechanic or forum members, I have no actual OBD code to give him or her.
I just have a problem description. The Peake can't run O2 sensor tests and other live data tests from what I can tell. You can reset service lights and oil change lights with the Peake, but you can do that via the dash on later cars anyways. I bought a Peake and read the manual, but I'm more impressed with the abilities of the generic scanner and I haven't even read the more substantial manual. I only saw a glimpse of the functions from the menu screens. My Actron was less costly than the Peake and I can use it on other cars.
Are there hidden features that I overlooked on the Peake? I haven't used any particular code reader long, but as a serious question, what are the benefits of the Peake? It's supposed to read manufacturer specific codes, but the generic code reader I used pulled the manufacturer specific error code and gave me the error description, same as the Peake (throttle control, return spring in my case). There was a small benefit not having to flip through the Peake booklet though you may at some point need to search for the error code pulled by a generic reader (I bought a higher model generic, perhaps it varies). I also don't like that the Peake doesn't spit out the actual OBD II code.
It spits out a code for a code, which I must always look up. If I then try to ask a mechanic or forum members, I have no actual OBD code to give him or her. I just have a problem description.
The Peake can't run O2 sensor tests and other live data tests from what I can tell. You can reset service lights and oil change lights with the Peake, but you can do that via the dash on later cars anyways. I bought a Peake and read the manual, but I'm more impressed with the abilities of the generic scanner and I haven't even read the more substantial manual. I only saw a glimpse of the functions from the menu screens. My Actron was less costly than the Peake and I can use it on other cars. Are there hidden features that I overlooked on the Peake? The generic code reader will give you a generic code and by definition this is a compromise, if not please explain.
There will be many instances, all documented excessively on this board, where the peake code reader will determine a problem with zero or little doubt. When your generic code reader will say things like Bank 1 Exhaust CPS instead of CPS for example I will change my view on generic code readers. DO NOT GET ME WRONG, as I said earlier, the PEAKE CODE READER is the best DEDICATED code reader for our cars. If you want to start talking about live data streaming etc then the best there is the GT1 or INPA or similar.If you are serious about your car you need, the Peake Code Reader to keep in your glove box with the table of codes (or if you are like me, I know most of them off by heart ) and you need a GT1 / INPA setup to keep in reserve for when you want to do some more heavy inquisitions of your DME. Also please note that we members who recommend the Peake are not tied in on any commission structure for their product, we are simply telling you and anyone else who asks about codes about their cars, after lots of reading of other members experiences and our own, that you cant get better than a Peake Code Reader as your initial diagnostic tool. It will save you time and money in the medium to long term, hell even in the short term. You have less than 31 posts, I wish I was there again, because I would be on the very steep but fun part of the learning curve of our cars.
I can guarantee that if you become more involved with these cars and as your post count approaches 500 you will fully agree with me and others about the necessity of a Peake Code Reader.