I also heard horror stories about the suto tranny and have read many posts
on the subject. I have a 1993 325i with an auto tranny and it is doing quite
well. It has 174k on it and runs well. My father, the previous owner changed
the fluid every 15 to20k miles. Then again, my friend who has a 92 325i also
with an auto tranny was more faithful in fluid changes and is on his third
one. I know worst case scenario, I pay $900 for a used one at bavauto.

"John Burns" > wrote in message
...
> Anyone care to comment on how reliable other makes of car's autoboxes
> are after 100-150k miles? I know that many other makes share the same
> boxes as BMWs but I'm curious to know how Japanese and other euro makes
> compare.
>
> There seems to be a perception that the five speed auto boxes are an
> accident waiting to happen after 120-150k. Not helped by the whole
> "lifetime fluid" thing. Is this a myth or near to the truth? What %age
> are dying?
>
> I had a dead ZF 4HP22 in my 635 many years ago at 150k, but that was
> mainly due to lack of fluid changes by previous owners I suspect. I have
> an old 525e with 182k on it's auto, I strongly suspect it's seen few
> fluid changes too. But for the moment it's fine. The question is, are
> the current automatics a liability?
>
> --
> Who needs a life when you've got Unix? :-)
> Email: , John G.Burns B.Eng, Bonny Scotland
> Web : http://www.unixnerd.demon.co.uk - The Ultimate BMW Homepage!
> Need Sun or HP Unix kit? http://www.unixnerd.demon.co.uk/unix.html