$3000+ in maintenance and repairs...then auto transmission breaks

I feel that any REASONABLE inspector would know that,and agree that the CV failure is the direct root cause of this. It is common sense if you are somewhat knowledgable about drivetrains. Any denial of this claim can only be an attempt to wear you down and avoid paying out on the claim.

Call the news for one of those private investigations. They love busting into places with cameras and microphones and asking the manger why the mechanics are incompetent and they are immoral for doing bad buisness and taking advantage of a customer.

Originally Posted by RG5384

When the axle came out did you loose the trans fluid as well? If so viola cooked trans.......

once again, the diffs are no where near the transmission.

Originally Posted by HiHoBrian

When the CV popped out,you coasted to a stop,but your transmission was still freewheeling in gear even if it was at idle. Then I assume you put it in park,causing it to snap. (Trans was spinning as if you were still moving)You would have had to shut the ignition off and allow transmission internals to stop rotating and then put it in park to have prevented that damage. An average driver would not think of that within the time that the failure occurred.

that is actually a very good explanation.
he thought he was not moving but he gunned the gas pedal and the drive train was rotating at maybe 60-80mph, then he hits the brake but the brake wont slow down the drive train cuz the axle is disconnected. then he shifts into P. clunk, there goes the parking claw.
or maybe it was the shop, who knows.

Brian,

I think I owe you a beer...

That's going to be my rebuttal when/if Firestone denies my claim. That is the honest truth on what happened and they can't expect a normal driver to know how to handle that situation. Therefore, they should be responsible as the CV axle was the root cause.

I want to be able to prove that the transmission would still be freewheeling in the scenario so I have all bases covered. What would you guys recommend I offer as evidence that this would happen?

If Firestone denies and they won't budge I'm going to contact a local TV station and mention e46fanatics as the community that gave me advice and the evidence I needed to prove them wrong. I am very grateful.

You can reference Newtons First Law of Motion: An object (parking pawl) at rest stays at rest and an object in motion (transmission components) stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon (CV shaft falls off and car put in Park)by an unbalanced force. (Causing unrest in a Fanatics Member's finances) :beer:

If my car was functioning normally, my transmission would not be freewheeling / moving while my car is not in motion ( while pulled over).

My question is, with the CV axle being popped out, what changes? Why is my transmission now freewheeling even though my vehicle is not in motion and the engine is idling?

Your explanation definitely 'clicks' with me and I comprehend it, just not that one detail.

Originally Posted by HiHoBrian

When the CV popped out,you coasted to a stop,but your transmission was still freewheeling in gear even if it was at idle. Then I assume you put it in park,causing it to snap. (Trans was spinning as if you were still moving)You would have had to shut the ignition off and allow transmission internals to stop rotating and then put it in park to have prevented that damage. An average driver would not think of that within the time that the failure occurred.

Originally Posted by gvg5004

If my car was functioning normally, my transmission would not be freewheeling / moving while my car is not in motion ( while pulled over).

My question is, with the CV axle being popped out, what changes? Why is my transmission now freewheeling even though my vehicle is not in motion and the engine is idling?

Your explanation definitely 'clicks' with me and I comprehend it, just not that one detail.

because the center diff is now only spinning the front diff and the front diff is only spinning the broken axle. its how diffs work.
on the other hand, they also could use this conclusion to avoid your repair because you slammed the gear in P when the axles are still moving.
actually your speedo would get a reading even if the car is not moving because I believe the speed is read off the transmission not the wheel.

Originally Posted by jasonbimmer

because the center diff is now only spinning the front diff and the front diff is only spinning the broken axle. its how diffs work.
on the other hand, they also could use this conclusion to avoid your repair because you slammed the gear in P when the axles are still moving.
actually your speedo would get a reading even if the car is not moving because I believe the speed is read off the transmission not the wheel.

Thanks for this - makes sense now. I did not look at my speedometer when I put it in park so it may very well have read a value > zero. However, I don't think they could use this to win the argument because I wasn't physically moving. No human would need to verify that by looking at the speedometer

Can't say how much I appreciate the help. These two paragraphs of text are likely going to save me $3500.

I'll let you guys know how it all ends.

Be careful here, there are a lot of things that may not be 100% correct.

Again, I do not know the xi technology very well, but I will not a few things.

1. Most BMW's register speed off a rear wheel sensor from my understanding?? Assume the xi may be the same way? Some cars do measure speed from the transmission output, but I am not sure this is the case with E46 BMW's? Again, I may be off slightly on this statement?

2. The xi has open differentials and I believe and open transfer case. If the car was just 2 wheel drive and the axle shaft could pop out, your car would have gone nowhere. All the engine power would be transferred to missing driveshaft.

3. The situation of the trans moving while putting the car in park is a pretty good possibility. When you are in drive, all the engine power would be sent to the location of the missing axle. Non of the wheels would turn, but the transmission, transfer case and the driveshaft to the missing axle would be turning. I do not think in this case you would have a speed reading unless the car was coasting on the road.

4. The parking pawl is supposed to lock into the output of the transmission. I have seen many cases where the car was put into park with the car still moving and the parking pawl not be broken. You may have a bit of bad noises, but it is usually spring loaded as I recall and will not usually jam itself into the openings in the output shaft. It would be interesting to find out if the parking pawl is broken and/or the transmission case where the parking pawl is supported?

5. I need to think of a good analogy about this situation. But in any event if you had any responsibility in the breaking of the parking pawl, you would have done so totally unknowingly. With the driveshaft not connected, you operated the car as you have likely done so for probably 7 or so years if you are an original owner and it was really the shops negligence that started this cascade of events that may have caused more damage than just a axle shaft that needs to be reseated.

It kind of like if the shop worked on your brakes and did something that caused your brakes to fail, you then wreck your car when trying to apply faulty brakes, the shop then take no responsibility for faulty brakes because you wrecked the car. Again, not the best analogy, but I find if you can put together a good solid analogy that proves your actions were not foolish of negligent, then it is easier to present and make your case.

Good luck, this really sucks and should be resolved by the shop. At the end of the day their insurance will have to cover the repairs anyway.

So how did you make out?

Sent from my PH44100 using Bimmer App

Please keep us updated.

Damn. I was expecting a conclusion. If Firestone doesn't agree to pay everything, stop talking to them and just sue. Seriously.

All,

The ordeal has finally concluded. I'm happy to say that Firestone paid 100% of the bill. They had a second claims adjuster come out and he verified that the damages occurred due to Firestone's improper installation of the right-front CV axle and lead to the breaking of the transmission.

$6000 in damages.

What happened
Firestone installed a CV axle that was aftermarket and was 1/16th of an inch too big. Instead of stopping right then and there, they decided to jam it in with a blunt object, likely a hammer. They completely destroyed the bearing and partially the transfer case. When the CV axle popped out it lead to the below scenario:

I lost power to the vehicle and I brought the vehicle to a stop. I put the vehicle in park. Even though the vehicle was not in motion the transmission internals were still freewheeling. When I put it in park the parking pawl snapped and got sucked into the transmission causing it to break.

I can't thank you guys enough for giving me the knowledge to state my case and stick to my story. It was invaluable in the claims process.

Here is a picture of the vehicle you guys indirectly saved ( I may have had to trade it in if I had to pay $6k myself) . It is a little dirty but I wanted to provide closure to this thread while I have free time.

P.S. Anyone want to recommend a reliable shop in northern New Jersey? I live near Parsippany and Morristown.

Just read all of this today gvg, congratulations with the outcome, but it stinks having to go through the whole ordeal. I just had a situation that went much smoother. Shop cracked an oil pan doing an oil change, shopped paid for new oil pan/installation, and a free oil change lol.

Outcome is awesome. I'm happy the forum helped someone that really made out good.

all that maintenance or repairs that they did to your car IS SO EASY i dont know why you paid so much cash for it

I am glad everything went well.
another reason never take your car to Firestone.

all said and done you came out with a new transmission.. thats awesome lol. often the first major item to go on the car so.

great news

Yes I am very pleased with the result. It wasted a lot of my time but I mentally prepared and budgeted as if I had to spend $6000 myself. Now that I don't I sort of feel like I won a small lottery.

Can't thank the community here enough