2009 BMW 535i "gear selector malfunction" repair

This is an easy way to resolve any "gear selector malfunctions." I couldn't put the car in park anymore using the shifter. The lights on the shifter stopped working, and the shifter started rattling and doing weird things. By carefully removing the shifter, I found the wire ribbon was torn. This fix was as simple as splicing the torn ribbon together by soldering and using electrical tape. Problem solved. BMW will charge a lot for this fix. The cost of a new gear selector assembly would've cost approximately $800 not including labor. I saved myself a lot of money doing it myself.

[@sewmaxindustrial8003]

Two thousand dollars worth of thank yous for posting this video. Local BMW dealer wanted to charge $200 for diagnostics and about $2,000 to replace the whole assembly. Saw your video about an hour after I dropped the car off...immediately canceled the diagnostics and got the car picked up...they were nice enough to give me a car wash and zero cost. Took it to my Indy, told him it's the cable that needs to be fixed...even with this, they said $1,500. So, pulled the gear selector and found that only 4 of the 12 wires were making connection...the rest were severed. Took less than a dollar in electric tape and a little solder...two hours later, works like new. Two thousand thumbs up for letting us know.

[@patsatx]

SewMax Industrial Hey thanks for appreciating the video. And, that’s exactly why I made the video. If I can save people some money then I’ve done my job. I will tell you, however, that my splices are starting to fail. I recommend soldering those connections if possible. That will guarantee a better splice. I think I’ll make another video showing the repair of the repair.

[@sewmaxindustrial8003]

patsatx ...I deed indeed solder all the wires...spliced each, shaved about half inch on both ends, twisted them together, soldered them, wrapped each one with tape, then wrapped the whole ribbon with tape just as you showed in your video. Hopefully, it will last a while, but if it has to be done again, you've shown us the process and anybody with skills or lack thereof can easily do this. Thanks again. BTW did this on a 2008 535i with 71K.

[@aymecalderon4304]

No luck on my side, I had the same problem. They saw a woman coming and replace my transmission by a non BMW dealer...in and out for the last year. 7k in rental fees and it still doesn't work properly. The one year warranty is up in two weeks. 10k in expenses..go figure.

[@patsatx]

Ayme Calderon I can’t wait to sell my 535i. It’s been a nightmare since I bought it. Used by the way.

[@joshpollard2019]

Thank you so much. I live way out in the country and there is no service center for hours. It was blessing to stumble on this video. The very last wire in the ribbon was severed. I love this car, but not as much as I love youtube. You Rock. Thanks again.

[@patsatx]

Kind words Josh. I still talk about this simple fix with my friends and the amount of money I saved. I loved my BMW but I got tired of all the small problems over and over.

[@winettou9]

Thank you for sharing your video.....My 2009 525i don't go into park... Next week I'm taking it apart and try to fix it. I'm sure glad I ran across your video.

[@patsatx]

The best way is to grab the lever at the top and pull firmly but with control. It’ll feel like it’s not gonna pop off but it will. If you pull too hard you could damage the wiring. That silver canopy holds the soft boot in place. Use a small screwdriver to gently pop it up. Trust me, it’ll work.

[@Bemaritohtori]

Ok so you can pull just the knob out to do this without disassembling the whole selector unit? Thanks for this

[@patsatx]

@@Bemaritohtori Yes. The selector is one complete part until you remove it. Once removed you can disassemble. It will take either torx or allen bits.

[@ryan59denver]

Hey are u in California if so how much would u charge me

[@patsatx]

@@ryan59denver sorry. Im in Texas

[@HustleDiffrnt]

Bro if I could hug you I would thanks for the video you wouldn’t believe what I did I’ll tell you I replaced the entire megatronix valve body

[@patsatx]

I’m telling you. BMW only wants your money. You can find the ribbon at your local computer shop for about $2.

[@HustleDiffrnt]

And you got a new Sub 💯

[@rishuagarwal2406]

Would you be able to put up a video showing how to take the lever off. As I'm having trouble in taking off the lever, I need to see if I'm doing it right or not.

[@patsatx]

Rishi Agarwal a vey thin small screwdriver will work. Just be careful when pushing it under the apron

[@lilhuzky28]

Same thing but it says trans malf too

[@stevepolk7627]

Did your lights on the selector stop working first? Mine stopped working about 2 months prior (had too look up on the dash to make sure I was in the correct gear) and now the Gear Selector Malfunction light comes on frequently.

[@patsatx]

Steve Polk I bought my car used but I knew the lights on the shifter were inoperative. It worked fine until the gear selector malfunction light came on. The shifter started making rattling noises. I could even feel it shaking lightly. That's when I found the video that was helpful with instructions to remove the shifter. Once I did that, I found that the electrical ribbon was severed. Once I fixed the ribbon, the rattling stopped and the lights on the shifter worked. I hope this helps

[@danneale2790]

@@patsatx any chance u no were the video is to look at mate

[@danneale2790]

Did the sport button light go off aswell as mine says error and lights go out and also if i flick to manual it turns lights off aswell ?

[@patsatx]

The damaged ribbon behind the shifter will cause all those malfunctions.

[@danneale2790]

@@patsatx ok dont suppose u have any videos of how u repaird and removed to fix mate

[@patsatx]

@@danneale2790 it’s been a while. I used a small screw driver to pop the canopy up and loose. You need to use controlled force to pull the shifter up and off. Careful though, the shifter has a ribbon underneath that can easily break.

[@dheerbhatia]

Thank you bro for your help 👍👍👍

[@patsatx]

Dheer Bhatia did it work?

[@dheerbhatia]

I am going to the workshop and I will let you know

[@dheerbhatia]

He told me the same thing

[@clauudaayy]

Do you know why mine doesn’t go back into park? The transmission malfunction warning came up

[@patsatx]

Claudia Morales what happens when you press the park button?

[@ThatsAGoodOnePodcast]

@@patsatxit goes back to N

[@1slowe60_9]

At 1:23 why does your car radio try to read a cd? I have the same issue when my car is off

[@patsatx]

I believe this model uses a dvd disk for navigation.

[@1slowe60_9]

patsatx t i would also have my stereo keep rebooting so i changed the stereo and it turns on right away! But i have this issue in my car that it doesn’t go into sleep mode do you know why?

[@rosendo363]

What it do?

[@Sahy2020]

Good work, why couldn't you just change the cable yourself

[@patsatx]

Great question. I cant find the part on-line. Exactly what its called I don't know. Im guessing its a ribbon or cable, etc. If someone knows how to buy that part I would appreciate that.

[@Bemaritohtori]

@@patsatx according to realoem, the ribbon cable is part of the selector and cannot be bought separately

[@patsatx]

@@Bemaritohtori Right and thats how they make all their money. I gently separated the ribbon at the connection and then carefully put on a new $4 ribbon very carefully. It worked

[@johnsuguitan317]

Do you have a loud clunk sound after starting the car?

[@patsatx]

Yes I do. Wish I knew what it is.

[@jonathanresendiz4762]

Did you ever figure out what that sound was??

[@fraizer2600]

hi thank you for this great video. if i understand you just repair (i gess solder ?) the wires on this rubon ? can we unpluged this rubbon from the both side and found this rubbon from bmw ? actualy when i press the shift button or the park button is not working every times.. and when i scan error with ista it show me error on the gear. thank you again :)

[@patsatx]

Fraizer I did it the hard way and soldered all the wires. The solder didn’t last forever though. So I bought a 40 cent ribbon from a local electric company and carefully connected it. It hasn’t failed me yet. The other option is buy the entire ribbon from BMW which is about $200. It’s not worth all that

[@fraizer2600]

you did great. but look bmw dont sell only the rubon but all the thing. before i unmoount that. my case on my 1st post look similare of what you experiment ? thank you again

[@patsatx]

Fraizer yes I had the same exact problem

[@patsatx]

Look at the ribbon when u pull it apart. It will be broken.

[@fraizer2600]

great thank you :) i will check how to remove the plastic part and i will do the job

[@iamthewulf]

So will that work for a 04? Mines alil different but maybe someone will know. Mine can shift without the brake being pressed and it goes into a limp mode. Bmw said shift lever lock was broken? Idk a damn thang about bmws. Ive owned all american before this. And advice?

[@patsatx]

Cody Wilson I’m not a mechanic but it sounds like the linkage is broken. Post your comment on Bimmerfest. Be specific in the post and someone will eventually give you a solution. It works for me sometimes.

[@debbiebrooks2490]

how did you remove the cable to repair it?

[@patsatx]

Debbie Brooks What I did was removed the shifter since the wiring was already broken, then removed the other end of the harness by hand. It’s clipped into the housing. All you do is pinch the ends and pull.

[@debbiebrooks2490]

my cable is fused into the shifter assembly...wish I could just order a new cable, but have had no luck with that, seems I must buy the assembly..boooo..don't want to risk splicing and messing more up...do you have a video of what you did?

[@patsatx]

Debbie Brooks Wish I did. It appears the cable is fused but it’s not. It runs up to the top of the shifter. All those parts at the top of your shifter come apart. I would get a small screwdriver and gently lift those parts to expose the screws holding it together. Once you get there you will find a computer board and on the back of that is attached the cable. This process was difficult but it worked. I removed the connector from the cable and slowly re-attached a new cable. The cable I bought was very inexpensive ($2) at a place called Altex. If you look at your cable you can count the number of wires and that will determine the type of cable you need i.e. 12pin or 14pin. Originally I had spliced all the wires but decided to replace the entire cable. If you reuse the plastic connectors be careful not to break them.

[@debbiebrooks2490]

Tt..I will recheck that

[@1slowe60_9]

I wanna know how to open it

[@patsatx]

1 slow E60 _ which part?

[@1slowe60_9]

patsatx the gear like how did you pull it open

[@patsatx]

@@1slowe60_9 If youre talking about the silver apron that holds everything down I used a small screwdriver to lift it up very carefully. Caused no damage. If youre talking about the shifter knob, theres a small plate that has to be removed with a screwdriver. Wedge the screwdriver under that small plate which will expose 4 hex screws. Once you remove the screws, everything else comes off.

[@1slowe60_9]

patsatx thanks i was talking about the silver part!

[@1slowe60_9]

patsatx what did you use to connect the wires back??

[@rosendo363]

Did it when back to park every tome you put in (drive o reverse)m

[@prometheusgriffin5208]

Great video! No doubt BMW are a piece of Sh** with the shoddiest quality in the market.

[@DeepSouthOverlander]

Well, one must take into consideration that often times cars are parked with temperature reaching in the 100s+ of degrees THEN they are also parked in freezing temperatures..... hot / cold then back to hot etc...... and that over 10-20 years..... Not to mention constant vibration, etc.... The more electronic is crammed into a car, the more gremlins it is likely to develop over time. There's a reason why some people cycle cars every time the warranty expires... NOW, it is also true @prometheusgriffin5208 that the cars produced now certainly do not measure up to the level of craftsmanship infused in the cars 30-50 years ago but I think a lot of that blame lies on the shoulders of the sales and marketing departments and not the engineering one. 50 years ago, engineers decided what would make the most sense to build a car and have it function as expected for the standard of the car being built. They would properly spec out components and deal with reputable vendors who also did not cut corners and everyone was able to do this WITHOUT much monetary restrictions...Sales and marketing had to sell what was build at the cost it was produced and that was that! Nowadays, the paradigm is simply flipped on its head (global market and competition certainly doesn't help) and manufacturers get their cues from sales and marketing department who simply mandate that a car be priced at $x which renders engineers unable to properly source reliable material and have to fall back to cheap materials and cheap vendors.......