[gbalthrop]

Do you have Fault Code "578E" saved in EGS (Transmission Control Module) Memory?
Wondering HOW to get rid of it?
Got ISTA?
Wondering what the STATUS of Transmission Oil Life (per counter) is on your vehicle?
Here's HOW to ease your mind with ISTA:

1) To View current Status of Transmission Fluid Life, use 1st attached screen;
2) To "Reset Transmission Oil Counter" use 2nd attached screen;
3) Third screen shows EGS Control Unit "Triggering" Menu: select "General" to get "Reset" Screen;
4) Click "Trigger Component" button (bottom of screen) after selecting "Reset..."

For ANY of ~ 20 Control Units (Modules) in your vehicle, you can view such a screen.
Here's Menu Sequence to view EGS module page; OR select any other Module;
Open "Control Unit List" (or Tree): Operations > ReadOutVehData > ID W-O VehTest Button;
When Control Unit Tree Screen appears, Click Tab: Control Unit List;
At Control Unit List, Double-click Module/Control Unit you want to connect to;
OR, you can highlight Control Unit, on either List or Tree, and Click "Call Up ECU Functions" button;

Identification Tab: shows Part#, Supplier, Variant, Programming & Date, etc.
Diagnosis Scan/Status Tab: used to view Live Data, Sensor Signals, Inputs to Module, etc.
Select Line(s) of Data you want to view as "Live Data" and Click "Read State";
Click "Read State" again to exit "Live Data" readout, and then "Undo"
Attached screen shows ALL lines of "General Status" selected;
For Fastest "Refresh" of Live Data, only select ONE line (ONE PID/Parameter);
Triggering Tab: Activations: control/run motors, lights, solenoids; Initialize; Reset;
Make sure you understand what you are doing BEFORE pressing Trigger Component.

If you find any errors or omissions in the above, please post, along with questions.

George

[E92William]

Good stuff. Will be trying this after I manage to get ISTA working in my computer and after I manage to get my transmission fill plug off after it's been reduced to a perfect circle lol that 578e been around for a while

[Buug959]

Originally Posted by E92William

Good stuff. Will be trying this after I manage to get ISTA working in my computer and after I manage to get my transmission fill plug off after it's been reduced to a perfect circle lol that 578e been around for a while

It's time to get the welder out and tack a bolt into the "perfect circle". This will do two things for you. It'll give you a bolt head to get a wrench on and the heat will likely help loosen the grip on the fill plug. Then just replace the fill plug with a new one. ( But you were going to do that anyway, right??? )

[E92William]

Originally Posted by LemansE90335xi

It's time to get the welder out and tack a bolt into the "perfect circle". This will do two things for you. It'll give you a bolt head to get a wrench on and the heat will likely help loosen the grip on the fill plug. Then just replace the fill plug with a new one. ( But you were going to do that anyway, right??? )

Well I don't have anything to weld with lol so I'll have to figure something out but yes I was gonna replace it it seems I have to spend 20 bucks on a fill plug. No one happens to know thread pitch for it so

[gbalthrop]

Originally Posted by E92William

... after I manage to get ISTA working in my computer and after I manage to get my transmission fill plug off after it's been reduced to a perfect circle lol that 578e been around for a while

I recommend using BimmerGeeks "Downloads" page which links MEGA site for (1) BMW Standard Tools (includes INPA), (2) E89 Datens, and (3) Rheingold (ISTA+). MEGA site will let you download (1) & (2) which have a combined compressed/ Zipped file size of just under 5 GB. When you go to download Rheingold which is just under 10 GB Zipped file size, MEGA will try "Delay" the download for ~ 5 hours trying to get you to buy a monthly account. Just start the download before sleeping, and in the morning it will be downloaded, FREE, at least if you have a desktop or set your laptop power mode to NOT go to sleep during delay.

If you run into problem Downloading, Installing, Setting Up, Connecting, or Operating the Software, just post question(s) here, 'cuz a LOT of people including me have successfully used INPA/ISTA from BG Downloads Link, and we could ALL learn more if we share what we know.

At least you tested removal of the (formerly) 17mm Transmission Fill Plug BEFORE you drained the existing fluid (DIDN'T YOU?? ) I would assume mine had never been removed before when I removed it at 11 years & 132,000 miles. The Plug was NOT rounded or damaged, but I still used a 17mm box-end wrench (closed end of combo wrench).

I tapped lightly on the opposite end of the wrench to loosen it. I have found over the years that "Light Impact", by tapping repeatedly with hand sledge (NOT slugging), loosens MUCH easier than either a dead pull with 18" breaker bar or "Whacking" it as hard as you can, EITHER of which can result in the wrench slipping and damaging the plug.

So, in YOUR case, if you have LARGE Vise-Grips or Locking Pliers to lock onto the "rounded" plug head, try tapping the end of the Grips/ Pliers LIGHTLY to see if it will loosen without slipping off. If THAT won't work, you could try a Left-Handed Drill or E-Z Out, as long as you don't drill ALL the way through the plug and get metal shavings INSIDE the transmission. When you get a replacement Fill Plug, you can measure how deep you can drill w/o penetrating.

Although I don't recommend "Resetting" the Tranny Fluid "Counter" BEFORE you change Fluid & Filter, there is NO Fluid Quality Sensor (similar to OZS) in the GM6; ONLY a "Dumb" Counter, AFAIK. So you can reset it NOW & Change LATER, and no one but YOU would know.

George

[mecheng77]

I changed my trans fluid not too long ago do you recommend I reset the counter ?

[Wolf 335]

Originally Posted by gbalthrop

Do you have Fault Code "578E" saved in EGS (Transmission Control Module) Memory?
Wondering HOW to get rid of it?
Got ISTA?
Wondering what the STATUS of Transmission Oil Life (per counter) is on your vehicle?
Here's HOW to ease your mind with ISTA:

1) To View current Status of Transmission Fluid Life, use 1st attached screen;
2) To "Reset Transmission Oil Counter" use 2nd attached screen;
3) Third screen shows EGS Control Unit "Triggering" Menu: select "General" to get "Reset" Screen;
4) Click "Trigger Component" button (bottom of screen) after selecting "Reset..."

For ANY of ~ 20 Control Units (Modules) in your vehicle, you can view such a screen.
Here's Menu Sequence to view EGS module page; OR select any other Module;
Open "Control Unit List" (or Tree): Operations > ReadOutVehData > ID W-O VehTest Button;
When Control Unit Tree Screen appears, Click Tab: Control Unit List;
At Control Unit List, Double-click Module/Control Unit you want to connect to;
OR, you can highlight Control Unit, on either List or Tree, and Click "Call Up ECU Functions" button;

Identification Tab: shows Part#, Supplier, Variant, Programming & Date, etc.
Diagnosis Scan/Status Tab: used to view Live Data, Sensor Signals, Inputs to Module, etc.
Select Line(s) of Data you want to view as "Live Data" and Click "Read State";
Click "Read State" again to exit "Live Data" readout, and then "Undo"
Attached screen shows ALL lines of "General Status" selected;
For Fastest "Refresh" of Live Data, only select ONE line (ONE PID/Parameter);
Triggering Tab: Activations: control/run motors, lights, solenoids; Initialize; Reset;
Make sure you understand what you are doing BEFORE pressing Trigger Component.

If you find any errors or omissions in the above, please post, along with questions.

George

Thanks George!

[gbalthrop]

Originally Posted by mecheng77

I changed my trans fluid not too long ago do you recommend I reset the counter ?

Resetting the Trans Fluid "Counter" is like "Registering" a battery (and ignoring the Histogram and Battery Capacity Setting ;-). The 578E Fault Code does NOT cause any Warning Lamp to light. The ONLY way you know the "Lifetime Fluid" "Life Expectancy" has expired is if/when you have/use a code reader that can read Fault Codes in EGS Module. BTW, "Registering" a replacement battery ONLY enters the Odometer Value (in km), existing at the moment you "pushed the button", in a text field in DME Power Management Module, and is INFORMATIONAL only, NOT used to manage battery charging.

Since I'm overly ANALytical, and since I check for Fault Codes 3 or 4 times per year, I get tired of seeing the 578E code. No harm in letting it stay there AFAIK. However, if you changed Fluid & Filter, and you can use a Scan Tool or ISTA to reset the counter, then your car is carrying the correct data for any tech that works on it who knows enough to check the "Lifetime %". The IMPORTANT thing for your car is to change fluid & filter.

Resetting Adaptations MAY help the transmission to adjust more quickly to the NEW FLUID properties, but THAT is probably over-rated as well, since any module which is functioning properly SHOULD soon change the adaptations as the car is driven. I have NO IDEA how long that takes. My SWAG is anywhere from ONE drive to one week. Analogy to Battery replacement: you COULD (should if Anal. ;-) "Reset Histogram" which is the SOC (State of Charge) data for last 5 days, but that will be overwritten in next 5 days anyway.

Difference between "Battery Replacement" and Fluid/Filter replacement: there is NO "Fluid Type" Setting in EGS Module. There IS a "Battery Type/Capacity" setting in the Power Management Module (AGM vs. FLA & Ah Capacity). So you MUST use Dexron VI in a GM6 Tranny.

ANYONE know if ISTA+ (used on E9x) can "Code" new Battery Type/Capacity, or even "Display" the currently-selected Battery Capacity? If so, please provide Menu Sequence and/or Module related to that procedure. I have just started using ISTA and have NOT found that yet. INPA can "Read/Display" Battery Capacity/Type but NCS has to be used to CHANGE Battery Type/Capacity.

George

[mecheng77]

Wow, I don't think it's placebo but I did a full adaptation for the engine and fluid change for gearbox and the transmission shifts much smoother.

My trans fluid showed a life of only 18% which is odd because the car only has 127,000km. Maybe the po did a lot of city driving, not sure how smart the counter is.

I did the trans fluid reset using your method and then I did a engine adaptation reset and when I tried to do the trans reset it only does the fluid reset (they call it oil change) which I think is an adaption reset because it shifts smoother. I used the BMW doctor method and reset the vanos. After you do this clear any codes.

Here is the video:

Btw: what is "reset control unit" do? I see this for many of the computers.

[Space Grey Xi]

Great thread George!! Should be a sticky.

[mecheng77]

Anyone get around to measuring the trans oil life?

[Hayk90]

I had a similar fault in the VTG module (Transfer Case) called 54C6 Oil Wear. INPA wouldn't reset it, thanks to this thread I figured I need ISTA. Took a few days to figure out how to get it working and was finally able to connect to the car and reset the Oil Change counter for my VTG module. No more code!

What's cool is during the oil change procedure, you can hear the transfer case controller engage and disengage as it's doing its thing. Then once it's done, all gearbox integrators and disc integrators are set to 0.0

[Hayk90]

Originally Posted by mecheng77

Anyone get around to measuring the trans oil life?

I'm at 137k miles and my transmission oil life was at 15% before I reset it to 100% today.

[gbalthrop]

Originally Posted by Hayk90

I had a similar fault in the VTG module (Transfer Case) called 54C6 Oil Wear. INPA wouldn't reset it, thanks to this thread I figured I need ISTA. Took a few days to figure out how to get it working and was finally able to connect to the car and reset the Oil Change counter for my VTG module. No more code!...

Actually, INPA WILL reset VTG Oil Wear (x-Drive Transfer Case). You CANNOT "Clear" that Fault Code OR the GM6 578E Oil Wear code by Fehlerspeicher Loschen or clearing code. To get rid of the 54C6 Code, using INPA, you need to use INPA > VTG > F6 Activations > F1 Clear Ho Integrators; THEN F2 Resetting the Gearbox Resistance Class; THEN F3 Clear Calibration Memory. I did ALL THREE in that order and the code did NOT come back -- as it had done when I simply used F4 > F2 Clear Fault Memory (Fehlerspeicher Loschen).

You MIGHT be able to clear the code by ONLY doing F6 > F3 Clear Calibration memory, but since I changed the fluid, I figured it would be best for the Transfer Case if I did ALL THREE. I don't recall any noticeable sounds when I did the resets, but probably had the USB Audio going.

NEVER did find any way with INPA to get rid of 578E for my GM6 AT though. My SWAG is that INPA MAY do that for ZF box, but Munich & Detroit never got together on INPA doing that, and for "Factory Software", it really was NOT an issue.

George

[Hayk90]

Originally Posted by gbalthrop

Actually, INPA WILL reset VTG Oil Wear (x-Drive Transfer Case). You CANNOT "Clear" that Fault Code OR the GM6 578E Oil Wear code by Fehlerspeicher Loschen or clearing code. To get rid of the 54C6 Code, using INPA, you need to use INPA > VTG > F6 Activations > F1 Clear Ho Integrators; THEN F2 Resetting the Gearbox Resistance Class; THEN F3 Clear Calibration Memory. I did ALL THREE in that order and the code did NOT come back -- as it had done when I simply used F4 > F2 Clear Fault Memory (Fehlerspeicher Loschen).

You MIGHT be able to clear the code by ONLY doing F6 > F3 Clear Calibration memory, but since I changed the fluid, I figured it would be best for the Transfer Case if I did ALL THREE. I don't recall any noticeable sounds when I did the resets, but probably had the USB Audio going.

NEVER did find any way with INPA to get rid of 578E for my GM6 AT though. My SWAG is that INPA MAY do that for ZF box, but Munich & Detroit never got together on INPA doing that, and for "Factory Software", it really was NOT an issue.

George

Wow that's cool to know INPA can do it, ISTA definitely makes it a lot easier to do.

By comparison INPA feels like working with Windows 95 and ISTA is somewhere around Windows 7. A lot more polished and user friendly, just a whole lot more difficult to install.

[bluewater328]

Originally Posted by gbalthrop

Actually, INPA WILL reset VTG Oil Wear (x-Drive Transfer Case). You CANNOT "Clear" that Fault Code OR the GM6 578E Oil Wear code by Fehlerspeicher Loschen or clearing code. To get rid of the 54C6 Code, using INPA, you need to use INPA > VTG > F6 Activations > F1 Clear Ho Integrators; THEN F2 Resetting the Gearbox Resistance Class; THEN F3 Clear Calibration Memory. I did ALL THREE in that order and the code did NOT come back -- as it had done when I simply used F4 > F2 Clear Fault Memory (Fehlerspeicher Loschen).

You MIGHT be able to clear the code by ONLY doing F6 > F3 Clear Calibration memory, but since I changed the fluid, I figured it would be best for the Transfer Case if I did ALL THREE. I don't recall any noticeable sounds when I did the resets, but probably had the USB Audio going.

NEVER did find any way with INPA to get rid of 578E for my GM6 AT though. My SWAG is that INPA MAY do that for ZF box, but Munich & Detroit never got together on INPA doing that, and for "Factory Software", it really was NOT an issue.

George

E92William You're not alone, I did the same thing. Used the dip stick (yup, know we dont have one, but the tranny does) plug atop the ledge along the exhaust to fill -- just gotta be careful about the qty as you're not getting the "til it drips" from the regular fill plug. Let me know how you do it as I still haven't. Problem is the tranny mounts are in the way to do anything serious easily.

As for the "gearlife oil", I believe someone had posted here it triggers at 125000 km (not miles) or so. Numbers have nothing to do with read-conditions, its just milage based. You can also double click the condition code and step through the process to clear. It will ask you questions that allude to whether you serviced the transmission oil or not. It clears it if you say you did. Simple. Don't have to really step through the extra hoops to clear -- ISTA was made so that a specially trained monkey could walk through repairs in (sorta) real language.

[mecheng77]

Originally Posted by Hayk90

I'm at 137k miles and my transmission oil life was at 15% before I reset it to 100% today.

Originally Posted by Hayk90

I'm at 137k miles and my transmission oil life was at 15% before I reset it to 100% today.

Thanks what trans do you have?

I have the GM trans. Interesting that my life was at 18% at only 78k miles

[mecheng77]

Originally Posted by Hayk90

I'm at 137k miles and my transmission oil life was at 15% before I reset it to 100% today.

Did you guys notice quicker and smoother shifts like I did?

[Hayk90]

Originally Posted by mecheng77

Did you guys notice quicker and smoother shifts like I did?

1. 2008 328xi with the GM trans

2. I was having hesitation issues with the accelerator pedal. The only way to avoid them was to use the DS mode. Not sure if the fluid reset did it, but it’s been driving a lot better the last few days.

I heard people doing an adaptation reset on the engine, not sure how that’s done. Would be interesting if it would help with the cold idle.

[mecheng77]

Originally Posted by Hayk90

1. 2008 328xi with the GM trans

2. I was having hesitation issues with the accelerator pedal. The only way to avoid them was to use the DS mode. Not sure if the fluid reset did it, but it’s been driving a lot better the last few days.

I heard people doing an adaptation reset on the engine, not sure how that’s done. Would be interesting if it would help with the cold idle.

Originally Posted by Hayk90

1. 2008 328xi with the GM trans

2. I was having hesitation issues with the accelerator pedal. The only way to avoid them was to use the DS mode. Not sure if the fluid reset did it, but it's been driving a lot better the last few days.

I heard people doing an adaptation reset on the engine, not sure how that's done. Would be interesting if it would help with the cold idle.

I posted a video above it can very well help, worth a try. I did a full adaption reset

[dpaul]

Originally Posted by gbalthrop

ANYONE know if ISTA+ (used on E9x) can "Code" new Battery Type/Capacity, or even "Display" the currently-selected Battery Capacity? If so, please provide Menu Sequence and/or Module related to that procedure. I have just started using ISTA and have NOT found that yet. INPA can "Read/Display" Battery Capacity/Type but NCS has to be used to CHANGE Battery Type/Capacity.

George

I don't believe ISTA/D can do this. It doesn't do any flashing and it doesn't do most coding. You cannot manipulate the VO directly - you can "import" a new (modified VO) as an XML file but that requires a valid IBAC code.
Ridiculous! According to the documentation you need ISTA/P to change the battery type - certainly not worth the bother.

Documentation (search "register battery replacement" in ISTA+) says the following:

"For a battery replacement, the standard installed battery capacity may be used as standard. When installing a battery with a higher or lower capacity or when installing an AGM battery instead of a normal lead-acid battery, the CAS must therefore be reencoded using ISTA/P:

- With ISTA/P, run the retrofit ”Battery” (select battery capacity of the fitted battery)."

[gbalthrop]

Originally Posted by dpaul

I don't believe ISTA/D can do this. It doesn't do any flashing and it doesn't do most coding. You cannot manipulate the VO directly - you can "import" a new (modified VO) as an XML file but that requires a valid IBAC code. Ridiculous! According to the documentation you need ISTA/P to change the battery type - certainly not worth the bother.
Documentation (search "register battery replacement" in ISTA+) says the following:
"For a battery replacement, the standard installed battery capacity may be used as standard. When installing a battery with a higher or lower capacity or when installing an AGM battery instead of a normal lead-acid battery, the CAS must therefore be reencoded using ISTA/P: - With ISTA/P, run the retrofit ”Battery” (select battery capacity of the fitted battery)."

Thanks for confirming my suspicions!

Although I personally see NO reason to install ANYTHING other than the Factory Type/Capacity FLA/90Ah battery which INPA indicates is the current coding, I wonder if you can do us ONE MORE FAVOR:

Can you Please provide a Step-by-Step use of either NCS Dummy, or NCS Expert to change battery code in CAS Module (Klasse Batterie - Battery Type), or at least provide a link or reference to a Manual for Expert or Dummy that indicates HOW to Download/Save Existing Settings in a Module, and then HOW to change one of the Settings? It seems like it SHOULD be a simple procedure of 5 or 6 steps, but I have NOT seen a "Simple Explanation" for "Simple Folk".

Thanks,
George