Car has no reverse in tranny (in any mode), shifts fine when driving forward at normal speeds, seems to be functioning properly when driving on highway, when putting in "reverse" car just sits, as if it were in neutral, problem came on suddenly, did not notice any tranny performance issues prior to this.

Any suggestions??

You didnt say whether its auto or not, but assuming it is, it could be either a broken or worn gear lever linkage, from the gear shift to the box, or possibly low fluid in the gearbox, or transmission as you call it. After that, I'd imagine it starts getting serious.

There's a well-documented problem within the Valve Body of the transmission where a plastic ball gets worn over time and then gets sucked into an area it's not supposed to go. Try searching the archieves of www.roadfly.org in the E32 forum.

Thanks guys. I'm well aware of the problem with the valve body, but from what I've read my problem is a bit different. In all of the valve body/ plastic ball problems. the vehicle seems to perform differently when the car is cold vs. warm. Also, in most cases it seems that they get some kind of response when the car is in reverse, and there appears to be some performance issues when driving forward as well.

In my case, I get absolutely no response at all when in reverse.....regardless if the car is warm or cold. According to the display, the car actually thinks it's in reverse, but I get nothing....it's as if it's in neutral.

I'm leaning toward Flywheel's diagnosis on the linkage. Any idea on cost to get this linkage fixed, if it is the problem?

Thanks guys. I'm well aware of the problem with the valve body, but from what I've read my problem is a bit different. In all of the valve body/ plastic ball problems. the vehicle seems to perform differently when the car is cold vs. warm. Also, in most cases it seems that they get some kind of response when the car is in reverse, and there appears to be some performance issues when driving forward as well.

In my case, I get absolutely no response at all when in reverse.....regardless if the car is warm or cold. According to the display, the car actually thinks it's in reverse, but I get nothing....it's as if it's in neutral.

I'm leaning toward Flywheel's diagnosis on the linkage. Any idea on cost to get this linkage fixed, if it is the problem?
If it is the linkage, it's a pretty simple mechanical/cable type fix and well within the scope of a diy job. If you need any detailed info you can e-mail me on e32fan@eircom.net and I can organise some diagrams etc. as I have the Bentley manual which is full of pretty much everything you'd need to know. I could scan the various pages and mail them to you if it helps.

I think I might be on to something wrong with my 1988 bmw 735il. The transmission seems to be getting stuck in gear until it warms up. After five 10 minutes of sticking it runs fine until the next time it sits for 1 hour. can you give me a better idea where I can find this well documented valve body problem. Please help!