Original auto box was rubbish. I wouldn't touch one with a 60ft barge pole!
My parents had one and the gearbox went. They took it into BMW Croydon (when it was on the Brighton Road), and they said that it needed to be replaced. £5000 inc labour please. Only 3-4 years old. My dad was like hell no! Told his mate who got involved and they then dropped the price down to £2500. My dad's mate was still not convinced it was right, so they contacted BMW Head Office and they told my dad that they were gonna supply the gearbox for free to the dealership so all they thought we would have to pay was the £800 labour charge. Apparently their gearboxes are designed to last at least 5 years. Anyways, the dealership apologised and then did it for £400 labour with the free gearbox.
GITS!!!!