X3 Transmission Leak - The BMW X3 (E83) Forum

Ok, so tell me if I'm being robbed, had, or otherwise:

I found that my 04 X3 3.0 64K miles, was leaking transmission fluid and slipping only when going down gear from 4 to 3. So I take it into the stealer to get looked

1. They want to $123 diagnostic fee, non-refundable even if I get the service done
2. They tell me after look at it, its the transmission pan gasget thats failed and needs to be replaced
3. They explain that the entire transpan needs to be replaced b/c you cant order a gasket seperatly, and thats a whooping $705 including the Transpan, Trans Fluid, and 3.5 hours of labor.
4. Finally, they go on to tell me that the transmission may be damaged but I "need" to replace the Transpan/gasket before I'll know.

I felt like this was hogwash, so I asked them if they could fill the trans fluid up and let me drive the car to see if the issue with indeed the leak, if not I'm not going to invest $705 + $129 so that I can turn around and purchase an entire rebuilt transmission. The svc advisor tells me, well we dont like to do that b/c it could damage your car's transmission to ride on it. (I acually had it like that for about 3 weeks)

I get a call back the next day from the svc advisor saying they can do that (fill up the fluids, and let me drive it) for an additional $129 in labor. I was like ? huh?

Then I get a call later in the day from someone else in service who says they're waiting for BMW NA to get back to them regarding a "case opened" (i forget the exact name)... and I should do anything until BMW NA tells them what to do next.

Any suggestion, besides the obviose "run away, fast from that dealer". I called a local "trusted" foreign repaire shop who said it should take 1.8 hours of labor and from what they can tell the gasket can be purcahse seperately. He quoted $300 for the whole thing.