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04-25-2011, 01:15 PM | #68 |
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According to the owner's manual, BMW North America says change automatic transmission fluid every 100,000 miles. Mike Miller of Roundel recommends it every 60,000 miles, and to only use the official BMW automatic transmission fluid. It is a comparatively expensive procedure due to the cost of the fluid - I think approximately $400 (USD), at least at U.S. dealers.
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04-25-2011, 03:11 PM | #69 | |
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Originally Posted by BMW86 Sorry for the newbie question but do Auto cars require transmission fluid changes and if so, when is it recommended? Thanks Quote:
And I saw a transmision repair shop over here in Germany (one of the last places that STILL takes aparts a/t trannies) say that they would change the a/t fluid every 39K miles! Just FYI. Also... I have seen a guy over at the e90 forum say that there is another fluid that can be used instead of the BMW one. He did some reasearch and found the company that makes the a/t fluid for BMW. Its fairly cheap too at around $6 per liter. I think you need between 8 and 13 liters depending on doing a total drain (tq convertor) or just tranny change. |
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06-05-2011, 02:55 PM | #70 |
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6MT manual transmission and differential fluid change...
Hi Guys,
Well… I finally got around to changing my manual transmission and differential fluids. I really do not know why it took me so long to do this. Technically IF you can handle changing your engine’s oil you can do this job. I purchased the transmission fluid (MTF-LT-4) from my local BMW dealership. Normally this is sold in five liter jugs but they had some in a barrel – so they sold it to me by the liter. The manual trans takes 2.0L so I bought 2.5L just to be safe. The last thing I wanted was to run back to the dealer with my car left up in the air. I can confirm the manual transmission takes 2.0 liters of fluid. For the rear diff, I used Castrol “SAE 75W140 GL5 BMW LS”. This fluid is backwards compatible with non-LSD differential. It is also the same fluid BMW says to use for M models. The differential took 1.2L to fill. You simply fill the trans and diff until fluid starts to spill out (as long as your car is jacked up completely LEVEL!). The whole process is very simple. The only special tools you need are: a 8mm allen (hex) key for the transmission. The fill hole is a tight fit… my ½” 8mm socket could not get up in there… so I used a L-shaped allen wrench. That worked just fine. For the rear diff you need a 14mm hex socket. Btw… there are no copper crush o-rings… you just re-use the old drain plugs. They have one of those green neoprene o-rings built into the drain/fill plugs. NOTE: before you open the transmission fluid drain (on the bottom of the trans, you first need to remove one of the under body aero covers) I would first remove the transmission’s fill plug. It is located on the upper right (Passenger side) of the trans. Then once you have the fill plug removed remove the trans drain. Be forewarned that the trans gear oil will come out quite quickly! Ask me how I know this… because a got a slight shower of trans oil all over me! lol You will need some device to suck out the old differential fluid. I used a fluid evacuator – that I bought from Griots Garage. I attached a 2M long 8mm green hose onto the end of the suction tube. Worked like a charm. I also think Motive Products makes a nice fluid evacuator/pump as well. These suction pumps cost less then $100. It is pretty easy to do. I really do not know why I waited so long. I do know that my trans oil was filthy! Very dark black. The diff oil looked dark but really did not have that stinky diff oil smell to it – that I was kind of half expecting it to have. The new fluids were very clean and clear going in (as you can see in one of my photos). I am sure in no time they will change to a darker color. I am thinking of changing these oils again say in 20K. Just to be OCD and over kill safe. Dackel ............. A friend of mine asked me how I filled the transmission with fresh oil. I used an automotive syringe-like device, made by Pressol. It can suck or push oil/fluids. It holds roughly 500ml of fluid - and it works quite well. It can be found at most German hardware stores. I bought mine at Hornbach for 22 euros. For anyone stationed in Germany you can input your city's German zip code here to find a Hornbach near you... http://www.hornbach.de/cms/de/de/mei...t/maerkte.html You can ask for an, Öl-Absaugpumpe Pressol Saug- und Druckspritze (suction and pressure syringe) Amazon.de has them one sale right now. http://www.amazon.de/Carpoint-065624...830116&sr=8-46 To remove the old diff fluid I used a oil change vacuum pump. Most MWR car craft shops should have an industrial tool that can suck old oil from the car's dipstick tube. Just use one with some 8mm vacuum hose attached to the end. Then insert it inside the diff's fill hole and suck out the old diff oil. Hornbach also sells a fluid vacuum pump(made to suck out fuel, but it should also work for diff oil. Just make sure the oil is warm/hot). The suction tool is made by Einhell ( Benzin-Ölabsaugpumpe) http://www.amazon.de/Einhell-Benzin-...31867&sr=1-159 Hope this helps future guys to change their fluids! Dack |
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06-05-2011, 03:02 PM | #71 |
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Btw... here is what my UUC magnetic engine oil drain plug looked like - when I changed my oil a few weeks ago. This is the tird time I changed the engine oil using this magnetic plug. As you can see the metalic particles are a lot less now.
Dackel This is how it looked like after removing from oil pan - I did not clean it off! light metalic dust that clung to the magnetic tip. |
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06-05-2011, 07:01 PM | #72 |
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I noticed the same thing in the filter of my 128i on the third oil change. It looked much better this time around, there's hardly any trace of blue sealant and the metallic particles are next to nothing. For reference that was at 10k miles.
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06-06-2011, 01:49 AM | #73 | |
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Thanks Wolfe. I really liked your oil filter dissection photos. Hopefully it shows people how important it is to change you oil even on a new car with low miles. Still some will just go by BMW long OCI's - but not us! |
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06-15-2011, 07:49 AM | #74 |
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It's been an interesting experiment. I am hoping that the end result will be a car that uses very little oil at 70k+ miles. I bought my e46 used at 37k miles, and it had had oil changes at 15k, 32k, and 37k. Once it reached 60,000+ miles it was using a quart of oil every couple of thousand miles. 'Normal' consumption according to BMW I know, but I'm hoping by doing the changes more regularly I'll avoid or reduce that with the one series.
Updated my oil filter pics with the 3rd change. The change in the amount of particles in the oil filter is a very welcome sight: first change: 1200 miles: 2nd change: 5100 miles 3rd change: 10600 miles The filter did dry out on this third picture as I left it a couple of days before taking a picture. It looked infinitely better this time around. Although the filter is obviously doing it's job and these particles are in the filter and not floating around the engine, I definitely feel better about reducing the OCI, especially for the first few changes. |
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06-15-2011, 10:38 AM | #75 |
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There were a couple of questions near the end of page 3 that don't seem to be addressed. If you search my old posts I think you will find pictures of the blocks I use in the plastic lift pockets to prevent damage. They are made of 3/4 baltic birch (high grade) plywood. I have them both for lifting and for use on the jack stands. You can buy an aluminium piece that does the same (for a lot more money). When lifting at the center lift points in front or back, I just put a circular wood block on the jack. The center jack point in front is plastic and flat, at the rear it is the differential (not differential cover).
To suck out differential fluid, I used a transfer pump which was metal that I got at O'Reily's. I got some smaller diameter clear plastic tubing from a hardware store and used tape to join it to the pump. You can't get much out unless you go to a really small diameter hose. Even then you need to move it around until you pick up something. I think a wet/dry vacumn would have a lot of trouble being throttled down to 1/4 inch or so. The fluid is also thick so it doesn't move easily. Transfer pumps are pretty inexpensive and are also handy for moving the new fluid into the differential. Jim
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09-14-2011, 05:26 PM | #77 |
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"doing" the diff oil change would be the same. As for the A/T... On most AT's there is no drain plug (bolt). So... with an A/T you have to remove all the little bolts around the AT pan, then the tranny oil spills out, over the sides of the pan. Kind of messy. Inside the AT valve body is a filter that you should also replace. Then you will need new AT oil. But when I look up the AT oil pan... there looks to be an AT oil dran! So you might take a look under your car. There doesn't appear to be a AT valve body oil filter either. weird. http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...44&hg=24&fg=15 |
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09-14-2011, 05:47 PM | #78 |
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Thanks for confirming that Dackelone.. I only plan to do the diff oil for now but I'll have to get my head around the A/T fluid too because the dealer wants big $ to do that.
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09-15-2011, 06:14 AM | #79 |
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I'd check if the dealer is going to be using a fluid exchanger machine, if they are it might be worth it as I think that'll remove a lot more of the old fluid from the internals of the transmission than doing a drain and fill can.
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09-17-2011, 12:09 PM | #80 | |
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Figured I'd share this again. 4th oil change done at 15,700 miles. Left the oil in there for 5200 miles this time. As expected I'm seeing the visible particles diminish each time. I've included the previous 3 oil filter photos for reference, the 4th is the 15,700 mile change.
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11-14-2011, 07:08 PM | #82 |
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Tried to change my diff oil today and I can't undo the plug. The workshop that changed my diff oil a few months ago over-torqued it and it won't come off!
This is my second attempt at trying to undo it. The first time I had the car up on the hoist and this time I was able to reach with the car being on the car. Both times unsuccessful. Because I'm lowered I don't have enough room to get leverage but it looks like it's going to take a lot more than that anyway. Any suggestions? |
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11-15-2011, 01:22 AM | #83 | |
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11-15-2011, 07:25 AM | #84 |
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I would try an impact wrench rather than more pressure. The repeated impacts are less likely to damage the cover.
An illustration may help. Many years ago I had a dune buggy with a VW engine (air cooled horizontally opposed 4 cylinder). The flywheel attachment was one large nut and some dowel pins. I was removing the flywheel for some reason, can't remember what. I put a large pipe on a 1/2 break over bar on the nut and picked up the back of the buggy and the nut still wouldn't budge. I borrowed my uncle's worn out electric impact wrench. A few seconds banging on the nut and it was loose. I would go for relatively low torque. I would use my 18V cordless first and then maybe go to my cheap 1/2 pneumatic. I WOULD NOT go with a big 600 ft lb pneumatic. Jim
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11-15-2011, 07:29 AM | #85 | |
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11-15-2011, 07:31 AM | #86 |
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The diff's oil fill plug should not be torque that tight. On my car it had very low torque. Less than say the oil filter housing which is 19 Nm I think.
IF your diff's fill plug is over torqued... first I would buy a replacement plug from BMW, since there is a seal on it that might be damaged. And then I would use the biggest longest breaker bar - that wil fit under the car. Raise the rear end WAY UP in the air... use some jack stands... then have a go at it with your breaker bar. The longer the better. You can even use a pipe over your ratchet or breaker bar - to get more leverage on the plug. |
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11-15-2011, 07:37 AM | #87 | |
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01-08-2012, 05:55 PM | #88 |
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What exactly are those blue sealant particles? Where do they come from?
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