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      07-27-2010, 11:17 AM   #23
Dackelone
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Hi guys,

I was at my local German dealer today and I asked them about which tranny and gear oils (Getriebeöl ) - I should use. I talked to the Meister in their Service Dept. He said for the rear diff/axle I should use straight 90 weight oil. He did say they never change the gear oils (tranny or diff) on any of the new cars. No one asks to change it either. Just me! lol

When they looked up the gear oil in the parts film... it only said to use: "SAF-XO" And here is the bad news... this comes in three quanties... 60 liters for 1,100 euros!, 600 liters or... get this... by the TRUCK load, 6,000 liters! In a tanker truck! lol :") The gear oil in the diff is made by Castrol and I am pretty sure I can find this at my German aftermarket parts store I go too.


For my manual tranny, MT6 the parts films says to use "MTF-LT3" It is only sold in a 5 liter jug for 108 euros (incl. the 19% German sales tax!). Not sure IF Castrol makes the MTF-LT3 oil as well, but it is a good bet.

The Miester did say he has no idea how the tranny will work/shift when or IF I change the fluid. I will change my tranny and gear oils... just not sure with what or when - since I only have 12K miles on my car.
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      07-27-2010, 01:54 PM   #24
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Thanks for sharing the info. I've heard people mention the SAF-XO fluid but it's apparently very hard to find in the USA. If the smallest container BMW sells is a 60 liter drum, that probably explains why!

The MTF-LT3 we can get more easily, also in a 5 liter jug, it's about 150 dollars so pretty expensive here too.
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      10-14-2010, 04:41 AM   #25
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I want to change my manual trans and diff fluids soon.

For the 6MT I will use BMW's MTF LT-3 fluid. But what should I use for the diff?

How much fluid does the diff hold? Are two quarts enough? Or three?
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      10-14-2010, 06:54 AM   #26
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I use BMW engine oil for probably the same reason you want to use a BMW product for the transmission and rear end. But I suggest that BMW makes this pretty impractical. Red Line products are readily available and very good. Mike Miller - who writes the maintenance column for the Roundel magazine - also recommends Red Line (he uses their engine oil in his personal vehicles). As I said above, I used 75W90 red line for the rear end and MTL for the transmission. It works well. It is still not very cold here but it shifts well (we haven't gotten much below 50 degrees F yet.

If there ever is a problem with the rear end or transmission I may have a bit of a hassle because of the non-BMW fluids. Legally this can only become an issue if the dealer can show that the non-BMW fluids caused an issue. I do not worry about it because I think Red Line products are better than BMW products and because an issue with a rear end or transmission in the first 4 years is extremely unlikely.

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      10-30-2010, 04:55 PM   #27
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Figured I'd post this in here since it's not new-thread worthy.

Changed the engine oil for the second time today, at 5k miles. Took the filter apart to inspect, and was surprised by how much stuff was stuck in it again.

Here's the filter from the first oil change, at 1200 miles:

Quote:
Originally Posted by wolfe View Post
[/URL]
And the filter from the second change, at 5100 miles:


Definitely less particles in there, still quite a lot of these blue sealant pieces. Some visible metallic particles too, but less than the first time around. The back (inside) of the filter had no visible stuff at all, but I guess that's what you'd expect.

I'll be interested to see how it looks in another 5k. OEM BMW filters and BMW(Castrol) 5w30 oil in case anyone's interested. I'll probably be sending off an oil sample for a UOA next change, then deciding whether to stick with the BMW oil based on the results of that.

Last edited by wolfe; 10-31-2010 at 07:03 AM..
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      10-30-2010, 05:28 PM   #28
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Thanks for posting Wolfe.

This is why I believe one can never change one's oil too often! Look at all those particles in that filter. Never mind the ones we can not see. I just got my UUC magnetic oil plug and I am itching to install it soon. Probably will do it with my tranny and diff oil change as well.

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      10-30-2010, 05:55 PM   #29
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Very nice write-up Wolfe...thanks

I now just need to get the guts to attempt this myself.
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      10-30-2010, 05:58 PM   #30
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dackelone View Post
Thanks for posting Wolfe.

This is why I believe one can never change one's oil too often! Look at all those particles in that filter. Never mind the ones we can not see. I just got my UUC magnetic oil plug and I am itching to install it soon. Probably will do it with my tranny and diff oil change as well.

Dackel
Love to see a pic of the drain plug after it's first service. Interested in how much it actually collects.
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      10-30-2010, 06:45 PM   #31
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TP 135i View Post
Love to see a pic of the drain plug after it's first service. Interested in how much it actually collects.
Sure thing, will do!

Here is what the UUC magnetic drain plug looks like. The magnet they use is really strong. I was thinking it would be like a magnetic screw driver strength... but its realy quite stronger than a screw driver!



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      10-31-2010, 07:00 AM   #32
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That makes a lot of sense too. I'll probably pick one up next oil change.

What's the deal with the two different washers? Does the UUC plug come with a reusable one?
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      10-31-2010, 07:11 AM   #33
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dackelone View Post
Sure thing, will do!

Here is what the UUC magnetic drain plug looks like. The magnet they use is really strong. I was thinking it would be like a magnetic screw driver strength... but its realy quite stronger than a screw driver!
Sorry....I actually meant after you installed it and after your next oil change, so we could see the particles attached to the magnet tip.

Thanks,
Tom
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      10-31-2010, 07:55 AM   #34
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TP_135i I know what you meant. lol I just wanted to post a pic of the UUC drain plug - since I had not seen any photos of one online.

I am not sure why they give you two types of washers. I plan to use the BMW silver one that comes with their oil filter(kit, filter, O-rings and crush wahser).

On past cars - the material that gets attracted to the magnet is like metal dust. No real big chucks of metal. Just ferret dust. I will be sure to take some pics when I next change my oil.

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      11-04-2010, 09:33 PM   #35
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Can anyone confirm that the 135i 6MT tranny also uses an 8mm hex tool? The diff is certainly a 14mm on my 135i.
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      12-31-2010, 07:36 AM   #36
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Q1: How much oil does the 6MT hold?

Q2: How much does the diff hold?

My dealer is teling me just under two (1.9) liters for the 6MT (BMW's MTF LT-4 oil) and 1.1 Liters for the diff. Does that sound right>? The last thing I want to do is be short on fluid when I change mine.
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      12-31-2010, 12:57 PM   #37
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I used two quarts of MTL in the transmission and well under a quart in the rear end. 1.9L converts to 2 quarts almost exactly. 1.1L is over a quart and I did not vacumn that much out. If you are buying liters, 2 for the transmission and 1 for the rear end will be all you need.

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      12-31-2010, 07:57 PM   #38
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JimD View Post
I used two quarts of MTL in the transmission and well under a quart in the rear end. 1.9L converts to 2 quarts almost exactly. 1.1L is over a quart and I did not vacumn that much out. If you are buying liters, 2 for the transmission and 1 for the rear end will be all you need.

Jim

I have/bought 2.5L of MTF-4 manual trans oil from my local BMW dealer. My price was about 25 euros per liter. Btw a five liter jugs sells for 110 euros now. I figured that I would need just over two liters for the change.

I need to buy some rear axel (diff) gear oil. I plan on using some Castrol full synthetic stuff. SF-SLX(I think its called?). Castrol sells it in 0.5L bottles. So... I need to know how much I should buy.

I have a vacum suction pump - that I bought from Griots. I will use that to "suck out" the old rear axel gear oil. The Griot's vacum pump tool holds eight quarts of fluid.

Thanks for your help Jim.

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      01-01-2011, 06:18 PM   #39
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So it is MTF-4 and SO, not XJ fluid (which is a 75w-140) for the 135i?

I wish BMW would have readily available lubricant info the way MB does on their bevo site. Especially if not all the fluid can be extracted (ran into this on my wife's car, which has a drain and fill plug!), I want to make sure to use the BMW fluid to prevent possible clash issues, at least until the time when I can spend the time to truly replace all the fluid via multiple drain/refills.

Can Americans get the mtf and diff lube? If so, from who?
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      01-01-2011, 06:51 PM   #40
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For my 2010 135i with 6MT - BME says to use MTF-LT-3. My guys at the BMW Zentrum said MTF-LT-3 has been superceeded to MTF-LT-4 now.

Here is the part number for the oil. It comes in a 5L jug. 110 euro for 5L jug. #93220421925 I paid 21 euros per liter - but that was with my "good guy" discount and no German tax(+19% vat).

I have also seen Bavarian Auto selling the MTF-LT oils. I also heard that on earlier 135i's there is a tag on the trans that tells you wihich oil is required. But I would think that MTF-LT-4 would work in all older trans. But I don't know for sure.

This week I will pick up the proper rear diff oil, made by Castrol. I will post the oil specs & type - along with some photos.

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      01-01-2011, 07:37 PM   #41
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I wonder if there's a datasheet out there on the specs of MTF-LT-4. I believe the LT-3 is thinner than the LT-2 and have read that LT-3 is not a direct replacement for all cars that specified LT-2.

Would be interesting to see if the LT-4 is thicker or thinner than LT-3 (or the same).
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      01-05-2011, 05:27 PM   #42
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Ok, I picked up the rear diff oil today. Here are some photos of the oil. I hope to change my gear oil in the next few weeks. Its too dam cold outside right now! lol

5L jug of MTF-LT-4 oil... only 2.5L in it though.


Castrol rear diff oil... SAE 75W140 GL5 BMW LS

interesting words by Castrol...



I also picked up this nice set of crush O-rings... I wanted to make sure I had teh right size when I changed my oil. I know the rear diff has a rubber O-ring.



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      01-05-2011, 06:08 PM   #43
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Interesting that they gave XJ given that you dont have an LSD. There was a TSB sometime back requiring XJ in all LSDs, but I thought they were still giving a 75w-90 for open diffs. I'd rather utilize a 75w-110 in a powerful vehicles diff versus a 75w-90, though they are kind of the same and I can go into more detail if anyone is interested.

What gives with the 2.5l in a 5l jug?

Can you provide p/n for everything or a copy of your invoice?
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      01-05-2011, 06:31 PM   #44
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JHZR2 View Post

What gives with the 2.5l in a 5l jug?

Can you provide p/n for everything or a copy of your invoice?

Look at my earlier post #44.

I did not want to buy 5 liters when I only need less than two liters for the 6MT. A 5L jug cost over a hundred euros. I paid 46 euros for 2.5L.

MTF LT-4 BMW part number 93220421925

You can read the Castrol gear oil bar code in the one photo above. I paid 10 euros for a 0.5L bottle(regular price is 15 euros per 1/2 bottle). I did not buy the diff oil at the dealer - I bought it at my indi parts place over here in DE (Stahlgrube). We checked both the Castrol data book and my parts place PC data system. Both said Castrol SAF-XJ is the correct gear oil. Even at my BMW Zentrum, on their pc system, it said to use this oil in the diff.

The reason I did not buy the SAF-XJ at my dealer was the smallest container is 600 liters! Really. It comes like that. lol In a very large barrel or you can buy it by the truckload 6K liters+!!!

I have always suspected our 135i's do indeed have a LSD (mechanical) of some kind. I know every morning when I drive up my underground garage ramp, and I can hear the rear tires slip on the sand/salt. It sounds to me that it has a LSD. Even when you watch the BBC's 5th Gear show where they test a Porsche Cayman against a 135i - they said the car has a LSD. I know everyone says the 135i does not have one. But... my ears tell me otherwise.

Dackel

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