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E46 ZF Automatic Transmission ATF Fluid & Filter Change DIY

439K views 274 replies 90 participants last post by  DEADF15H 
#1 ·
Another weekend, another maintenance adventure. Had this Friday off and I decided to tackle some projects on the E46 2001 BMW 330i. Did an engine oil and engine oil filter change, engine air filter change, cabin air filter change, and fuel filter change, but the main event of the day was automatic transmission maintenance. I did a lot of homework before I felt comfortable tackling this service, but I'll save you the trouble and just give you the good stuff.<o></o>
<o></o>
To give an overview of the transmission service, you're doing three things:<o></o>
  1. Changing out as much of the automatic transmission fluid as possible<o></o>
  2. Replacing the automatic transmission filter located inside the transmission<o></o>
  3. Cleaning the transmission pan and magnets of metal and sludge<o></o>
<o></o>That's it!<o></o><o></o>

A little background:<o></o>
Prior to 1994-1995, BMW recommended transmission maintenance on both automatic and manual transmissions every 60,000 miles. This involved changing the MTF or ATF; and on the automatic: dropping the pan, changing the internal filter and cleaning the magnets inside the transmission that collect metal debris. In 1994-1995, BMW started offering free maintenance to keep up with the Benz's (and Luxus', Infiniti's and Acura's), and at the same time stopped recommending the 60,000 mile transmission service on all but the M cars. Coincidence? I think not. BMW began to refer to the transmission fluid as "lifetime fill". Recently, BMW re-introduced optional transmission maintenance at 100,000 miles, which I take as them backing off from their position on lifetime fluids.<o></o><o></o>

I understand two causes of slippage and failure in automatic transmissions. The first is accelerated wear of clutch mating surfaces caused by metal particles suspended in the fluid. The second is the fluid itself wearing out and transmitting hydraulic forces less effectively. Over time, shear forces on the fluid's long-chain hydrocarbons break into shorter molecules that transmit shear forces less effectively. As a result of this cracking, worn out ATF contributes to slippage. Put together a murky, silted mix of metal particles and worn out ATF and it's only a matter of time until you end up with a slipping or non-functional transmission.<o></o><o></o>

Manuals are a little simpler, but suffer the same fate. Metal in the fluid will grind away at the gears, introducing slop. The synchros use fluid viscosity just like an automatic transmission to spin up the gears to matching speeds. Broken down fluids won't work as effectively at spinning up gears and as a result, you won't able to shift as quickly or smoothly.<o></o><o></o>

Bottom line, if you plan on keeping your car longer than 100,000 miles, then it makes sense to maintain the transmission. Most people recommend doing the service at 60,000 miles, I was at 55,000 and decided to go for it.<o></o><o></o>

Let's do it!<o></o>
Let me say before I even start that you will be under the car and on your back a LOT for this job. A creeper will make this job much, much easier. I picked up a 36-in. Torin Big Red creeper at Advance Auto for $20 on sale. Definitely the best purchase I ever made.<o></o><o></o>

Drove the car onto the four 2x10's that allow my jack to fit under the car. Emergency brake and chocks for the rear wheels. Jacked the front of the car at the central jacking point, placed jack stands under front jack pads and lowered carefully. Jacked the rear under the differential, jack stands under the rear jack pads. <o></o><o></o>
Remember, whenever you're working under the car, have someone nearby, and try your best to rock the car off the jack stands BEFORE you get under it to make sure it's stable. Life is precious should be long, and nothing of this sort is worth injuring yourself over. <o></o><o></o>
I had driven about a half-hour before I started, but before I got to the transmission I changed the oil and the fuel filter, so the transmission pan was warm to the touch, not hot. This is important because to fill the transmission accurately the transmission must be between 30-50C, or 85-120F. Skin temperature is around 85F and 120F is too hot to maintain steady contact without pain, so as long as the fluid and pan are warm, you're in the correct range.<o></o><o></o>

Opened the FILL plug of the transmission pan. It is a horizontal, large diameter plug towards the rear of the car that takes an 8mm Allen wrench. I couldn't get my breaker bar into the confined space. Maybe I could have if I'd had a ½-in. drive 8mm hex driver, but I didn't, so I was using a ½-in. to 3/8-in. drive adapter, which made the whole thing longer, causing it not to fit. Next, I tried beating on the Allen wrench with a rubber mallet. Maybe a deadblow hammer would have worked, but the rubber mallet didn't. Next I fit a 6-inch long 3/8-in. drive socket extension on the end of the 8mm Allen wrench (well it sorta fit!) and beat on that with the mallet, and the bolt moved. Before it came off I put a 5 qt. painters measuring container under the plug, and out came about 3 qts. of nasty dark grey fluid, filled with metal particles. <o></o><o></o>
Next, I opened the drain plug, which is on the bottom of the pan towards the front of the car. It takes a 6mm Allen driver and in this case I used the 18-in. breaker bar which made it much easier. Another 1-1.5 qts came out. <o></o><o></o>

Finally, I cracked all 22 pan bolts using a T-25 Torx driver on the end of the breaker bar. They're only torqued to 6 N-m so the bar was probably overkill, but it didn't hurt anything. I left four in place, one at each corner, and remove the rest. There is still another 1.5 qts of fluid left in the pan, so I recommend removing two from the front corners first. This will allow you to pour the remaining fluid into a waiting container. ZF says the transmission holds 9.2 qts including the torque converter and 6.5 qts not including the TC. Since you're not removing the TC (nor should you bother), 6.5 qts is all you're going to get. I wish I'd had a larger diameter catch container than the paint container. I spilled a good bit of fluid on the ground and even some in my hair (My wife smelled the stuff on me later, saw it in my hair, and asked me if I'd seen the episode of In Living Color chronicleing the invention of the Jerry Curl).<o></o><o></o>

Some folks have disconnected the lines that run from the transmission to the transmission fluid cooler at the front of the car, put the output into a bucket and connected the input to a gravity feed container of fresh fluid. In this way you can exchange all of the fluid, but the lines looked mighty inaccessible to me, so I opted to just drain as much as I could. This might be one of those things that's much easier with a lift (what isn't?). <o></o><o></o>

With the pan off, I set it aside and removed the AT filter. Two flathead Allen bolts secure it, but you only need to remove the one towards the front of the car to remove it. Make sure the pink sealing ring comes with it. Have a container ready because it contains holds a good bit of fluid. Get the new filter and install it, making sure to seat the sealing ring properly. If the filter is horizontal, good chance it's seated properly.<o></o><o></o>

Now it's time to clean the pan. There are 8 rare earth magnets in the pan that collect metal bits. Mine were covered in fine grey sludge, which is a very good thing. Every bit of sludge on these magnets was not grinding away at the rest of the transmission. You should use lint free cloth to clean all of these parts so as not to introduce foreign particles into the transmission. I used paper towels and brake cleaner and I expect to be smitten by the transmission gods with a lightning bolt any minute now. With the magnets clean of sludge, the pan nice and shiny, and the gasket surface free of any residue, I coated the whole thing with a thin layer of fresh ATF and brought it back to the car. <o></o><o></o>

Back under the car I had three or four bolts facing the wrong way in the pan to keep the new gasket in place. Getting the first couple bolts in while holding the pan above my head was probably the hardest part of this job. A couple of times I touched the gasket with grimy hands and had to undo the whole thing, clean the gasket, and start all over again. I finally got it, and tightened up all 22 bolts in a rough star pattern to 6 N-m. Maybe you can do a perfect star pattern, but not being able to see all of the bolts at once and the fact that the pan is somewhat squarish meant close enough was good for me. Next, torque the drain plug to 35 N-m. <o></o>
<o></o>

Once the pan was on it was time to pump in some fresh fluid. To do this you need some sort of fluid pump. Mine looks like a giant liquid soap pump. I attached it to empty windshield washer liquid container and filled it with 3 qts of Valvoline Mercon V ATF. The original fluid in this transmission is Esso ATF LT71141, a synthetic blend that BMW sells in 20L barrels for $28/L (yes, you read right, $560 bucks a barrel). If you bring your own container, some dealerships will sell you smaller quantities. 7 L at $28/L is still $192, so if you insist on sticking with the OEM fluid, VW, Audi, and Porsche use the same ZF transmissions that use the same fluid and you can get it for $16/L from their dealerships and a couple of web sources (see p/n and links at the end). VW also sells a Pentosin substitute that can be had for $8-9/L. Valvoline has certified Mercon V as compatible with Esso LT 71141, as has Castrol with their Multi-Vehicle Synthetic ATF. Plenty of folks have also used the Redline D4 ATF product, and some have also tried Amsoil's synthetic ATF with success. If you're still under warranty I'd stick with the OEM fluid (VW stuff is fine, it's the same thing). If anything were to happen I think you're position would be better if they couldn't blame it all on different fluid. Being out of warranty, I felt comfortable using the Mercon V. It doesn't hurt that it goes for $4/qt, 1/7 the price of the BMW juice and ¼ the price from VW. I purchased 7 qts. and used about 6-1/2, together with the filter ($23.25) and the gasket ($13.75), both from Pelican Parts, the total cost of materials for the service came to $66.26.<o></o><o></o>

At this point I was able to pump in about 3 qts. I inserted the fill plug finger tight and started the car, shifting through the gears slowly ten times to get the new fluid in all the nooks and crannies. Placed the gear selector in neutral, shut off the car, and pumped additional fluid through the fill plug until overflow. Have your catch container ready! Reinserted the fill plug finger tight.<o></o><o></o>

Now the tricky part! Started the car in neutral and left it running. You have to crawl under the car and top off the fluid with it running, then screw in the fill plug and torque it to spec. I stayed clear of the exhaust, no burns, but I will admit I was a little tense and wanted to be out from under the car ASAP. Getting the fill plug in was a b*tch. My fingers were covered in oil, I was sweating, nervous, and you can't see where the allen wrench has to go. Just as there was no way to get the breaker bar in to loosen the fill plug, there was no way to get a torque wrench in there either. Once I finally got it in there I just whacked the 8mm allen wrench solidly with the mallet a couple of times and called it a day. If you're able to get a torque wrench in there, the spec is 30 N-m.<o></o><o></o>

I wish I had cleaned the exhaust and pan with a degreaser. The fluid on my arms got on there and I can smell it every time the car has been running for a while. I'll clean it next time I have the car up, but do yourself a favor and clean everything up while you have access to the underside of the car.<o></o><o></o>

Well, that's it! I was doing everything for the first time and the transmission took me 4 hours start to finish. It's been three days and I think it feels smoother, but it felt pretty darn smooth beforehand, so that might just be wishful thinking. I will say confidently that the shifts do happen faster, but again, they weren't slow before either. Changing 6.5 qts. out of 9.2 gives a 71% change, 6.5/9.2 = 71% . Changing another 6.5 qts. puts the new to old fluid ratio at 91%, [(9.2-6.5)*71%+6.5]/9.2 = 91%. I might do a drain and fill again in 30,000 miles without dropping the pan just to get some fresh fluid in there.<o></o>

My Car: 2001 330i ZSP<o></o>
Transmission: ZF 5HP19 (BMW A5S 325Z), green plaque on transmission<o></o>

Lessons Learned:<o></o>
I wouldn't do this without a creeper.<o></o>
Jack the car as high as possible.<o></o>
Use a larger catch-pan than I did to avoid spills<o></o>
Have kitty litter ready in case you spill some ATF (I sure did)<o></o>
For the fluid pump, if you can find a squat bottle with the proper threads this will make the job easier since room under the car is limited.<o></o>
A ½-in. drive 8mm hex driver would have helped with the fill plug<o></o>
Degrease the exhaust, cat, and AT pan while you have the car on stands<o></o>
<o></o>
What You'll Need<o></o>
<o></o>
Tools I used:<o></o>
Safety glasses<o></o>
Monkey suit<o>
</o>
4 24-in. long 2x10's<o></o>
2 wheel chocks<o></o>
Floor jack, Craftsman bargain basement model<o></o>
4 jack stands<o></o>
3/8-in. and ¼-in. drive metric socket set
T-25 3/8-in. drive Torx socket driver<o></o>
8mm 3/8-in. drive hex socket driver (1/2-in. drive recommended)<o></o>
6mm 3/8-in. drive hex socket driver (1/2-in. drive recommended)<o></o>
18-in. ½-in. drive breaker bar<o></o>
In-Lb torque wrench<o></o>
Ft-Lb torque wrench<o></o>
5 qt. painters measuring container<o></o>
Manual fluid pump<o></o>
Empty washer fluid container<o></o>
Creeper<o></o>
5 gallon bucket with lid (for used fluid)<o></o>
<o></o>
Supplies:<o></o>
Paper towels (lint-free cloth is better)<o></o>
Solvent (I used brake cleaner)<o></o>
Scotch-brite pad (for cleaning gasket surface)<o></o>
<o></o>
Materials/Parts:<o></o>
7 qts Valvoline Mercon V ATF $3.98 each<o></o>
AT Pan Gasket (BMW p/n: 24-10-1-423-380) $13.75<o></o>
AT Filter (BMW p/n: 24-34-1-423-376) $23.25<o></o>
<o></o>
Useful Links<o></o>
<o></o>
ZF Transmission Guide <o></o>
<o></o>
Transmission Fundamentals: Explanation of How the ZF and GM ATs Function<o></o>

<o></o>
Alternate ATFs (in order of my preference):<o></o>
<o></o>
1. Valvoline Mercon V (Valvoline Compatibility Letter, what I used)

2. Redline D4 ATF<o></o>
3. Amsoil ATF<o></o>
4. Castrol Multi-Vehicle ATF (Castrol Compatibility Letter)
5. Mobil 1 Synthetic ATF (some Subaru users reported slipping, but these weren't ZF ATs so who knows)<o></o>
<o></o>
Sources for Esso LT 71141 ATF (BMW p/n: 83-22-9-407-807)<o></o><o></o>
Peter Schmid<o></o>
JIE <o></o>
World Impex <o></o>
Any VW, Audi, or Porsche dealer (VW p/n: G-052-162-A2)<o></o>
<o></o>
Other DIYs:<o></o>
VW ATF Drain & Fill (same AT) <o></o>
<o></o>Pelican Parts BMW E36 AT drain & fill <o></o>
<o></o>Another 2001 330i owner's drain & fill experience: <o></o>
BMW owners weigh in on Redline D4 ATF vs. OEM <o></o>
Amsoil ATF Replacement Guide

<o></o>Misc. BMW AT Links<o></o>
Unofficial statistics on BMW automatic transmissions and Lifetime ATF<o></o>
E38 ZF 5HP24 ATF Service DIY (good pictures)<o></o>
<o></o>TechDrive Vol. 3 No. 2, Independent BMW Service Mag, recommends using only BMW OEM fluids (blah!)<o></o>
<o></o>Mixing Esso and Castrol?<o></o>
Diagnosing Transmission Whine (usually low fluid level)<o></o>
 
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#226 ·
well because I kept pushing back and forth as hard as i could so many times i think the allen key tip got hot from the friction and so did the nut and it eventually got damaged as i cannot get the allen key all the way in now :(

i dont have any 3/8 8mm hex socket, only the 1/2 which was too long by 2-3mm which was a shame :/

anyway the other nut im talking about is 6mm and it is behind the transmission further up it (that is what im referring to as the bleeder, but its probably something else) I opened this out and no oil came out, im wondering if i could shove the pipe down there and fill it up going by what people here have put in which is 6.5 qts?
 
#231 ·
well because I kept pushing back and forth as hard as i could so many times i think the allen key tip got hot from the friction and so did the nut and it eventually got damaged as i cannot get the allen key all the way in now :(

anyway the other nut im talking about is 6mm and it is behind the transmission further up it (that is what im referring to as the bleeder, but its probably something else) I opened this out and no oil came out, im wondering if i could shove the pipe down there and fill it up going by what people here have put in which is 6.5 qts?
Lol, you won't get it hot enough to melt the plug from friction ;), my guess is that either it already was partly rounded off (physical forces) from someone else not fitting the allen key all the way in (which can be tricky due to lack of space) or you've just done that :(.
If you've got a very small mirror & a torch look into the plugs hex & see if the base of it is still intact (might just be the top ~1/2 that is rounded off), if so see if you can hammer or lever in the allen key deeper into the plug, in which case you might be able to remove it. Oh & if your allen key itself is damaged hacksaw or grind the tip off, or get a new 1.

Re the other plug, you might be able to put fluid in there but you're not going to know the correct level are you? So no I wouldn't use that to fill from, 1 way or another you'll have to get the level plug out :(
I don't know what that other plug is either but they don't have bleed points. Inccidently before you're tempted to remove it anyway, sometimes plugs like that in g/boxes hold locking pins, ball bearings &/or springs etc!
 
#228 ·
yeh no i didnt take out the drain plug

ok so the filler plug is on the side facing the driver side right? now this other plug is on the transmission facing the rear of the car and is further up and is a 6mm hex as well, that is the one i am talking about using to fill since my fill plug is stuffed
 
#229 · (Edited)
ok, this is the nut i am talking about, this is just a picture i found off the net so i cant see under there if the liquid falls directly into the pan, but what do you guys think? can I use that to pump the fluid in? (again I can't do the check while running thing, I was just going to pump 3qts, turn it on shift through gears, wait till luke warm then pump in 3.5 and that's it)

http://theeshucker.com.au/images/zf.jpg
 
#230 ·
These transmissions are very expensive so I would recommend sticking with the standard procedure for the fluid change. BMW makes a big deal about getting the correct amount of fluid in these things.

You can improve access to the fill plug by removing the exhaust bracket and the transmission support. This should allow the tranny to drop down enough for you to get the appropriate wrench on the plug. If the plug is too mangled to accept the wrench I would check on getting something to extract it with.

Best of luck. These things are very annoying to work on.
 
#232 ·
ha! thanks for the reply

yeah the top half of the plug is damaged and can't get the allen key all the way in anymore and even with removing the transmission mount bracket still can't get enough room to hammer it in, it sucks so bad i have tried 3 times now on 3 different days to get this off

i think i will have to go to an auto shop that can suck it out and do a full flush and fill
 
#233 · (Edited)
I just did this service in my garage. My car is a 2003 325i with the GM transmission. I'd like to point out a few things
-The fill and drain plug are both T-45 star bolts on my car.
-Pan bolts are all 10mm.
-Make sure you know which tranny you have. I ordered my parts from the local Bap Geon and was sent the filter and gasket for a ZF, not GM, tranny. That set me back a full day with my car up on jackstands.
-I used Dexron VI. The car shifts better, sounds better and is all around an improved transmission with 145k of use.
-I used cheap, plastic buckets to hold the fluid. Any local dollar store will have buckets for a buck a piece. I drained the tranny into one and filled another to make sure I replaced the same amount of fluid. I drained 6.25 quarts and replaced the same. It was a perfect match.
-Make sure you set aside plenty of time. Also make sure you have the correct stuff before you start. I ended up having to go get the Dexron VI as I had purchased Castrol multi-vehicle import. Stupid me.
 
#234 · (Edited)
To start with, i did not drop my transmission pan.....i did drain and refill to the extent of 28 quarts of fluid till my transmission fluid was red instead of black with a red tint to it....my car has 110,000 miles on it and i felt a full clean flush would be better than mixing old and new...which probably would have been ok. after it was red, i then pulled the pan and changed the filter, cleaned the magnets...wiped it down with lint free cloth (lint gets in the filter and clogs it).....i then did 2 more drain refills.the first one was very clean....the second drain looked like it came out of the bottle....of course i shifted through the gears upon each refill....it took forever....with the cost of replacing this zf transmission it is nothing to spend a couple hundred on maintaining it.....now that i know whats in there...i will probably run 13 quarts and a filter change at another 60,000 miles. The old fluid was as thin as water, very broken down. I like the idea that the new filter i put in there is filtering clean fluid and not old contamination.

While i was at it i changed the power steering reservoir (it has a filter in it that I will do every 60,000) and ran valvoline max life in there as well.....next time ill probably switch to redline 4 for that as it is full synthetic...valvoline max life is synthetic blend but is still a replacement for the esso fluid that came in the car.
The compatibility is not on the website, but it is on the bottle. To make sure, i called them and asked first...when i got to the parts store i saw it listed.....keep in mind....it is a lot cheaper to buy this by the gallon instead of the quart....i also asked the guy at autozone if he would cut me a break because i was buying so much.....16 quarts cost me $40. The gallon was $15.99 and he sold it to me for $10.
I like the red fluid because i can read it myself without having a lab test it, which is an excellent option. The esso fluid was brown....bottom line, if red fluid is black its not good. If brown fluid is black i could just be slightly dirty.

as far as fill and drain plugs....I used a quality allen socket...not a allen wrench to break loose the fill and drain plugs. I was able to tightly get the 3/8 ratchet and socket in the fill hole plug. i put a piece of pipe on the end of the ratchet to make it into a breaker bar giving me a lot more leverage. After this i used allen wrenches or just put the plugs in finger tight to do the drain and refills....it wont leak out as long as its seated. the car was 4.5 inches off of the ground on all 4 wheels. I measured the frame to the floor to make sure it was even for the refill. Every time i drained it , i jacked the car up at the back to force the fluid forward to the drain hole. when i went to refill it i lowered the car back to the jack stands.

on the last refill i started the engine and topped off the fluid....then tightened the fill and drain plugs with the socket....It is good to use quality tools when using allen type tools. the metal is stronger and wont strip out as easily.
 
#235 ·
Wow that's a lot of oil you used! :eek
I bet you wouldn't use that much though if you were stuck with using the Esso LT stuff we stuck with over here (for the ZF boxes), £10+/ltr & that's trade price!

(1quart is about 1ltr isn't it?)

On the ZF boxes there isn't enough room for an allen socket & ratchet.
 
#236 · (Edited)
no way if it was esso....but that's what I felt was necessary considering the cost of the transmission, its cheap insurance...I would have felt better if it was done at 60,000. Going back thrugh it again i probably would have run somewhere around 25 total with the same procedure. I reached my hand into the bucket and grabbed a hand ful of fluid...letting it pour out of my hand until it was pure red

1 liter is 1.05 quarts and i swear i got a craftsman 3/8 drive with an allen head socket in there....it was a tight fit and i had to wiggle it in diagonally but it went in there. This was just to break it loose and thats all. I would have done some grinding if it didnt fit so the next time it would have. its very close....would have been a lot tougher to break it loose with an allen wrench.
 
#239 ·
Method to change transmission fluid with jacking up only front?

Hello,

So, I understand that these directions prescribe placing the car on 4 jack stands...2 in the front, and 2 in the back. Personally, given the slight angle the floor where I intend to work on my car, I'm uncomfortable putting the car on 4 jack stands. If I had a flat garage floor, I'd have no problem using 4 jack stands. My question, then: is there a way to change (and fill) the transmission fluid with only 2 jack stands? The car won't be level when jacking up only the front, so perhaps filling to the correct level will be impossible?

Thanks!
Jonathan
 
#240 ·
Doesn't sound like a good idea. Your drain will probably be fine, though you might have a little extra in the pan, but the fill needs the car to be level. Since the fill plug is towards the rear you will end up with low fluid level if you only elevate the front. What about driving the rear onto boards and putting the front on stands? Or driving the front onto ramps and using jackstands on the rear?
 
#242 ·
First off...a big (make that HUGE!) thank you to 'Torquewrench' for the outstanding write up. Also, to all the others who have made a contribution to this thread. This write up gave me the confidence to do this diy...and saved me many many $$$. So well, done!
I was able to get my 2000 323i off the garage floor by about 18 inches. This made it fairly comfortable to get and work under the car. The car has 190,000 km (approx 120,000 miles) on the odo and had not had any transmission work done. The shifts before the fluid and filter change were smooth...howerver after the change the shifts do seem to be a bit smoother. I was able to loosen both the fill and drain screws/bolts with the help of a cheater bar on a allen key....and I did make sure I could get the fill bolt loosened before I even made an attempt on the drain bolt!! I did manage to strip one of the torx screws on the transmission pan...but was still able to get it undone and off. The specs on the screws call for a T-25 bit...I found that a T-27 worked better. The T-25 was the bit that stripped the one screw. I didn't replace the screws but will do so on the next change. My fluid was also a nasty dark (almost black) colour..and there was a lot of metallic sluge attached to the magnets in the pan. I cleaned everything up, replaced the filter and filled the tranny with new fluid. I did use the Castrol Import fluid that says it is compatible with the Esso fluid. I have to admit..it was a bit scary being under the car with the engine running, pumping fluid into the fill hole of the tranny.

I have only put on about 100 miles since the change...but the tranny seems to be working fine. I have already ordered another filter and pan gasket from Pelican Parts and will do another fluid and filter change.

Now a few questions...Do you think it would be OK to run on the renewed fluid until spring...probably about 2000 miles? Now that the weather is getting colder, I would like to wait until spring for the warmer weather to do the change...rather than in a cold garage in December.
I guess I should have read the whole thread before buying my fluid. Now, should I just stick with the Castrol or should I switch to the Valvoline MaxLife on the next change? Has anyone run the Castrol fluid for any length of time?
The bolts are M6 X 22...will using steel bolts have any reaction with the aluminum tranny housing? or should I stick with aluminum bolts?

Any other comments would also be appreciated. Again, a big thanks to all for making this a great and useful thread!
 

Attachments

#244 · (Edited)
I will just re-iterate that the pan bolts are not made of aluminium, I can't remember who said that now but they are wrong.

They use steel bolts all the time to screw into ally, & yes sometimes you get corrosion problems, just as you do with steel into steel. Although AFAIR the bolts came out prestine clean from my 325s gearbox & my dads Passat (nearly the same gearbox).

BMWer14
Your tranny box oil is cleaner than it was :), it'll be no problem to leave it for 2k, or much longer.
Btw if a T27 bit fitted then that is the size they are :) (I can't remember what they were offhand), it's very easy to go 1 size too small on small torx screws.
 
#247 ·
A big thank you to all of you who have participated and helped make this a great thread. Thank you especially to OP for his research and hard work.
I did this job this past weekend, and I can't tell you how nasty and grimy the "lifetime" fluid was. I got so dirty changing the fluid that I didn't have time to take pics. My cas has 162K miles. I noticed smoother shifting after the fluid change.

I used Valvoline MaxLife.

Once again, thank you all.
 
#248 ·
A big thank you to all of you who have participated and helped make this a great thread. Thank you especially to OP for his research and hard work.
I did this job this past weekend, and I can't tell you how nasty and grimy the "lifetime" fluid was. I got so dirty changing the fluid that I didn't have time to take pics. My cas has 162K miles. I noticed smoother shifting after the fluid change.

I used Valvoline MaxLife.

Once again, thank you all.
Totally.

I have 154000 miles. I did an oil and filter change at about 70k miles. I drained and filled a few times since then.
As far as the tranny goes, all has been good.
I have used Valvoline MaxLife everytime.
Apparently I am getting a bad torque converter seal code. I am curious if the Valvoline caused the bad torque converter seal. Anyone else have this issue with a Valvoline fluid change?

In any case, my tranny is still good. So that's cool. I just erase the code with my scanner and it stays gone for several hundred miles. So I guess I'll just drive until I have a real issue.

But thanks for this thread!!! Well done.
 
#250 ·
Transmission warning light

I got the dreaded phone cal from my wife: there's a light on in the dash, what do I do?

It was the transmission fault light, and she limped the car home. I replaced all the fluid I drained out without dropping the pan, and the light went out. In the mean time I ordered a filter, gasket, and new bolts from the dealer.

The filter etc came in this week, and I was planning to drop the pan and do a full change in a couple weeks when the weather warms up some. Unfortunately the car had other ideas, and illuminated the warning light again today. I have done the filter and new fluid (6.5 qts went in, probably 6.25 staayed in), trouble is the warning light did not reset this time. Anyone have any idea how to reset the light? Or better, read the code?

Just to be clear, this is the exclamation point inside the gear next to the D; the service engine soon light is off.

We have a 2003 325 with the ZF transmission, and 105k miles.

Side note, even with the old filter, the drained fluid tonight was much redder than the first set, about 100 miles ago.

Big thanks to T-W for the original post, it was much better than Uncle Bentley's coverage

--roger
 
#252 ·
I used the Valvolene max life fluid - still has the Esso comparability label on the quart bottle; I have a Zf 5HP19.

I called the dealer today on my way to work, I am of course being 'blamed' for changing filter. I told home light was on before filter change, and that mollified them. Apparently my 'codes' are internal transmission faults - ouch!

He couldn't remember what the codes are so of course that's no help to me. Sounds like I'm going to need a good Indy in Boston / Metro-West soon.

--roger
 
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