Transmission oil? (manual)

What kind transmission oil do you guys use?
I changed it just lately and i put in that same 75W90 GL-5 stuff like in differential, because this repair manual said 75W90.
But now i see wiki suggest 75W80.
I also feel gearbox is bit clumsy now (before warming up) , but ofcourse it's mainly because of these -10C (14F) weathers.

Now wondering if i should redo that transmission oil change with bit better stuff for feeling better? Or is it going to be good when weathers warm up again?

Does the wiki happen to recommend any particular brand, or maybe even a mixture of a couple different versions of a particular brand?

I need to change mine too. I read one wiki post where guy used royal purple synchromax and he seemed happy with it, thinking of buying 2 qts of that.

RedLine is a very well-respected brand. Their website has a selector, I believe.

Originally Posted by lgr122

What kind transmission oil do you guys use?
I changed it just lately and i put in that same 75W90 GL-5 stuff like in differential, because this repair manual said 75W90.
But now i see wiki suggest 75W80.
I also feel gearbox is bit clumsy now (before warming up) , but ofcourse it's mainly because of these -10C (14F) weathers.

Now wondering if i should redo that transmission oil change with bit better stuff for feeling better? Or is it going to be good when weathers warm up again?

I would go back to 80 oil. A lot of folks in the colder regions will even mix in some auto trans fluid (usually when using Redline fluids) with the 80 to thin it out a bit and ease the clumsiness when cold. I run the 80 oil but our winters in the Carolinas are mild - usually 0C+ most of the time. The 80 is a little clumsy on a few cold mornings but fine otherwise.

A 50/50 mix of RedLine MTL & ATF will give better shifting qualities when the weather gets cold.

I hope this applies to the E46 ...

In the E39 forum, we've extensively gone over all dozen fluids, and summarized them in a single glovebox printout over here:
- Print this glovebox summary for the most often recommended BMW E39 fluids (1).

For the manual transmission, it refers to:
- Manual transmission fluid (1) (2) & MTF DIYs (1) (2) (3)

Originally Posted by team

- Manual transmission (yellow sticker): BMW PN: 83.22.9.408.942 or MTF-LT-1 (manual transmission fluid, lifetime 2001 spec) Bentley page 020-10 & 020-30. [Volume: See chart below.] Replacement Interval: Lifetime oil (Bentley 230-6). A user-recommended fluid is "Royal Purple Synchromax 1512 manual transmission fluid" & Redline MT-90; also recommended is Redline D4 ATF or Redline MTL or Mobil1 Synthetic; the user-recommended replacement interval is roughly 5 years or about 60K miles.
- Manual transmission (orange sticker): The Bentleys, on page 200-4, simply say "ATF" (aka ATF-Oil). Nothing more. Note: This orange sticker is not mentioned in the Bentleys page 020-10 & 020-30 but is noted on page 200-4. Replacement Interval: Lifetime oil (Bentley 230-6); but the user-recommended replacement interval is roughly 5 years or about 60K miles.

I've had great luck with Pentosin MTF 2. It's as close to the OEM fluid as you can buy on the free market. No issues whatsoever in cold weather.

Thanks for all the answers.
I'll go search some better stuff, probably this oil would be ok for transmission, but me as driver don't feel too good this way.
So I'll go see what kind options there are in local stores, but apparently should go for best with this one.

Looks like all those mentioned Redline products exist here, will go with that.

Originally Posted by bluebee

I hope this applies to the E46 ...

No, it doesn't.

Originally Posted by lgr122

Looks like all those mentioned Redline products exist here, will go with that.

You should try the 50/50 mix....

Did you come to a decision? The most cost effective solution I can suggest or agree on is Redline MT-90, or MT-90 & D4 ATF 50/50 mix.

Well... going for that Bob's idea. MTL+ATF... already bought bottles, but will take till next week before putting it in.
Waiting for ordered front bearings and planning to do more than one thing at once. I don't have own place to do so using some car/motorcycle club garage.
Fine warm place for DIYing and only 2,5€/h.

Very good! Even in -12C (10F) shifting feels smooth right from the beginning.
Thanks for advice.

Redline is surely not cheap, but not supposed to buy it very often anyway.