94 740 Tranny fluid

Hi I'm new here and stubled across this doing some research. I've owned a 94 740iL for 3 years now with 160,000 miles on it and it's auto 5-speed. Recently it has started slipping in 1st gear and i've seen the evidence of it leaking a handful of times but not much. So the immediately i wanted to fill it up but apparently you have to fill it from the side or something. I'm a pretty good mechanic but tranny's are a little foreign to me. Has anyone done this before? I've found some other brands of tranny fluid online that are compatable but I'm wondering if it's a good idea to mix the new in with the old. I would also like to know how accessible the fill hole is and if I should be prepared for a big job. Also I would like to know how easy the filters are to get to so they can be replaced as well. Any advice is much appreciated.

When I first got my 740, it had 140,000 miles on it, and the first thing I wanted to do was to change all the fluids for basic maintenance. I was told about www.e38.org and the write ups there helped me alot.

When I changed my tranny fluid, it had the original ESSO fluid in it. I don't believe in flushing transmission fluid that has more than 100,000 miles in it, so I dropped the pan, changed the filter, and refilled with Valvoline MaxLife. So I had a 50/50 mix with ESSO/MaxLife for about 40,000 miles without problems. It wasn't until I let one of my friends diagnose an engine noise for me that my transmission started acting up in the 1-2 upshift. It turns out he was power-braking for minutes at a time to find the noise in the motor. If it wasn't for that, then I'd probably still have a perfect shifting transmission, so I wouldn't worry about mixing fluid as long as the new fluid is compatible.

Hey thanks for the help man. So Valvoline maxlife you say? I wonder if that would work with mine. Is that compatable with shell LA2364? I think that's the right number, i have it written down somewhere.

The reason I used MaxLife was because it specifically said on the back of the bottle that it was compatible with ESSO LT71141. I think I saw Shell LA2364 back there as well, but it was a while back, so you should definatly double-check.

I hate to be a post whore since I am new to the e38 area, or not, but I recently did this on my 328ic and it is very easy. Like said before you can buy the pan seal and drop the pan. Change the filter and prefilled the pan just a very little the use some type of pump to push the fluid into the pain through the fill hole while the car is running and in neutral. I used a weed insecticide bottle because the end could fit in the small space and I could just pump it till the pan released fluid back out. Not hard but a second set of hands will be very helpful to you.

Rajht makes this job look far too easy, It is not, You MUST have the tranny running in drive with the rear wheels running free and up to running temp. If your tranny is slipping first remove and check and replace the filter and the oil. I have posted on this site the correct way to deal with tranny oil and filter replacement, Peter Newman.