Man, I wish I could get something like that done! That's awesome, I guess you have to go to another country to get service like that anymore. Did it shift smoother after??

 

It shifts as smooth.. like a knife in butter...

And it reacts more direct on the gas ...

Didn't regret it at all... worth every euro....

Grtzz....

 

European Mechanics as a rule understand and value their skills better than their American counterparts, seriously.
Plus, they tend to do a thorough job on everything.

 

yeah just look at the cars compared to american ones

Im going to DIY what those transmission guys did

 

Or drive a Manual Trans like myself and never have to worry about ATF flush.

 

Nope...

So you never have any costs? :rofl:

sorry, but manual's ain't cheap either!

it was a total joke. Only thing I am going to do sometime is new ATF fluid

But seriously....

BMW claims its long-life fluid....

Manufacturer (ZF) says.. 100 - 120.000 km's MAX>!...

Don't know how much that is in Miles...

Grtzz....

 

Wow!
Amazing!
Mehcanics here in the US do not want to replace the ATF, much less open up the auto transmission and clean it!

Awesome job!

 

WOW!!! That IS amazing.

What was the total cost for a job like that? Wish I could do something like this here in the US.

And how long did it take them to do it? Did you have time to finish your coffee?

mw

 

how much?

 

***8364; 382...Euh.... $ 557...

A normal check up and refill would cost me @ my BMW specialist approx ***8364; 275

So didn't need to think twice..



Grtzz.....

 

€ 382...Euh.... $ 557...

A normal check up and refill would cost me @ my BMW specialist approx € 275

So didn't need to think twice..

Grtzz.....

LOL!
Wow!
That's less than what the dealer quoted me for a normal ATF change!

 

What's cheaper?

The other price isnt a fair price it's a you-do-me-a-favore-i'll-do-you-a-favor price.....

And he's not an official dealer.. He's an ex-BMW mechanic that started his own business!


the other price depends on the Liters of fluid the tranny needs.. but approx. ***8364;400 is the average...
My friends 540i needed 10 Liters (instead of the 7,5 L I needed) so his bill was like ***8364;35 more...



P.s. didn't think I'd get so much respond on this topic...



Grtzz....

 

What's cheaper?

The other price isnt a fair price it's a you-do-me-a-favore-i'll-do-you-a-favor price.....

And he's not an official dealer.. He's an ex-BMW mechanic that started his own business!

the other price depends on the Liters of fluid the tranny needs.. but approx. €400 is the average...
My friends 540i needed 10 Liters (instead of the 7,5 L I needed) so his bill was like €35 more...

P.s. didn't think I'd get so much respond on this topic...

Grtzz....

Are you kidding me? Everybody here is half panicking over the auto trans "lifetime" fluid. We want to replace it, afraid to do it if we have "too many" miles (nobody really knows what is too many). There is nobody that will do a service like you did.

€382 is NOTHING for the peace of mind and trans overhaul that they gave you. (and by the way, he was talking about the $557 I am sure!)

How long did it take them to do one? It sounds that it was very quick. Do you know exactly what they replaced?

mw

 

I'm not sure how many miles but mine got the service done @ 225k KM.. Euh... 140k in Miles?

Everything you see and more on the picture with the white sheet is replaced (bearings,rings,filters and all gaskets) incl. the diff. gaskets and plugs.. everything is washed and cleaned!

They got 2 special mechanics which do 4 cars a day... 2 per day, per mechanic... only on appointment!!
They started on mine @ 9.15 and where finished @ 12.30..
Then the manager takes your Bimmer on a test drive with you.... Just 2 see if everythings okee...
Handing you a couple of tips..
When back , they check everything on a bridge if nothings leaking.. then you pay and go home... (@ 13.00)
It's just a service they do @ ZF! It's unique in Europa... Only automatic transmission manufacterer that does this kind of service!

And again ZF claims it's not "lifetime" oil themselfs... they advice every 100/120K KM's (62/75K Miles?)
It needs to be done...

The bill is about 2 A4 pages long with every bearing , ring and gasket on it...

 

I'm not sure how many miles but mine got the service done @ 225k KM.. Euh... 140k in Miles?

Everything you see and more on the picture with the white sheet is replaced (bearings,rings,filters and all gaskets) incl. the diff. gaskets and plugs.. everything is washed and cleaned!

They got 2 special mechanics which do 4 cars a day... 2 per day, per mechanic... only on appointment!!
They started on mine @ 9.15 and where finished @ 12.30..
Then the manager takes your Bimmer on a test drive with you.... Just 2 see if everythings okee...
Handing you a couple of tips..
When back , they check everything on a bridge if nothings leaking.. then you pay and go home... (@ 13.00)
It's just a service they do @ ZF! It's unique in Europa... Only automatic transmission manufacturer that does this kind of service!

And again ZF claims it's not "lifetime" oil themselves... they advice every 100/120K KM's (62/75K Miles?)
It needs to be done...

The bill is about 2 A4 pages long with every bearing , ring and gasket on it...

So, this basically proves what "lifetime" really means according to ZF...
In other words...
Replace the ATF.
The ATF does NOT last forever!

Between 62,000 and 75,000 miles
Dealers definitely want to charge more. As little work as possible, but more than indecent profit!!!
If ask to only change ATF (that is no flush, nor service) they charge around 1,500 $.

So 557$ to service the tranny like that = A GREAT DEAL AND PEACE OF MIND.
Prolly ZF should open a few tranny service centres in different cities here in N America.

Indeed!
There needs to be specialty shops like this in the US!

And those countries have a long way to go to catch up to our hourly wage rate.

IMO, US workers need to remember good work ethics.

 

BTW: They have Bimmers and VAG cars coming from around europe.. Zweden, Norway, Ireland, UK, Netherlands.....

 

Wow that is great.

Iv lived the past 16ish years between Japan, Korea, and the Phillippines. Japan and the Phillippines are second to none for customer service in this area:thumbup:. I'am so not looking forward to returning to the US in Dec. You guys should see the servive you get at McDonalds over here in Japan...thats right...McDonalds.:yikes: In the PI I got my cars AC cleaned(they took everything/the entire AC system out of the car) and serviced for 60 US!!:yikes: They did it in under 3 hours. For that same service in the US it would of cost about $400, and it would have took them 3 days. Im not American bashing, but the US has a long way to go compared to other country's when it comes to customer service.:thumbdwn:

 

Im not American bashing, but the US has a long way to go compared to other country's when it comes to customer service.:thumbdwn:

And those countries have a long way to go to catch up to our hourly wage rate.

 

Well,

My sister lives in Zurich, Switzerland, and she tells me it is a lot of schooling to become a mechanic in Europe: classrooms, coursework, apprenticeship, internship and licenses. This is why European mechanics are so good.

Not like the Jack and Joe in the US (OK I am American!)! In this country, sometimes we have very good mechanics (they are rare) and sometimes we have the Jack and Joe who works for JiffyLube who just got out of jail.

Hourly Wage, I think Europe is high too. They just value their work more than the US counterparts.

 

Yup that's right..

I'm a truckdriver and you don't wanna know what I had to do to get my papers..

Exams... extra school lessons, dangerous goods course and 3years of internship @ trucking- and moving-companies..

About the Jake & Joe's.... we've got them here 2...
especially around the big cities .. We call them "Beunhazen" :rofl:

Grtzz....

 

Germany is not Europe, when i think about france, italy, spain you guys should be lucky.

 

Hey cn90, after seeing this have you finished the E39 Tranny Overhaul DIY yet???:thumbup:

 

ZF Bill

Here's the list..

I deleted my adress + personal stuff etc.

Everything is on it.. even the diff. fluid.... (75W140)

Left page is all the parts that got used/replaced...

Right page.. labor and fluids..

This is the bill for a 5HP18 tranny... (6-I-L ) that needs 7,5L

#EDIT# Remember it's all in Euro's and Liters...

Grtzz...

 

It may be possible to get similar service done here in the states. This link has a list of ZF service locations.

http://www.zf.com/corporate/en/products/services/service_network/service_points/north_america_service/united-states_service_points/united-states_service_points.jsp?country=2260&lookupLeg=8755

 

Thanks for that info Justin. I'm in Cleveland and have been looking around for awhile with my 95K 2001 525Ai.

 

Thanks for that justin182.

Based on that, here are two link useful for those with 5HP18 for I6 and 5HP for V8. PDF includes overhaul kits and instructions on proper refill of ATF Fluid.

 

Is this the same transmission the 2003 745Li would have?

Thanks

 

Time to resurrect an old post.
I was thinking of doing an overhaul of my tranny - like change some bearings and pins and such, just what the OP did, so I contacted the authorized ZF rep, here in Calgary.
He told me that they do only non-Hi way equipment. Like crane tranny and such, and that ZF Friedrichshafen will not ship any parts to them. He told me that there is a contract between ZF and the 2 dealers who use their trannies (he mentioned only BMW and Ford - I did not know that Ford had ZF trannies), so only they can service these trannies with OEM parts. They will NOT sell any car (hiway department) tranny parts to anybody. Also, the deal between ZF and dealerships is such that there is no local ZF "hiway" maintenance shop allowed to operate. Yet, if you go to the dealer, he will sell you the whole tranny. Not sure how much they will charge to overhaul it.
So even if there is someone who would want to open his ZF "hiway" tranny maintenance shop, he will be not allowed to do that due to the contract between dealers and ZF Friedrichshafen AG.
I believe the official version would be "not qualified personnel" and not protectionism or whatever you want to call it.
I'm at a loss here.

Vent

 

http://www.erikssonindustries.com/bmw.htm

 

That is awesome for $500!

The ZF 5HP-19 has a defective TC seal (code 48) and possibly a defective reverse bell housing (pre 2002 although a few squeaked into 2002 run as well).

I just found a good resource for those in southern CA, www.doseBMW.com, Steve Dose seems like a very knowledgeable person as well as one of three ZF "SP's" in the USA. He cleared up alot of the misinformation out there on our tranny's.

In his opinion:

1. ESSO was replaced by LifeTime but he also would use Valvoline Maxlife (although the red color can confuse people to use regular ATF)
2. A full flush does not hurt these tranny's as the fluid does not "varnish" like old fluids, hence no "glue" holding together older transmission... this is urban legend.
3. The TC seal code 48 is more of an OBDC issue then a your tranny will blow up issue, the TC design has light clamping and does slip some, you can tell if your TC is locking up by driving on a flat road at 70mph should be at 2750 rpm or so, go up slight hill and you will feel a shift (TC unlock) and rpms jump to 2950 rpm or so.
4. Change your ATF every 50,000 miles, TC seal failures start at 40,000 up to 120,000, anything above that and you are lucky. New TC's have the same poor seal so you only get another 40k-120k out of your rebuild! That sucks...

SOOOO much mis-information out here on the internet regarding ZF's so good to see information like above.