Anything is possible but the ZF tranny in a Ford works just fine on Mercon SP. I may have more confidence than most since my son did the same install on his X5 2 years ago and with another 30K on his for a total of 175K now his is shifting like new.
Mine has always shifted great except when I had oil leaks affecting the air seal on the engine at about 90K, I'm now at 104K miles not kilo's.
Several indicate they spill a lot out the fill hole when they drain the oil.
To avoid the extra energy filling the tranny maybe the front could be lowered till the spill level is right at the spill point while full allowing us to fill to that point on the refill.
I think I may try that. You might also note that may be the same point where the pan bolts are level not where the car is level. I will report back.