Quote:
Originally Posted by ard
Ravenol?
First, coulda sworn OP was referencing a "Vaico" ATF. Seems one of the never ending "its german so must be good for German Car" products we see. Is Vaico= Ravenol? Or is the turner item I was finding for 289 different?
https://www.turnermotorsport.com/p-5...rvice-kit-8hp/
But importantly, we dont have zf6 nor zf8 complete specs, so how do you know that ravenol 'meets or exceeds'? Every tom dick and harry claims their ATF 'meets or exceeds'....but zf doesnt publish complete specs.....then you have the folks that think since ZF6 meets a Shell spec that any other ATF that meets that Shell spec therefore means it is equivalent to ZF6. (People that need to go back to 5th grade and study there Venn diagrams and word logic...) Yes, there are a TON of vendors and sites that claim fluids "meet the ZF spec". Doesnt make it true.
You want to mix fluids, go for it. It isnt a best practice. Simple as that. People do it. People run all sorts of fluids. Doesnt make it right.
FWIW: BMW stopped with the 'lifetime' claim on the x5 a few years ago. now 100k
Finally (robnitro) I did a 2x drain fill- but didnt wait a month in between, only a drive cycle to get it hot. why a month? Oh, on BITOG there does seem to be some scientific evidence around mercon and its equivalence... i havent spent the time researching, ZF fluid is cheap enough that it isnt worth it. |
Ard, you're right, the kit I ordered has the Vaico ATF 8HP. Tbh I didn't do any research into the trans fluid before ordering and just went by the ECS and Turnermotorsport recommendation (they both have the same kit). I'll look into it more now. Thanks for bringing it up. I found the right kit on CTSC and it's actually cheaper than the ECS one but comes out to roughly the same after shipping. Seriously considering returning the ECS kit and ordering from CTSC now. Just hate putting this off for another week
I haven't had any issues with the transmission so far. Still shifts as well as it did when I got the car at 54K miles. Just figured its a good time to change the fluid since I'm doing the TC as well. I did talk to the shop about the procedure. They know its not a transmission flush and that they have to replace the pan. It's a fairly reputable shop that only does BMWs.