Originally Posted by X5only

I would do a full service. I serviced the transmission of my 2005 4.4 last year May at around 170k miles with absolutely no issues. It continues to shift like new. Note that I changed much more than just the fluid and filter- the solenoids, seals, mechatronic separator plate, trans damper pistons were changed, and a thorough cleaning was done. You can get away without changing the trans damper and the plate, but I did them any way since I was already there and the parts are not expensive. The 4 drain/refill/drive cycles I did really cleaned up the transmission. When I finally opened it up it was really clean. I think just changing the fluid and filter for the first time on a high mileage trans may not be a good idea.

https://xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-forums/...n-success.html