Quote:
Originally Posted by Werewolf
Lifetime refers to the 'lifetime of the vehicle'--which I guess is a 100k. These auto trannies were a design weak point, expected life 100-150k I think.
The shop labor rate seems a bit rich. I am guessing you're in the bay area? I would pay a good independent no more than 100/hour
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correct - bay area
I would just do it myself. If it takes me 3-4 hours, that's just fine. There is nothing complicated about it. Actually the indy confirmed what they do is drop the pan and replace the fluid that comes out that way only, which is about 2/3 or so. And they do not recommend the service since BMW does not recommend it, but they do it when people specifically ask for it.
I read a bunch of other forums from 7 series owners, and did not come to any better conclusion. good arguments from both sides. But I am leaning towards sticking with the BMW recommendation, because there is a good chance that the trans will fail at some point regardless if the fluid was changed or not. And I don't want to speed up the process. When it goes, I will get it rebuilt. Hopefully not, but I figure it is going to happen. My neighbor just lost the trans in his 2000 740iL at 150K miles. I figured that was pretty good given the use cycle - mostly city driving by a lead-foot
My 4.6is has seen almost all highway driving for the last 45K miles, which is pretty easy work for the trans. So there is some hope mine may live longer than 150K, although I am not banking on it.