What kind of maintenance should we perform on our transmissions if we wish to have the LONGEST LIFE POSSIBLE?

I know there will be a school of thought that it is "Follow the BMW recommendations, they know best"... hopefully we will get past that nonsense quickly. Previously BMW had said "lifetime". This is intellectually, and factually, indefensible. So they made it "100,000" which is after their longest possible extended maintenance contract...

But if the discussion comes back to "BMW Recommends", can we ask "What is it about a BMW Automatic Transmission that makes it immune to ATF degradation and internal wear?" (Remembering that ATF sitting for 4 years with zero miles will degrade...)

My belief is that ATF changes, at regular intervals- say 30-40k miles, will ensure that any mild contamination due to particulates is removed, and fluid that has been sheared down due to heat and mechanical stress is changed to fresh fluid- which will protect the tranny for the long run.



Can we also get past the 'transmission flush bogey man' of 'solvents and reverse power flushing causing blockages and internal damage'??? I am just talking FLUID CHANGE. Drain old, insert new.

Comments?

What I really want is technical input, not "my SA said" or "the manual says"....



A