I bought a Farpak branded filter and gasket.

Filter was unmarked except for a few manufacturers codes. The OE filter we pulled out was marked "Germany", though I didnt get the brand for reference, should have for our reference, sorry!

The gasket was fairly disapointing in the sense that it was a thick paper gasket-type material only without the metal and rubber composition of the OE gasket. I put sealant on it for good measure and will watch out for leaks from it but so far so good.

Fluid was AC Delco Dex VI. I used about 6 and a half liters to fill to filler plug level.

Went for a test drive and it runs fine and shifts a bit more smoothly. It was not shifting badly at all in the first place, I did this as PM and not because of any trans problem.

Fluid drained was kinda brownish but not burnt (some have mentioned draining GM factory fill and commenting it was on the brown side in color), pan had some slight gray at the bottom, and magnet had some gray on it. I'm glad I changed the trans fluid because I wouldnt want that stuff inside for the next hundred thousand miles!

__________________
04 X5 3.0i auto
03 X5 4.6is