Have you changed your transmission oil?

[LI_BIMMER]

I have had a reverse problem recently on my 00 323i (48k) that will cost me $4300. Speaking to my mechanic, he recommended tranny oil changes at 40k intervals and oil changes at 5k. Btw, I did tell him that I do my own oil changes at 7.5k instead of 15k. He had 4 BMW's in for tranny replacements and 2 of them (01 X5 and 00 328i) were in for the reverse problem like me.

I have searched the threads on this topic and thought it should be polled and highlighted how important it is to change the tranny oil to avoid an expensive replacement. I am still in shock that I have to replace a 48k tranny that was never autocrossed or tracked.

My mechanic will charge around $250 for a tranny oil change and will sample the oil to see if metal shavings / burnt oil exists. If found he would put the original oil back in and let me take a sample and his invoice to the dealer so they can examine the findings in my 2003 X5 (38K). I thought this was a good approach and wondered if the dealer would give me hassle.

What are your thoughts? I have already seen twice that my X did not respond to reverse and forward gear changes from a dead stop. I plan to take it in on this problem alone but I guess they will not be able to dup the problem so I am back to square one.

I felt tranny replacements at lower mileage BMW's was not a norm and just by doing a search on various boards, I see that it seems to be.......