another tranny question

[tonydan1]

Hi,

Alright, lets get some answers.

How about this. What do you think that if I empty the oil, change the filter and refill the pan. No flushing, no disturbing sediment.

Would you believe this to be a "safe" procedure or have any of you had issues afterwards?

As always, thanks for your opinions.

Regards

[JCL]

Relatively safe, if you pay attention to cleanliness while you are doing it. Change the filter when you have the pan off. With this approach you will only get approximately 30-40% of the dirty transmission fluid out, so you will be putting in your new fluid to mix with the old fluid. Run the vehicle for several days, and then do it again. After several cycles of this draining and filling, you will have changed most of the fluid.

There are posts on this board referring to transmission failures, with the comment that it didn't seem fair as the owner had just changed the fluid.

You will get opinions on both sides, you really have to decide if it is worth it to you. Many believe that new fluid is enough of a benefit that they are willing to take the risk. Others, like me, think that the transmission is going to fail around 100,000 miles (statistically), whether or not the fluid is changed.

[tonydan1]

Do you believe that this simple procedure would move sediment in the tranny? If you look at it carefully, all we are doing is spilling out tran fluid, changing the filter and putting in new one. That's it. No flushing.

The reason I am asking is that I really like this car and don't want to screw it up. It is a shame if I do.

THanks

[JCL]

I believe that opening up a system that is designed to be sealed induces risk.

I also think it is not worth stressing about so much. Your car has 62,000 km on it, or less than 39,000 miles. Just drive it.

PS: My 2003 3.0 has 67,000 km on it, some of it towing a trailer. I change the engine oil and filter every year (based on time, not mileage, up to 16,000 km but usually 12,000 km interval). I check tire pressures, and generally keep it in shape. I haven't spent 10 seconds worrying about the automatic transmission. I have owned 24 or so vehicles myself in 31 years of driving, 5 of them BMWs, and I have never had a transmission failure. Just my $0.02.

Jeff

[noncom23]

Originally Posted by JCL

I believe that opening up a system that is designed to be sealed induces risk.

I also think it is not worth stressing about so much. Your car has 62,000 km on it, or less than 39,000 miles. Just drive it.

PS: My 2003 3.0 has 67,000 km on it, some of it towing a trailer. I change the engine oil and filter every year (based on time, not mileage, up to 16,000 km but usually 12,000 km interval). I check tire pressures, and generally keep it in shape. I haven't spent 10 seconds worrying about the automatic transmission. I have owned 24 or so vehicles myself in 31 years of driving, 5 of them BMWs, and I have never had a transmission failure. Just my $0.02.

Jeff

Braggert!

[msammy]

Originally Posted by JCL

I believe that opening up a system that is designed to be sealed induces risk.

I also think it is not worth stressing about so much. Your car has 62,000 km on it, or less than 39,000 miles. Just drive it.

PS: My 2003 3.0 has 67,000 km on it, some of it towing a trailer. I change the engine oil and filter every year (based on time, not mileage, up to 16,000 km but usually 12,000 km interval). I check tire pressures, and generally keep it in shape. I haven't spent 10 seconds worrying about the automatic transmission. I have owned 24 or so vehicles myself in 31 years of driving, 5 of them BMWs, and I have never had a transmission failure. Just my $0.02.

Jeff

I've had about the same number of vehicles, and I've had the same good luck with trannies - just drive, don't worry and deal with a failure if it happens. I have 74K miles on my X and she still shifts like day-one - I haven't messed with the fluid yet. Over 1 million miles on my cars (over the years) can't be wrong!