Report on Trans Fluid & Filter Change 93k 3.0

[cary]

Hi All,

I figured I would give a report on the condition of the fluid on my wife's car when I had it changed yesterday. It was dirty and oxidized, and should have been changed earlier than 93,500. This car was used for highway commuting by the first owner and came with all the service records, the transmission did not see hard use (50 year old couple). My mechanic said that in the X5 trannies he has serviced the fluid has been dark and oxidized when people wait to the 100k mark. Likely the extra weight of the X5 causes faster wear than on the sedans that use this transmission.

For those who are on the fence, it would be prudent to change your oil earlier than the factory 100k, if it were me, I would do it at 50k miles. MAKE SURE YOU CHANGE THE FILTER AT THE SAME TIME. The filter is expensive and a pain, but many transmission failures occur as a result of people not changing the filter with the fluid. The new fluid will often break loose existing deposits, varnish, etc., and with an older filter these deposits will add to the existing particles it has filtered out and plug the filter. The result is fluid starvation to the tranny and failure.

BTW, BMW should be ashamed of the cost of the filter and the fluid for this tranny, not to mention the time it takes to do it. $100 for the filter, $100 for 9 quarts of fluid, and 2 hours of time. $400 for a fluid change is ridiculous. My Toyota landcruiser takes 20 minutes to do a drain and fill and uses a special screen that automatically back flushes when you drain the fluid, there is no filter to replace. You end up spending $40 for fluid every 30k miles(if you use synthetic, $10 for mineral), and it is done easily when doing the engine oil and filter. The best part, the transmissions on the Landcruiser, even when poorly maintained go 300k+ miles. On the landcruiser group I am on, out of 1000+ members, there have only been 4-5 tranny failures.