OK I did transmission fluid flush on my 02 4.4i

[Matyoka]

UPDATE!!!!

BMW roadside assistance will pick the vehicle up at my home and tow it 382 miles to Spokane and back at no charge. X5 is still under CPO warranty, and job will be covered under the CPO as well.

[Matyoka]

Car back in my garage. I had to hustle with Camp BMW to reunite the car with me, as they didn't want to pay for towing back to me. Made a few phone calls to BMWNA and Roadside Assist and they informed the dumbasses that the first 250 miles is the dealership's responsibility... so, I too the train where the 250 miles ended and brought it home Smart, heh???? Yeah I know, every penny counts these days. So, my leak is fixed, had them do some of the 60k miles service(break and coolant flushes) and I am a happy camper again!!! At least for now...

[ayagutak]

That great your very lucky

[Matyoka]

yeah, I consider myself lucky. The towing would have cost me $1,200.

[mgbmwx5]

Originally Posted by HPIA4v2

OK, as promised, I am posting my experience flushing my tanny.
The car is X5 4.4i 2002 with 42500 miles on it. The car never abused, never tow anything, driven for longer distance not stop and go (just for reference).
BTW this is for car with 5-speed ZF transmission E53

The tools you need:
- T27 Torx bit
- 8mm Hex drive (for the filler and drain plugs)
- 10mm socket
- Torque wrench (lower range from arounf 6lbft to 50lbft)
- Oil manual pump to put the fresh ATF into the pan (see one of the pictures)
- Rubbermaid small step stool.
- Oil catch pan (I use 10 quart version)
- Plenty of rags or kitty liter, trust me you’ll have plenty Pentosin on your garage floor
- I use brake cleaner spray to clean the pans and hands

The parts
-Trans filter
- trans pan gasket
- new filler plug and drain plugs complete with gasket
- Esso LT71141 (I ordered 9 which is too many, I’ll say 6 quarts)
- Loctite blue (applied on the 22 torx screws while re-assembling the pan).

Decided to order the trans filter kit from Bavauto just to get everything I need in one shot, see picture-1.

Elevate the car in the air on all corners as high and level as possible. Use 8mm Hex drive to loose the filler plug on the side of the transmission housing, see picture-2. Place an empty oil catch underneath, there is about 1-1.5 quart of ATF. Once it turns to trickling, hand tight the plug back on and drain the rest of the pan through the drain hole (same 8mm hex plug on the bottom of the pan).
Again I plug the hole back so you wont get any Petosin on the face while loosening all of 22 T-27 screws that hold the bottom of the pan.
You might want to remove a protective cover plate which is held by 2 10mm screws and get the wires unclip and out of the way, see picture-3.

I forgot to take picture, but get a small Rubbermaid stool chair under the pan (this is like your extra pair of hands) and loosen all but 4 screws in the corner.
Unscrew the last 4 screws and drop the pan slowly; be careful there is about 1-2 quart of ATF left in the bottom of the pan.
I was surprised to see how dirty the trans fluid was, BTW I had a drain and fill service at 30000 mile so mine should in theory had about 25% fresh fluid put in already, see pictures 4 and 5. On Picture-4 you can see the difference between fresh ATF and the old one.

Pull the gasket and clean the upper part of the trans housing.
Clean the bottom of the pans and magnets. I used brake cleaners and it did a good job as you can see on picture-6.
If you want you can clean the solenoids, pressure regulator etc using lint-free cloth. To remove the filter you just unscrew 2 torx T27 screw and pull down on it. Again the filter has some ATF in, so do it carefully.
I put a little bit of ATF into the new filter and put it back on, don’t forget the rubber o-ring.

Now you are ready to put the bottom of the pan back on.
Apply a little bit of ATF, around the lip of the bottom pan, this helps the gasket to stay put. Make sure you align all the screw holes, again I used the step stool to bring the bottom pan up to the trans housing.

OK, no beer yet, the tricky part is next.
I used the manual pump with clear hose to refill the ATF. With the engine shut off, put about 3 quart of ATF (until a little bit start dribbling down the filler hole).
Hand tighten the filler plug and start the engine, once it reaches the operating temp shift through the gears slowly about 10 time or so. Make sure you have the emergency brake and brakes on while shifting since the car is still on the jacks.
Now put the car in neutral with the engine running, fill about another quart or 1.5 quart in until ATF start coming out the filler hole. Tighten the filler plug and torque it to 36lbft.
Don’t get your hand burn to badly, and now you can have the cold one J.

The last tips:
1) Put a thick cardboard to shield your hands from the exhaust while refilling the last stage.
2) Measure how much ATF drained so you can gauge yourself, don’t under fill or over fill. That’s why I empty my catch pan in the beginning.


Good luck.

Great write up!! Thanks.

[btrvalik]

Should the car be brought up to operating temp before the initial drain?

[m5james]

Probably couldnt hurt since warmer fluids flow better. I even cranked the engine (don't actually let it run) over a handful of times to get fluid pumped out of the lines.

[SlickGT1]

Originally Posted by m5james

Probably couldnt hurt since warmer fluids flow better. I even cranked the engine (don't actually let it run) over a handful of times to get fluid pumped out of the lines.

Yes, but a warm transmission, the filling part will be a bitch. You need to fill it cold, then warm up. If the fill process starts out too warm, then you won't fill it up with the right amount.

[JCL]

Whereas it probably wouldn't hurt, transmission fluid is essentially a 10w oil, and so it flows pretty well anyway. I wouldn't warm it up myself, just to avoid working around hot components.

[mysweetx5]

I did my 1st Transmission Fluid change 3days ago @123,538miles on a 2001 BMW X5 4.4i. However, my transmission was smooth with no issue
But as you guys know, there are many discurtions in the forum outhere
about the word (Lifetime fluid). For me, I think this is too good 2 be true,
*Nothing could be Lifetime really, even bridges have to be rebuilt one day.
And I hate when people talking trash about (New Fluid will shock the Tranny).

I than decided to change my Transmission Fluid before things get worst
because the only issue I used to have is: when i selected reverse, if I don't
wait for 2 sec. to press the gas pedal, I feel a little jump or skipping back.
I just had some feeling that it might be related to transmission. Otherwise
everything was shifting smoothly.

To began, I had to gently try to loose all 22 transmission hex bolts to ensure that I could move forward with the job, because they were badly
injured and that was my mainly concern to not have to stop in the middle of it. 1st. I did not have my personal driveway to work and the only area I could found to do it is near my house which is only 95% level each-either. So I went and do it anyway with 4 Ramps holding 12000Lbs each.
Amazingly, I was able to get loose all 22 pan bolts first before began the
job. Overhaul, it was not bad at all guys, I was alone working all by my self as usual, and the job went well successfully. After filling 4 qrts of fluid inside, I than crawling inside the car for the switching gears. I wen't through all the gears but noticed while pausing to each gear, it won't stay
to 4 & 5. It just skip 4 & 5 and going back to 3rd gear,

I than crawling under the car again while engine it's running now to add 1qrt/ half more fluid, after doing so, fluid started dripping out of the filler
hole. I than tight everything up and go ahead for a test drive, Overhaul I can say the job has been well done, the car is smooth as usual with much more confidence now by knowing that my transmission pan is cleaned from debris since 11yrs now. (See pictures for details)