Transmission Blew...

[coachelladoug]

When was the last tranny fluid change done?

[Dannyell]

Originally Posted by coachelladoug

When was the last tranny fluid change done?

around 100k...im probably gonna do another one soon

to be more exact a little over 88,000 lool not quite 100k

[coachelladoug]

Darn. Was the transmission giving you problems before or after the fluid change?

I've read stories about owners having their ATF done, and later the transmission had problems. I know that the ATF needs to be changed around 100k, so I don't know if it's just bad luck or what?

[Dannyell]

Originally Posted by coachelladoug

Darn. Was the transmission giving you problems before or after the fluid change?

I've read stories about owners having their ATF done, and later the transmission had problems. I know that the ATF needs to be changed around 100k, so I don't know if it's just bad luck or what?

I did it after the problem.

There are a few good threads on the issue, and some members that could chime in with pros/cons.

I doubt that changing tranny fluid can really lead to serious problems, if done correctly that is.

[bastereo]

It should be obvious but that is not his transmission that failed.
Not sure what the point of the 20 questions about his transmission when the front differential was the problem.


The fact is that the manufacture of the transmission recommends replacing the fluid, it was BMW that decided lifetime fluid existed.
As far as I am concerned those with transmissions that failed after servicing were either on the way out anyways, used the wrong fluid, or did some part of the service wrong.

That's too bad your front differential failed. Very odd. Any signs of impact on the outside?

Originally Posted by coachelladoug

Darn. Was the transmission giving you problems before or after the fluid change?

I've read stories about owners having their ATF done, and later the transmission had problems. I know that the ATF needs to be changed around 100k, so I don't know if it's just bad luck or what?

[Icer006]

Here we go again. Change or no change.
I had my driveline fluids changed at 50k. Car now has 86k and no gear problems. I had a mechatronic problem around 80k but not tranny or diff.

[coachelladoug]

Not trying to say that changing the ATF is a bad idea. I just wanted to know first hand, what may have caused the problem.
I'll be personally doing an ATF change this weekend on my 100k X5.
I also don't believe on lifetime fluids. If that was the case, then the transmission would be covered for 500k or more miles under warranty.

[dkl]

Originally Posted by coachelladoug

Not trying to say that changing the ATF is a bad idea. I just wanted to know first hand, what may have caused the problem.
I'll be personally doing an ATF change this weekend on my 100k X5.
I also don't believe on lifetime fluids. If that was the case, then the transmission would be covered for 500k or more miles under warranty.

I didn't have issue with my ATF when I did my change at roughly 50k miles. It was the aftermarket filter that gave me grief. Make sure you use an OE filter.

OP, it's very odd that the front diff failed. When I changed out my diff fluids, the front diff looked almost like it had fresh fluid, without any signs of wear, which means that my front diff wasn't working very hard.

[TiAgX5]

Originally Posted by coachelladoug

I'll be personally doing an ATF change this weekend on my 100k X5.
I also don't believe on lifetime fluids. If that was the case, then the transmission would be covered for 500k or more miles under warranty.

If you have 100k miles on the truck, BMW will tell you the transmission has lasted a "lifetime", totally retarded IMHO! I've been told this at 3 different dealershits by 2 service advisors and 1 parts counter jockey.

Drained/refilled the trans in my '03 4.4 X5 at 100k, 3 times with 1 week of driving driving between changes, this minimized "shock" to the trans. Used Castrol Import Syn that had the BMW and LT 71141 listed. Over 150k now with 1000s of miles towing a 6k lb trailer behind the loaded truck (over 12k lbs total vehicle weight) with ZERO trans issues.

[Icer006]

Originally Posted by TiAgX5

If you have 100k miles on the truck, BMW will tell you the transmission has lasted a "lifetime", totally retarded IMHO! I've been told this at 3 different dealershits by 2 service advisors and 1 parts counter jockey.

Drained/refilled the trans in my '03 4.4 X5 at 100k, 3 times with 1 week of driving driving between changes, this minimized "shock" to the trans. Used Castrol Import Syn that had the BMW and LT 71141 listed. Over 150k now with 1000s of miles towing a 6k lb trailer behind the loaded truck (over 12k lbs total vehicle weight) with ZERO trans issues.

good stuff