Manual Transmission Blackstone

[Riggodeaux]

For you 'handshakers' with manny trannies, here is a sample Blackstone done on what I'm sure was the factory fill at 86k miles. It shows metals, probably still in there from the break-in period. It suggests to me that changing the fluid is a good idea anywhere from 50-100k, then again in another 30-50k or so. My new fill was with Red Line D4, which I used in my old E36 328i, and was recommended by UUC Motorwerks [with the Lubro Moly antifriction for gears, I believe, here and in the diffs], no more than 3 qts. total of the D4. Others recommend and vouch for Red Line MTL in the tranny; its what UUC put in the diffs.

I know conventional wisdom is that manny tranny fluid is 'lifetime,' but, again, that's what BMW says about ATF in its automatics. I'll likely not change this fill for another 50k miles.