How many here have owners manual with contradicitionary information on AT service

[upallnight]

Originally Posted by trader4

With regard to changing fluids early, back in the 80s/90s, I had many GM corp cars and we used Jiffy Lube. Every time I took the car there, they would come out with a white paper towel with a sample of new transmission fluid and a sample of my transmission fluid on it. (At least they said it was mine). One was brown, the other red and they gave you the pitch about how it was burned up, bad, needed to be changed, etc. Right in the GM shop manual for the car it clearly stated that it was perfectly normal for Dexron to go from red to brown, that it meant nothing about the fluid being bad, etc. But with most people probably falling for it, I'm sure it made plenty of money for JL.

That's were you went wrong, you went to Jiffy Lube. LOL

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhM2bQEDcz0

[bcredliner]

Originally Posted by bmw540san

Not trying to start a debate but a simple question:

My service booklet says to replace AT fluid at 100K miles, yet the owners manual states it's lifetime. It's kind a funny.

Where is the lifetime fluid mentioned in the owner's manual? I have not seen it in the 2002 version. The service manual that came with my X5 does state to change it every 100,000 miles.

[bcredliner]

Originally Posted by trader4

Alone in exactly what? All I said was that BMW should be consistent and explain clearly their position on fluid changes. I'm not the one that brought up that the owner's manual says lifetime fluid, while the service schedule says to change it at 100K, either. In fact, it's the title of the thread. Apparently at least that person agrees that clarification is needed. And I don't think it's unreasonable for consumers to expect that. Also, there are folks here that are saying that by lifetime BMW means 100K. They can do that, because BMW apparently doesn't have a simple paragraph or two that defines and explains their exact position. But for some of you, it's click your heels, salute the BMW flag, nothing they do can ever be questioned in any way.

Nice job dragging the fan BS into here again too. FYI, look up "placebo effect". Try drilling holes in your hood next, I hear it makes the car go faster.

I am not capable of crafting the words to be clear as constructive input that you would consider. A long shot suggestion would be to read all the posts of this topic and also the electric fan and look critically at your posts and the responses of others not including me.

[Quicksilver]

Originally Posted by bcredliner

The service manual that came with my X5 does state to change it every 100,000 miles.

same here. But I haven't done it......

[Drpellypo]

BMW don't care a single bit about your car when it gets to 100,000 miles. It's absolutely not their problem any more. The only information they will ever give you as an owner of one of their vehicles with 100k on it is something that will make them some money, like, I dunno, a brand new gearbox at £££££/$$$$$.

If you want to know about fluid change interval/whether you should change it or not, talk to the actual people who make the gearboxes, ZF. Nobody at ZF will ever tell you that the fluid is lifetime. They will *always* say change it before 100k. ZF not only make the boxes but they also have a very big role in making the oil.

Who you gonna trust, BMW who don't care about you unless you are spending thousands on a new gearbox with them, or the people who actually make the gearboxes? Because BMW don't make gearboxes. They buy them from ZF. And if you til up to ZF and say you're having problems with your box, the first thing they will do is a service where they change the fluid and filters.

So what about all the people who have had their fluid changed and weeks later their boxes have failed?

This is due to one of only two reasons, according to the person who looks after my cars and spent nearly two decades as a BMW tech, and worked closely with a ZF engineer at BMW.

Reason one: the box had already disintegrated and was going to fail anyway. The owner, trying the cheapest solution first, changed the oil in an already broke gearbox and wondered why it broke completely weeks later. New fluid or not, it was gonna break.
Reason two: the fluid change procedure was not followed correctly and not enough fluid went into the box. This is critical because there's no dipstick. Imagine changing your engine oil and having no dipstick. Really tricky to know if you've put enough in. Same applies with the gearbox. If you're short, the box becomes starved, and starts to break.

Both my Indy, who has done hundreds and hundreds of fluid changes on these boxes, and the guy from ZF, agree no other story about new fluid mixing with old, sediment being pulled up from the metal by the new fluid, or airlocks etc is a reason for premature box failure, as long as the fluid is replaced properly.

Interesting to note also that before the BM, I had an Audi A6 with a CVT box. The previous owner before me who had it from new, changed the fluid every 30k. The box lasted, fault free, up until I sold it at just short of 200,000 miles. Do a Google search for Audi Multitronic problems. Seems like every one from that era (2002) has broken in some way (if the Internet is to be believed.) Mine didn't, down to, I believe, the fluid being changed regularly. The guy who I bought the Audi off was an aircraft engineer for the RAF so was a big fan of preventative maintenance.