Replacing transmission heat exchange pipes

[Riba]

It appears mine are ripe for a replacement so I have been preparing the task. I know the special tool for removing those will be handy, and before embarking on this job I wanted to check if anyone did it themselves in the past and is willing to share a tip or two? Any particular place I should order these from?
I also suspect that when removing them it is impossible to avoid draining the transmission oil. I have been reading about it and it is making me a bit nervous. I guess I could either put back the old transmission fluid or refill with a new one and hope for the best. :-/ Considering the leak I will probably have to add some so it is probably not a choice at all. Car has around 110k miles on it.

Thanks!

[bmw540san]

Originally Posted by Riba

It appears mine are ripe for a replacement so I have been preparing the task. I know the special tool for removing those will be handy, and before embarking on this job I wanted to check if anyone did it themselves in the past and is willing to share a tip or two? Any particular place I should order these from?
I also suspect that when removing them it is impossible to avoid draining the transmission oil. I have been reading about it and it is making me a bit nervous. I guess I could either put back the old transmission fluid or refill with a new one and hope for the best. :-/ Considering the leak I will probably have to add some so it is probably not a choice at all. Car has around 110k miles on it.

Thanks!

I've just ordered mine here:
http://www.amazon.com/Assenmacher-AS.../dp/B002UBO1WA
I've done number of similar jobs in the past and best I can advise is to have ready set of generic rubber plugs and caps. Measure the best you can which one to use and have them ready when disconnecting the lines. I will say I've mostly done steering and I wasn't concerned about fluid loss as I wanted to exchange as much as possible.
If you want, I don't mind purchasing another one and ship it you at cost.

[upallnight]

Follow the procedure for refilling/adding transmission fluid back into the transmission and you should be find. And buy the right type of fluid from the dealer for your trans.

[Riba]

Thanks for the offer, I got a friend with a subscription to the forwarding service so he can order it for me. Should I consider dropping the pan and clean it before replacing the fluid?

[upallnight]

If you are going to drop the pan, you might as well change the filter also.

[Riba]

Originally Posted by upallnight

If you are going to drop the pan, you might as well change the filter also.

That goes without saying.