Let's talk Transmission Maintenance...

[Ozer]

Originally Posted by Ricky Bobby

Thanks that's perfect - 6L enough capacity for service on our 35d's?

Yes, i got 7L since someone said it may take more but 6 is plenty. You will or should be using little bit of the 6th one when it starts trickling out.

[Ricky Bobby]

Excellent! I'll go with the link you sent and prob pick up a mech sleeve too - we have a great indy shop by us that also does walnut blasting to clean the intake manifold on the 35d's so I'll have them do the trans at 50k in a few months for its first service -

[Nanniepoo]

So would you all go for a trans fluid change, filter, etc, etc with 135k miles? I could find no record of a trans service done, but do know I'm the third owner, and previous two owners mainly put highway miles on it. First was a salesman of some sort, second worked about 25 minutes away, straight shot on the highway. For the most part, no oddities with shifting, just an occasional clunk and a little abrupt when cold. Would be doing it more as preventative maintenance.

EDIT: Oh and no towing. Just has a baby hitch for a bike rack. We will be using it to tow in the future.

[Entropy]

Originally Posted by Nanniepoo

So would you all go for a trans fluid change, filter, etc, etc with 135k miles? I could find no record of a trans service done, but do know I'm the third owner, and previous two owners mainly put highway miles on it. First was a salesman of some sort, second worked about 25 minutes away, straight shot on the highway. For the most part, no oddities with shifting, just an occasional clunk and a little abrupt when cold. Would be doing it more as preventative maintenance.

EDIT: Oh and no towing. Just has a baby hitch for a bike rack. We will be using it to tow in the future.

Absolutely. That fluid is nasty that is in there at 135k miles. Would you be DIY or taking it to a shop?

[Nanniepoo]

Originally Posted by Entropy

Absolutely. That fluid is nasty that is in there at 135k miles. Would you be DIY or taking it to a shop?

DIY. But would wait until it warms up a bit out there.

[Entropy]

Originally Posted by Nanniepoo

DIY. But would wait until it warms up a bit out there.

That's fine. I would just try to get it done before you start towing. There is a lot of information here in this thread as to which fluid to use. Just make sure you get a ZF oil pan/filter. You may also want to change the t-case fluid, which must take BMW TF 0870. You will have to program both fluid changes in the vehicle's computer and reset adaptations. A local BMW shop can do this for you.

[Nanniepoo]

Will do. I'm going to replace the chinsy hitch on there first with an OEM hitch anyways.

We just got the car in October, so I have been itching to replace all the fluids, which depending on timing, wouldn't mind doing it all in one shot.

There's a very good BMW shop ~4 miles from me.

[Ozer]

Originally Posted by Nanniepoo

Will do. I'm going to replace the chinsy hitch on there first with an OEM hitch anyways.

We just got the car in October, so I have been itching to replace all the fluids, which depending on timing, wouldn't mind doing it all in one shot.

There's a very good BMW shop ~4 miles from me.

Not to take away business from the shops but if you know one of the techs that work there, most will be willing to or are already doing work on the side (at their house) so you could save some money that way. I know a guy like that, knew him for many many years from different shops and he charges $50/h. Charged me $200 labor to do transmission, t case and both diffs. I got the parts. All was under $500 total.

[Alpinerunner]

Going to tackle this soon with ZF Lifegaurd 6 and a ZF pan/filter. Few questions:
1) I understand you need to do the final top up with the fluid at a specific temp. What is that temp?
2) Bavarian Autosport has a "sealing sleeve" part #24 34 7 588 725 that they say is a common source of trans fluid leaks and is easy to change when doing the fluid/filter. Has anyone done this or experienced this leak?
3) What is the programming required after fluid change? Is this for service interval (CBS) or something else?

[basilray]

Originally Posted by Westlotorn

Anything is possible but the ZF tranny in a Ford works just fine on Mercon SP.

While not exactly by initial intent (long story, won't bore anyone unless interested), I ended up swapping over to Mercon LV. I did a double-drain and fill to remove as much of the ZF fluid as possible.

I did the changeover at ~109k. What I assume to have been the original ZF fluid looked to be in good condition. Very minimal wear accumulated on pan magnets.

Since the changeover, I've put about 5k on it. No noticeable change in performance. I'm thinking that I will be doing a basic drain and fill at about 15k because the Mercon is so inexpensive. At about 30k from the changeover, I'll weigh going back to the ZF fluid.