I bought my 4.6is about 19 months ago with 33k miles and have about 46k on the clock right know...knock on wood I have not had any problems, although I did change ALL the fluids about 3k miles ago (coolant, trans, transfer, diffs, oil) and she's running strong. I drive in S mode about 5% of the time when I want to flick the paddles shifters around a little. I drive the X hard maybe 10-20% of the time whether I am in S or D mode.

I am also pretty anal about maintenance, I only use BMW or good quality synth fluids (Redline, Mobil 1, etc.) and I change the oil in the X every 3k-5k miles. My mechanic thinks I am nuts but I used to take of my E30 M3 the same way and I drove that car VERY hard and she never let me down! I sold the M with 110k on the clock and it was running as strong when I sold it, as it did when I bought it with 28k on it.

I had the same problem and i don't believe in racing it hard. I think it is X5. Mine was out of warranty but still BMW took the charges on its tab and replaced it for free. Maybe they are aware of this known problem and they call this a goodwill warranty.

NEWS FLASH!!!! Just met this guy at the car wash, he has a 01 X5 with 210K on it!!!!!!!!!!! This guy drives every where everyday. He is some kind of developer. He told me that he has never changed his tranny oils "EVER".... All he does is change the engine oils every 5k and keeps up with the maintenance. Thats it. I thought I'd share this info with everyone. I asked him if he wanted to join the forum and he just laughed. He gave me his card and told me to keep my X till it dies, which he said that he will die first before his X.

Flukes are always possible.

I haven't changed the transmission fluid.

Every BMW dealership I called in the east coast said no. They didn't even ask what year/model I had.

They just asked "what makes you think you have to change it?"
When I told them I have 102k miles they said "so what? it is lifetime".

They said they could do it for me but it would definitely not be the same transmission fluid that BMW put in there.

35K, no tranny problems (knock on wood) but had to change some bearings near the CV joints under warranty.

Yeah the dealer also recommended that I do oil changes every 15-20k miles but I am not listening to that either. ;)

I'm just going to leave mine as is. Well, I've notice that a lot of car manufactures are going with the lifetime fluid. For example Lexus has that on there new cars. Why would Lexus a very reliable auto, go with the lifetime fluid and be ok? Since BMW says Lifetime, what makes them so stupid and everyone else a genius? I just don't get it. Just my opinion of course...

I know that some people believe that that draining the tranny fluid can cause particles to become dislodged and cause problems, my motto with respect to vehicle maintenance (I own all of my cars and do not lease) has always been proactive and not reactive. Some mechanics consider me a nut because I will request at certain mileage intervals that parts which typically wear and fail (water pumps, fluids, wheel bearings, battery, CV joints, and the list goes on...) be replaced WITHOUT notice problem. I am always playing the odds that good preventative maintenance will lessen the likelihood of failure. I would rather spend the extra $$ for piece of mind that I am less likely to break down (even though I do have a Premier membership with AAA). I have only owned 6 cars but knock on wood I have never had a serious mechanical failure in any of my rides (watch this will be the kiss of death).

I saw the post on a guy doing e39 trans flush...
 

So I am convinced enough to do mine at 45000 miles. Got the kit and Esso from BavAuto.com and will do it next weekend. Will post you all on what I find once I drop the pan.
My car has been running fine just feels a little gritty in auto mode, manual mode is still crisp. 2002 4.4i X5.

here is the link:
http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=181682