I'm having that problem right now also. I purchased my '02 3.0i with 81k miles and I'm nearing 90k miles now. The owners manual states a fluid change at 100k, but I'm dreading changing it now or waiting out the next 10k miles and doing it at 100k miles. Vehicle had two previous owners and one of them had it for commercial use in Florida.

Any input would be appreciated. Should I wait or do it now?

Oh that makes sense - it's a lifetime fluid, but go ahead and change it at 100K. :confused:

lifetime :bustingup
of course they don't want you to change it, that way you'll be in a new bmw, and the next person will be in their shop buying parts for the old one.
they just caught 2 rabbits w/out much hassle
if they made them to last trouble free for the intended motor/tranny designed lifetime like 350,000 or 500,000 miles, then that wouldn't make them enough money...board of directors wouldn't be happy

It really has nothing to do with BMW. Modern 5 and 6 speed AT trannys are simply not designed to live for 350K miles, certainly not behind a V8. You are really lucky to get half of that. And at that point with the quality of fluids they are using these days and the cooling, and the filtering, the fluid is not really what is causing the failures. So they call it lifetime but if it makes you feel better swap at 100K. If you want 350K miles, manual is the only way to go. Or 1 or 2 rebuilds on an AT and hope the motor and the rest of the car will last that long. Probably not as likely with something as complex as the X5, especially not with the V8 engine. But I think you can realistically take these things up over 200K with one tranny rebuild. My buddy has a 740iL with 185K miles on it. Rebuilt the trans around 150K and it runs perfectly at this point. Keeping up on maint is the key, and not just talking about oil changes here - this ain't no Honda.

BMW slushboxes don't typically break because the fluid has broken down. It is usually due to something else and new fluid doesn't guarantee that it will last longer. Plus, there is a lot of evidence that changing original fluid for the first time at higher mileage can possibly contribute to a failure.

On a side note, I don't think any automaker uses an auto trans designed to go 300,000 miles. I would guess the average automatic trans life is about 100,000 - 150,000 miles or so.

My indy charged me ~$350 including the fluid.

I had mine changed at 108K when I first purchased the vehicle. I'm at 114K now and not problems to report.

honestly what do you think the life expectency of a 4.4 v8 x5 is...what can i expect for the future...i am referring to both engine and transmission....seem that tranny will last about 80k to 100k before rebuild..but what will engine last...thnaks rob