Never though I could get such a headache on ATF.

So, John u reckon Redline D4ATF is the way to go?

I'm relying on you guys in the blog.

Just spent over $2K buying the transmission (58K miles) & wont want to mess it up.

Car is abroad so I need to get all the necessary parts in the USA b4 I ship them over

Both GM and BMW no longer reccommend the Texaco ATF for this transmission. They both reccommend Dexron VI.

Dexron VI specs are very tightly controlled by GM so that there is not much variation between brands. I believe that Valvoline is the only Dexron VI provider that claims to have a full synthetic Dexron VI, so if I was going Dexron VI, I would use Valvoline’s full synthetic.

The only reason that I did not use Dexron VI when I made my change was that I had not seen many reports of people going with Dexron VI in their A5S390R. At this point, I've seen many more reports of people using it without trouble.

Although it is not Dexron III or VI certified, I went with RedLine D4ATF because I've seen many reports of people using it in their A5S390R without trouble. Like Amsoil, RedLine claims it is suitable for use in that transmission even though it is not certified to the spec.

Amsoil, RedLine or any Dexron VI are likely to work very well.

Let us know what you choose.

Thanks John.

Will keep you guys posted on my choice.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Check this Transmission @ ZF Dortmund D.
Transmission @ ZF Dortmund D. - bimmerfest - BMW Forums

Great write up. I'll add that if doing the differential Always, Always, Always loosen the fill hole before draining. If you drain first and are unable to loosen the fill bolt then you are really screwed. In this case the tranny can be filled via the dipstick tube if necessary. Honda recommends a triple drain fill which removes 87.5 % of the old fluid by dilution. Drain, fill, drive- repeat.

good write up .

Picked myne up laast weekend 12/05 and discovered there is no trans dipstick and no fill tube. BEFORE DRAINING TRANS FLUID-LOOSEN THE FILL BOLT FIRST- IF THE FILL BOLT IS FROZEN SHUT, YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO REFILL IT SINCE THERE IS NO FILL TUBE.

guys, just a quick post about my experiance with bmw automatic transmissions and fluid swaps.

I had a E39 540 that I attempted to swap the fluid in. I bought the huge jug of ESSO fluid and swapped it out with a new filter at 160k miles, but I initially underfilled it by 2 quarts. It shifted slow and felt like th tranny was going out. When I filled it up to the proper level it went back to shifting properly.

next car was a 01 330 with a steptronic
bought ammco fluid that was claimed to be compatible with the ESSO fluid, but when i put it in, I filled it, ran it for 2 weeks and drained it. then dropped the pan and put a new filter in and filled it up again. 2 weeks later it was shifting hard and missing gears. I thought I had screwed up my tranny. I drained the fluid and filed it back up with valvoline Max Life and is started shifting perfect again and lasted another 40k miles till I sold the car. It's current owne reports it is still running and shifting perfectly even after changing the fluid the first time at 112k miles.

3rd experiance was a 99 328i that i bought from a guy that tried to replace the fluid himself and underfille dit by 3 quarts. I nursed it home, drained it and preplaced the filter in it (fluid smelled really burnt) and put MAx LIfe in this one. It lasted another 30k miles as well till I sold it.

So I see a bigger issue with underfilling a transmission and damaging it than swapping the fluid.

my .02

Torque spec for the bolts that hold the tranny pan in place.
 

Hello,

I been reading this tread on changing the tranny oil. Anyone know what are the offical torque spec from BMW for the 22 (or so) screws that holds the tranny oil pan in place?

thanks

10nm or 7 ft-lbs . info from service manual .:thumbup: