Has anyone not changed the differential oil and/or auto tran oil? I have 140K miles and was thinking about changing them out. I know that many of you have changed the oils and have never looked back.
Is there any harm in not changing these oils?
Has anyone had any problems after changing any of these fluids?
Any one know what the dealer might charge for each of these fluid changes?
First of all, the oil in the differenital is not "lifetime." It's supposed to be changed every Inspection II - about every 30k miles. I had mine changed by an independent shop recently and it cost about $40. It would cost about $10 if you FIY, but it was cold in January and I decided to spring for the service. The dealer would in all likelihood charge you more.
The prevailing wisdom on the auotomatic transmissions is not to trust the "lifetime" claims from BMW and get the fluid changed and the filter cleaned every few years. I recently got a quote from my independant shop for $150 for this service.
Not changing these fluids will increase theodds of you're experincing problems with these mechanisms.
Mine is supposedly lifetime.
I changed the tranny and diff fluids at 44k and both were quite the nasty.
Mine is supposedly lifetime.
Well, how long would you like that lifetime to be? :D Engine oil can be "lifetime fill" as well... never change your oil, and that first fill will last as long as the engine does!
any instructions on DIY for transmission and differential oil changes??
I don't know if there is write up of changing the ATF fluid. But there may be one in the E36 DIY library, I know that there are a few threads floating around talking about tool selection/creation for turning the differential plugs.
The diffferntial plug uses a 14mm hex driver and there's not a lot of clearance between the differential plus and the spare tire wheel well. One technique I've seen is taking a short piece of a 14mm hex key and turning it with a 14mm box end wrench. There are a few hex driver sockets around but size is sometimes a problem - the Snap On one has to be cut down to fit in the space.
If you do change the differential oil yourself, remove the top fill plug first before you remove the bottom drain plug. That was you know that you can put new oil in there before you take the drain out. Be sure to replace crush washers for both plugs.
Its not *hard* to change the ATF in an auto.
Its getting it to the right level!
The car needs to be level in the air, running and in gear.
The ATF needs to stay within a narrow band of about 10-15 degrees and you have to fill until it comes out of the fill plug.
If you fail at any of those parts, the transmission will be under or overfilled.
If you have an auto.. It might be better to bring it in.
It might be better to bring it in.
bring it in... TO THE DEALER. as much as i hate the dealer, chaning the a/t fluid really needs the use of their diagnostic computer.
as joe wrote, the atf has to be in a narrow temp window to do a proper fluid level check. only bmw's shop computer can read the auto tranny's built in temp sensor to determine the proper temp at which to check the level.
if you don't have the computer, as no independent shop ever does, don't change the a/t fluid.
Some shops have it
The one I went to had it
It's supposedly bad to change automatic transmission fluid if it hasn't been changed before. You risk flushing out sludge that's lodged in the system and moving it somewhere VITAL.
I've been told and have read several recommendations by master techs and experienced mechanic to just wait, let the auto tranny fail, and replace it with a remanufactured auto tranny and then change the fluid on a regular basis, if your auto tranny has more than 60K miles on it with the OEM fluid.
Hack: That is exactly what my mechanic told me at 100K miles. I am at 125K and it is still going strong on the "lifetime" fluid. . .
Don't screw with it man, trust me it's more trouble then it's worth. All kind of problems can arrise, my car actualy drive worse after tranny fuild change then before.
There have been several threads about the lifetime auto fluid. I bought a '92 525 with 95,000 and at 100,000 the damn GM (yes, it has a GM tranny) went TU. I don't believe any fluid can really be lifetime.
I think the previous owner thought it was lifetime because there was no dipstick - mine was not intended to be lifetime.
I have heard from a dealer mechanic, off the record, that certain BMW models have had problems after changing the fluid. An independent German mechanic told me the same thing. But, just as many people will tell you that if you leave the same fluid in forever the tranny will fail. I've had BMW and other cars shift much better after a change.
I would ask the stealer if there has been a history of problems after changes with your particular tranny , and if not, have it changed. Maybe find a good independent to ask also.
Yeah, if you havnt changed the ATF at all and have higher milage on it.
Its not a good idea to change it, because all the sludge that has settled to the bottem is now flowing around the transmission.
If you do change it, you need to flush it like 5 times and then change the filter.
Either way, I'd just let it fail and then change it regularly.
I have heard from a dealer mechanic, off the record, that certain BMW models have had problems after changing the fluid. An independent German mechanic told me the same thing.
did it ever occur to anyone that theory "tranny fluid changes will destroy your a/t" is nothing more than an weak excuse from these guilty mechanics who improperly filled your transmission, thus CAUSING it to fail???
Very few mechanics know how to properly top-up an a/t with the right amount of fluid, and therefore, a tranny with low fluid will NO-DOUBT FAIL!!! then, when confronted by the angry customer, the mechanics bring out this bullsh!t excuse in order to cover their azz...
rediculous,,, new fluid is worse than old fluid???? g-g-g-gullible.
does it even make sense to say that "it's better to leave the gunk in the tranny than to take it out, otherwise the a/t will fail." DOES THAT MAKE SENSE AT ALL?????? that's why there's a FILTER in there!!! it needs to be changed!!!
and regarding life-time a/t fluid,,, again, this fluid is only good for 45,000 miles or 4 years. "life-time" is a result of politics and economics as BMW needed to reduce the 'free maintenance' cost during the warrenty period.
exacly pikachu... and people still want to try and do it on their own..
Also, changing the fluid for the 1st time @ high millages dislodgeds settlement in the "tunnels" in the transmission and can damage the trans its self.
making the fluid change more harmeful than good.
What about in a manual, the writeups I saw basically show that you drain it, then fill it till it won't fill anymore, why is this more complicated with an auto tranny, or are the directions HERE (http://www.unofficialbmw.com/e36/drivetrain/e36_change_manual_transmission_fluid.html) bad?
search for my name on this..
The reason its much harder for an auto is because the fluid needs to be flowing through the torque converter and through the channels in the transmission...
And it needs to be in the right temp range so it dosnt expand too much.
In a manual it just lubricates.
In an auto the ATF accually makes the car move.
Manauls you can just fill it up.
Autos you really cant do that.
