gcalo

Ford Mercon SP fluid works beautifully in "practice" and not just in theory.

My tranny shifts great and smoothly and it's keeping the mileage up as well.

Recommended fluid. Huge price difference from ZF.

rotracing

I just went through this fun process and made a mistake hope no-one makes. I used an aftermarket oil/filter pan and this thing fits perfectly but leaks after only a week of driving. I was actually going to do the quick drain and fill so I'm not sad about the fluid but please don't use anything other than the original ZF oil pan. The seal becomes flat after installation and does not make a perfect seal with the tranny which leaks right away even if you use the correct torque on the screws. My transmission was slipping on 4th gear so I may end up having to replace the entire unit even after all this trouble. It's sad to see my BMW with a failing tranny after only 56k miles. I'm losing the love :-(

gcalo

It is easy to lose the "love" w/BMW as they are far from the mechanically reliable cars there once were!

I found that it might makes little difference whose pan you use. It is important to go over the whole seal w/your finger before installation and to put a light layer of transmission fluid on the whole seal.

In addition I found that less than recommended torque on the bolts is best!

I found that my OEM bolts were not tight! They were definitely less than the recommended 6 ft-lbs of torque.

So I just hand-tightened them after trying 6 ft-lbs w/torque wrench and feeling that it was just too much torque.

I reused the OEM bolts and did not want to risk breaking one and then going through the routine to remove the broken stub.

You might want to try slightly loosen the bolts all around to see if the seal slightly expands a bit.

It is possible you will be able to get around that leak.

I would bet also that after the new fluid change your 4th gear issue might pass.

Which fluid did you use?

Conservator

Why should you do two drain & fills in a short time and then wait for a long time to do the next ATM oil change?
Wouldn't it be better to cut the service interval in half? That way, you'll change the oil (and contaminiations) just as much, but you'll enjoy the first new oil a lot longer.
In other words: If your service interval is 15.000 miles, in stead of changing the oil twice every 15.000 miles, you could change the oil once ever 7.500 miles.
I'm just curious and would like to understand why one should do the one or the other.

Any comments are appreciated!

gcalo

The only way to completely flush the unit is a power flush. That exchanges fluid out of the torque converter as well.

Due to the weird and non-standard fittings at the the tranny cooler, a power flush does not seem realistic.

So I prefer to drain the fluid a few times to clear out as much of the older fluid as is possible.

The I'll let it set for 15,000 - 30,000 miles. 7,500 miles is a too few miles for that work.

7,500 miles is oil chages for me.

Also, the Mercon fluid is very inexpensive. So keeping that tranny clean is advisable and cost effective.

Conservator

Ok, I understand the importance of changing as much oil as possible (also from the torque converter) and I fully agree.


Just for my understanding:
Is it less work to change oil twice then to do it once and to cut the interval in half? Tia

Conservator

I found this post on a Bimmerboard:
http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/527361/

I plan to have my GB serviced bij ZF too. I'll ask about the oil in the converter and their opinion about 'lifetime' oil.
I'll post the results.

gcalo

ZF is the one who controverted BMW's claom of "lifetime" fluid! So for certain they should agree with what has been stated here.

If doing the fluid change yourself the cost is fluid and your time. So what difference does it make then to change it once or twice! Not a big deal once the car is up.

timk_

I have an E87 with the ZF 6HP19. It has a leak somewhere, I think it is from the wiring sleeve. The shifts can sometimes be harsh and it seems a bit sluggish if not in Sport mode. The transmission has done 130k miles on the original fluid.

I was planning to change the oil, pan, mechatronic seal adapter and the three sleeves, plus the wiring sleeve.

I'm in two minds about ordering a new set of solenoids. The Sonnax "valve body and mechatronic service" document suggests you can pry off each solenoid screen and flush it from the inside. Assuming the impedance checks out, this might be good enough?

Do you think I should dig even further and rebuild the valve body using the Zip Kit? I hope to only pull this thing apart once!

Cheers

KyleB

Good enough, isn't.

That's the right way to approach this. New solenoids.

Good luck with your project.