bmwroger1

i have a 2004 545I with 120 kilometers on it...i bought the car used and have all the service records.. i keep the maintenance up to par and i change everything as soon as it becomes apparent to me..change the engine oil religiously and so on. my car is serviced by the book at every interval. my question is, as i know this has been brought up in the past. do i change my tranny fluid...i know bmw has lifetime fluid in it, but i dont trust that bull crap. lol. all of the service requirements have been accomplished, except for the tranny fluid. i heard that once it comes to a certain point of kilometers the tranny is better off not changing. due to tranny slipping and so forth. i have done many tranny flushes on other brands of vehicles in the past and there are occasions where the tranny would slip and not shift correctly, i have never done one on a bmw. any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. by the way its an automatic and it is also being stored for the winter.

thanks in advance,

Roger

jprovence

BMW has a machine that will service the trasmission with new fluid. The filter is not serviceable according to BMW, they say the filter in intergrated into the pan. Hence, one has to replace the whole assembly. Its about $175 from a supplier that deals in parts for ZF transmission (i.e. not your dealer) Its about $450-$500 for the dealer to just do it all.

bmwroger1

the filter is indeed inside the pan...you must remove the pan in order to change the filter. but that would only drain about 5 liters. there are special tranny flush machines but for regular dextron 2 or 3 atf fluid but not bmw's fluid. if i were to change it i would go to the dealer and have the do the work instead of doing it at my shop. im just scared of possible tranny slippage after the flush has been completed.

pauliehcfr

In my experience, a simple drain and fill is not harmful. Its when those quick lube places do a transmission flush. The flush removes all the old fluid forcefully and replaces it with new. Soon after the service, the trans begins to slip and shift poorly. Usually, a lot of places won't service a transmission that has 70,000 miles or more, especially if it has not been maintained well. A trans service is kind of an at your own risk type situation. See if the place that you want to have it done will guarantee any damage or negative effects to the trans that may arise later on after service.

monsterj34

well...

i just got mine replaced at 50k miles...

the problem is draining old fluid using drian plug does not drain all the fluids... you have to take the pan off completly in order to get them all out.. You cannot mix with old and new fluid ... you must drain all of them out before putting new ones in...

Because of this, it is good way and time to get a new pan since it has built in filters.

when i drained my fluid, it was dark and i was glad i changed it..

no problem at all with my transmission.. all you have to do is make sure the tranmission is getting at optimal temperature after you fill them and put more as you need. after you change the fluid, dont rev it up too high.. make sure you drive gently for about 500-1000 miles pretend you just changed clutch on your car... gotta give some time.

jay bimma

https://5series.net/forums/topic/881...&#entry1039856

i did my drain & fill using Pentosin ATF1......excellent fluid!