turboawd

i just changed my fluid, after 98k miles. the old fluid was pretty dark and smelly. it also seemed that the old fluid had a slightly thicker viscocity, possibly due to its age/wear. thicker fluid casues more drag in the trans. i may see a slight improvement in my mileage now.
had i known the fluid was this dark, i would have changed it a lot sooner.

here is a visual comparison of several fluids used by others when changing their fluid, along with my used 98k mile fluid.
the red fluids are similar to the others, but have red dye added to them. supposedly the earlier mercon sp wasnt dyed.
the oem bmw fluid is shell spec M1375.4, which is essentially the same as the zf lifeguard 6
most of the fluids smelled the same except for the pentosin, which didnt have much of a smell. the consistency of them all seem about the same.

personally, next time i will probably just use the ford mercon sp. its the cheapest(~$5), and is used in the lincoln navigator, which has the same exact zf transission the bmw has. i used zf lifeguard 6 this time out of curiousity and since i bought a complete fluid/filter kit from http://www.thectsc.com/

many use pentosin atf1, but it doesnt have the shell spec, and is a multi-vehicle fluid, which is not ideal in my opinion.
the castrol fluid supposedly has the shell spec approved, but is still a multi-vehicle fluid, and not a specific formula.

feel free to add your opinion

rctmthouse

Mercon sp $ 5/a quart? It's around 6 a quart around where I live but I bought 2 cases, at 20 each here. I'm serious too. Got it from a mechanic who listed on local Craigslist. I assume he stole it from his shop or something like that. Was thinking of getting one case just to inspect the fluid and compare it to the the ZF fluid but since he wanted only 20 for a case, might as well buy both.

525iEnjoy

MERCON SP here. Also there is Redline Oils ATF has higher friction for higher output engines


ZFLife is the SP's and Pentosins Euro brother. Meaning uh ZF is Shells euro product and SP/Pentosin is North Americas. Just die separates them

rctmthouse

OP, did you torque it to spec or by feel. When I did mine, I misplaced my torque wrench so I tightened it by hand. Then next day I went out to Sears and bought a torque wrench and torque it to 6 lb. Recently I notice a fluid leak. Yesterday I removed the cover underneath and notice little fluid on the some bolts but was not wet around the edge of the pan itself. I'm guessing I may have damaged the gasket when I did it by hand so pondering with just replacing the gasket alone but that fluid I just put in is only around 6 weeks old. Should I try to salvage or go ahead with the Mercon SP now. But then I will mixing fluid...

turboawd

i just snugged the bolts by hand. the pan has metal sleeves around the bolt holes, so over tightening shouldnt be an issue.
did you follow the proper torque sequence?





maybe you have a leak from above, and the fluid is running down the bolt holes. did you check the mechatronics sleeve and the fill plug for leakage?

rctmthouse

checked the fill plug this morning...didn't think about the sleeve since I ran my fingers around the pan and notice no wetness. I'll check it tomorrow since it's still on the jack stands inside my garage right now. I re-torqued it a bit higher than 6 lbs to see if there is any drip. So far nothing but I'm not sure if with or without the engine running will make any difference since there is no circulation inside.

rctmthouse

Oh I did use the star pattern when I tightened it the last time when replaced the fluid. It was in the video

StasGS4

Turboawd,

Thank you for posting the photos of the fluid comparison. I think this will very helpful for anyone atempting to change their trans fluid and decidinng on which oil to use. I know it will help me.

One questions, any observed differences in the behavior of your transmission after the fluid change?

And another question, was your pan similar/same as the one in the video posted on youtube of a guy changing the fluid in his Jaguar? I was thinking of buying the entire kit form CTSC, but now since everyone says that Mercon SP is the way to go, I am thinking of getting the pan from Rockauto and fluid from the Ford dealer.

Thanks!

turboawd

trans ran good before, never had any issues. i put a few miles on today, and the trans seemed maybe a tad smoother.

the jaguar video where the guy says something about the recessed area around the bolt holes? both my original pan(never leaked) and new pan had the recessed area around the bolt holes. i think the guy made an issue about nothing.

i was debating to use mercon and just get a pan off amazon, where you can buy the pan for $100 shipped. but i ended up getting the kit from CTSC since i wanted to get new screws and mechatronics sleeve. i ended up not really needing the screws, since my 11/05 build date car already had the t40 torx screws.
if i were to do it again, i'd use the mercon sp and the amazon pan or similar.

525iEnjoy

Mercon SP, Pentosin and ZF6 are fuel efficient fluids...AMS Oil, redline and others are thicker for protection under stress so will suck up some power. My change has been done for 3 months and drives like a champ.

I found all my data sheets on these oil and will post them tomorrow