henryb

See this for transmission fluid specs. Am trying to find out if Valvoline MAXLIFE is ok for 2006 525i

http://www.nordiques.com/pieces/imag...huiletrans.pdf

rictor

NO, it must meet Shellxxxxx specs. See attached.

henryb

This link shows spec M-1375.4 which is the transmission oil BMW calls for 2006 525i (made by Shell) as being equivalent to spec LT71141. LT71141 meets Valvoline Spec with it's MAXLIFE transmission oil. I have used MAXLIFE for 5 years in my 99 740il with excellent results.

I received a reply e-mail from VALVOLINE today however in which they stated that at this time they do NOT have a transmission oil which meets M-1375.4.

This is all a bit confusing....perhaps Valvoline has not compared M-1375.4 to their MAXLIFE yet.

I plan to use MAXLIFE because I am going to change my transmission oil soon and then every 60k miles and I'll be damned if I am going to spend $18 per liter for the BMW Shell oil...that is just wrong!!

https://www.ssfautoparts.com/public/...romo_0809B.asp

gwf545

I have been researching this ZF automatic transmission fluid issue over the past few days. The latest thing I discovered is that in addition to the Jaguar, the ZF 6HP26 is used in quite a few other Ford vehicles as the 6R60. See here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZF_6HP26_transmission

There are also other sites that condfirm this and some service PDF's I found that appear to be identical to those for the BMW version.

There are quite a few synthetic transmission fluids recommended for these non-BMW applications at a price point of around $5 / quart. It seems that BMW is simply taking a huge profit in their requirement for their proprietary fluid and even the use of Pentosin may not be necessary. Castrol, Mobil 1, Mercon SP, and other synthetic ATF's all would seem to be O.K. And I would think if the fluid is changed more frequently due to improved cost, you might even get better life out of the transmission.

To be safe, I may still use the Pentosin, but I can't help thinking there is a major marketing rip-off in play in here.

gwf545

Per my prior post, if you look at the Ford section of this table it says to use Mercon SP for the Fords with the ZF 6HP equivalent transmission and that there is no Valvoline approved fluid. I would choose the Mercon over the Valvoline.

gwf545

Source for ZF Lifeguard6 at a very reasonable price: http://www.thectsc.com/index.php?p=c...parent=58&pg=1

Here is a link to the full kit that includes a replacement filter/pan: http://www.thectsc.com/index.php?p=c...parent=61&pg=1

ktlocklear

Just buy it from BMW. They sell it at the parts counter in 1 Liter bottles....or from here

http://www.rmeuropean.com/Part-Numbe..._9BA48850.aspx

gwf545

That is not the Lifeguard6 fluid ZF requires, it is Pentosin. It may be better, but there is controversy about it meeting the ZF specifications..

BMW charges a lot more than $17 / liter, yes?

ktlocklear

Dunno.....my local dealer quoted me $399 for a flush though. Seems like a pretty decent price