DavidF

Big mistake. BMW is in the business of selling cars and making money. BMW pays for regular maintainance during warranty, so they are going to say it is not necessary to change the fluid. Just change it at 80k.

AchtungE60

Yes the fluid color was completely different....i mean, you have to expect that at 100K. There were little metal/sludge flakes obviously stuck on pan magnet....same as other members with 50K miles....Happens within the first 5K miles of usage and is due to break-in. The fluid is not "lifetime".... and even BMW Dealer will tell you their "lifetime" is 100K.... and should be changed.


See the problem is that the fluid may last well into the 200K mile mark....I've seen it myself but the fact is, that most people do not care or even own the car that long so they don't worry about it. When the next owner comes, they inherit the issue and so on and so on...eventually it effects the products image and priceline but it seems that BMW has brainwashed the world to believe their cars are the 'elite' it's all in their marketing....in fact we all market one way or the other whether we like it or not, whether we know it or not.....and the story continues.

AchtungE60

I agree with BMW that their differential fluid is good for about 200K miles. i've changed out diff fluid at 120K and it could have been used again. Don't bother with differ fluid....tranny I'd do at around 75K

AchtungE60

The fluid (Pentosin ATF +1) is about $14.50 a liter at NAPA carry it so call to check around. I bought from Pelican Parts at $16.50 before I knew this. If you're doing a drain buy 5-6 if you're doing a flush with a new pan buy 11.

AchtungE60

LOL +1..... I could have improved many designs on several of their vehicles.

porsche911targa

Do you have any experience with Transfer case fluid?

AchtungE60

I'm sorry what do you mean by experience?

MRV99

How long are you keeping the car. The techs at my dealer ship say change it around 50K. The $500 cost compared to the 5k for a replacement unit is worth it. Some dealers will say DON'T TOUCH IT!!! others say if you don't want a new trans in the future, change it. Personally, lifetime fills are acutally 100,001 or until the trans fails.

jm545i

BMW dealers are REALLY uneven about this. Sometimes they'll give you the "company line" that the fill is for the "lifetime" of the car, which indeed I suppose it is, given that most people throw away a car with a blown transmission and 100k miles on the odometer.

I wouldn't take my car BACK to a dealer who refused to perform extra preventative maintenance on a vehicle, and it's not unusual for some dealers to refuse doing the service even at 50k, telling tales about how the car might not shift properly after the fluid is changed - that it will dislodge gunk that will clog things up. If that's going to be a problem at 50k, maybe the right interval is the old-school 30k.

The notion that under normal service trans fluid is healthy after running 100k miles is a fantasy. That said, my dad has a 525i wagon from 2003 with about 185k miles on it, and the original fluid in the steptronic transmission. Of course 90% of the miles on that car were in top gear, and the only time the car was driven even slightly aggressively was when I borrowed it.....

Nobody will touch the fluid in the car, and at this point that's probably smart. He's not going to be shocked though if the transmission needs to be replaced in the next 25k miles.

sevenup_guy

The Dinan service center by my house recommend as early as 60,000. With the cost of around $900 for replacement of the mechatronic sleeve and filter. Pretty reasonable for a BMW performance shop.