Greetings,

The symptoms of my tailgate lead me to believe it is low on fluid; when traveling through the last 1/3 of opening the pump sounds like it is under added/excess strain. The BMW specific oil is crazy expenseive and some people have used Shell Aeroshell 4 or 41. The smallest quantity of Aeroshell 4/41 I can find is in 1 gallon and costs about $30.

It looks like the pump won't require more than an ounce or two (~50ml) to top it off. Coming from a mountain bike background I wonder if some of the mineral oil used in certain brake systems would be an acceptable substitute.

Some people have had issues with the tailgate not working as well in cold weather; maybe a higher viscosity oil would be advantageous?

Does anyone have info on this?

Evan

 

Have you read the TSB I posted in the tailgate pump thread 5 posts below yours?

https://5series.net/forums/e61-touri...3/#post1535907

 

Lotus,

I just checked it out, thanks for the heads up. It simply states to use only the BMW oil sold in the small parts kit. Ideally I am looking for more details on the oil so I can hopefully find a much cheaper and equally as functional substitute.

It is a tricky situation since there is not much documentation on alternatives for things such as a rear tailgate (opposed to people modding N54 engines, hacking iDrives, etc.) I feel like there is a good chance another similar mineral oil can work just fine but it is hard to take the leap on something that can lead to an expensive non-CPO repair. If I was able to obtain some additional info it would greatly help me step up to the plate.

Evan

 

Sorry, I thought you were asking how to get to it, which it shows, which is what most people I've read have asked about.

Did you do a search in this forum? I searched for "tailgate oil" and got this, which seems to be it, no?

https://5series.net/forums/e61-touri...te-e61-135492/


Worst case, why not call the dealer to confirm?

 

Lotus, again thanks for the help but that data I already had and I am not sure I will be able to find the technical breakdown of the oil I am hoping to find. Instead of buying a gallon of oil (still a fraction of what BMW charges for their botique oil) I will likely use only 1x or 2x during the life of my car I may just go to the dealer and ask if they wouldn't mind topping me off with some.

Thanks for the help! If anyone one has any more info please chime in.
Evan

 

Two days ago I ordered a quart of Royco 756 on ebay for $17 usd shipped. Same specs as aeroshell 41. I should be putting it in next week. I'll report back once it's in (my level is almost empty right now)

 

Cool. I was thinking it can't be that hard to find the Shell Aerofluid 41 or something similar. Its specs are easy to find.

 

Here's the ROYCO specs:

Anderol - ROYCO 756

 

My Royco 756 fluid arrived in the mail today and I was able to dismount the pump and add the fluid to it. The top bolt is a real pain in the a$$ to get access to! Anyway, added the fluid and the trunk runs like new. I'm hoping that the leakage of the old fluid was a result of lines bleeding and not something else but for now everything is running great.

 

Thanks for the update, I will likely follow your lead unless the dealership can too it off for free.

Evan