Hi,
I have a small hair line crack in my transmission sump. I have been quoted £600 to replace at a specialist bmw garage that I use. I cannot get a quote off bmw because I all I get is the reservation desk when I telephone. I did not get an response from two dealerships near my location. The box is the six speed auto box fitted to a 252d on a m57 tu engine, year 2005. many thanks in advance

There's a ZF service centre in Nottingham that should be able to change the gearbox oil and the sump (the filter is integral to the sump) for circa 400 UKP.

Replacing a cracked sump is identical to an automatic gearbox oil change. This is because the filter is built into the sump.

In the UK it seems very hard to get the oil (ZF Lifeguard6) which is something like £10 a litre and you need 9 litres. The parts individually from BMW look to be around £300. Then to fill the gearbox is really fiddly and easy to mess up - the oil needs to be between 30C and 50C and the engine running, etc.

So that's where the big prices come from.

However - a sump kit in the USA is $177. And that's a genuine part. The same gearbox is also used on some Landrovers. So if you can find a gearbox specialist they can probably source the right parts and oil for a much more competitive price.

Where abouts in the UK are you?

Oh and the gearbox scares most dealers - they haven't the skills because BMW say "sealed for life".

Update:

The sump, with gaskets etc. is £161.67+VAT from my local BMW dealer. They couldn't tell me what fluid I wanted or how much it was though...

The interesting part was that although they didn't stock an aircon belt for my car they did stock the gearbox sump. I queried why and they checked and they had supplied and fitted loads!! The parts chap then said the labour to change the sump wasn't much in relation to the parts.