n62aaron

I have a 2008 BMW E60 550i but this question is relevant for any e60 and I believe some e90s aswell with the ZF transmission.

This is my first time doing a transmission fluid/filter change on a bmw, and I am learning it us much much much more agitating, (I should’ve known). I have a few questions about the procedure. I am not used to there being 2 drain plugs as one is for the filler drain plug and the other being the filter drain plug. First, I went ahead and I drained the fluid from the filler drain plug (which is the one above the filter plug), and when I drained it, it dumped about 2/3 of a quart (rough estimation). I will provide a picture of the fluid in the drain pan. Now, I am having issues with draining the filter because No.1, I am 18 and not rich. No. 2, I am not the greatest mechanic yet with only 2 years experience in auto school. So the reason I am nervous or unable to change the filter is because I don’t want to break anything lol. That being said, I am not sure how much fluid is in the filter, so how much transmission fluid should I put in? Also, do I really have to get the transmission warm halfway by starting the car and going through the gears? I would rather not, but I will if I have to. Thanks.

seanjordan20

I am completely lost with what you're actually doing. You have 2 plugs. One is the fill hole (nothing should come out of it once loosened and should be loosened first) then you have the drain plug which is on the pan (should be loosened last). Once drained you remove the pan and replace it as the pan and filter are one piece. Once bolted back up to 12Nm you start the fill procedure. You must follow the fill procedure or you will underfill the transmission. The car should be leveled during the complete service

twh

Ok...we all start somewhere. Let me start by explaining what you did and then what you need to do.

There are two plugs. The filler plug in the high one. I'm guessing you opened that one first because that's the smart thing to do. If the filler doesn't open for some reason, you don't want to have drained the transmission without a way to fill it up. But, some fluid came out. That's normal for this kind of setup with a filler plug IF the engine is off. When the car is running, a certain amount of transmission fluid is held up in the workings of the transmission. If you had removed the filler plug with the engine running probably none would have come out. The better part of a quart is about right.

I'm not exactly sure what you mean by "Now, I am having issues with draining the filter"???

What you need to do now is remove the drain plug from the transmission oil pan. That will drain most of the rest of the oil. There will still be some in the oil pan. If you want to change the oil pan and transmission oil filter and bridge seals that's a bigger job and if your transmission is wonky maybe that is needed.

Once you get all the fluid out, you need to follow this very specific set of instructions.
https://www.thectsc.com/bmw-6hp26-%E...vel-procedures

With the engine off, fill until it runs out. Now turn on the car and don't drive it. Get the transmission oil to the specified temp. Now run through the procedure with the gears and adding oil until it runs out. If it gets too hot (over 40C), put the filler plug back in and shut off the car. If you don't put the filler plug and and shut off the car, some oil will come out like you saw already.