Lifetime trans. fluid service info

[2001NJ330I]

My 2001 330i has just over 100,000 on the clock and I though this was a good time to service the "lifetime" transmission fluid. Here's how it went.....

I ordered a pan gasket from BMW and asked about a filter kit, the gasket was 14 bucks, the filter is n/a. I brought a large container to purchase the specific BMW "lifetime" fluid, I got 7 liters @ $24/ltr.

Got the car up on a lift, took out the drain plug and out came some pretty dirty fluid. It was dark grey in color and seemed pretty much broken down in viscosity. Then I took the pan down, there were about 8 small magnets in the bottom of the pan to collect any metal. Thankfully there were pretty clean. The bottom of the pan seemed pretty clean as well. There is a filter on the intake, I took that down also. It's was what seemed like a cloth filter in an enclosure, there was a p/n stamped on it. I called BMW to as for that p/n, they told me it was n/a. Even tried to cross ref. it with a trans parts shop with no luck. So I ran the parts washer fluid through it, reverse of the flow. Quite a bit of muck came out of the filter and when I was done, the filter media was much cleaner, whiter in appearance. I also cleaned up the bottom of the pan and all the magnets.

The inside of the trans itself looked very clean. No sludge or discoloration at all. Pretty good for over 100,000 miles of service. I ran some new trans oil, which looks like clean, clear hydraulic oil through the filter to make sure I got all the cleaning solvent out. Then I put the filter back in, new gasket and put the pan back on.

The refill is a bit of a pain, there is a plug on the side of the unit in a not so easy spot to get at. I had to use a hand pump and fill until it by hand. It took about 5 liters before it started to poor back out the port. Then I started it up, ran the tranny through all the gears and let it warm up a bit. According to BMW, the trans level is supposed to be checked when the trans is warm (80 - 100 deg.) car running in park. After I got the car running it took another ~1.5 liters to get the level back up again. Total fluid consumption for this service was just under 7 liters .

I also did a quick service on the rear diff, the old fluid looked nice and clean coming out. I used 75/90 gear oil, it took just about 1.2 liters.

Went for a test drive, trans shifts very nice and smooth and the car almost feels as if it's got more pep. Probably a placebo effect, but ya never know.
Hopefully I'll get another 100K miles of trouble free service from the drive trane.

[jetflyer]

Bravo ! I like that.
Next time do not waist money on this original BMW fluid ,please read link below:
http://www.e38.org/Mercon%20V%20ATF%20Letter.pdf
You got 5HP19 ZF transmission on your car , which utilize Esso LT71141 ATF fluid (interchangable with Valvoline ATF)

Let us know , how it runs, let say after 1 week.
Best regards:

[2001NJ330I]

Next time do not waist money on this original BMW fluid ,please read link below:
http://www.e38.org/Mercon%20V%20ATF%20Letter.pdf
You got 5HP19 ZF transmission on your car , which utilize Esso LT71141 ATF fluid (interchangable with Valvoline ATF)

Actually my tranny has the Texaco ETL 8072B fluid in it, not the Esso fluid.
You've got to read the tag on the transmission, they all don't utilize the same fluids.
The transmission in the car is an A5S 325Z.

[jetflyer]

Actually my tranny has the Texaco ETL 8072B fluid in it, not the Esso fluid.
You've got to read the tag on the transmission, they all don't utilize the same fluids.
The transmission in the car is an A5S 325Z.

It is immposible! A5S 325Z is the BMW name for 5HP19 ZF transmission made in Germany, that you should have on your car(according to model and year) you provided ,so this tranny uses Esso fluid.Texaco ETL 8072B and ETL 7045 E is used exclusively by BMW car equipped with GM5 transmission 5L40E 360/390 , build for them by GM Strasbourg France.Perhaps you got GM tranny on your car ?
I am saying again with confidence , ZF never , ever used Texaco fluids on their gearboxes, so better check out , what tranny you really have.

[Jeron]

This is a project I've been debating for a while. I already have the filter and gasket but several BMW mechanics have talked me out of it on different occasions.

Basically the problem they lay out is that it is supposed to be very difficult to achieve proper level during the fill procedure. They claim you need to start with a dead cold tranny and the rather cool fill temp is very precise.

I've also heard that there were aftermarket fluids but not for the majority of E46 trannys including my 01 330.

[2001NJ330I]

I am saying again with confidence , ZF never , ever used Texaco fluids on their gearboxes, so better check out , what tranny you really have.

Well all I can tell you is I took the information off the green tag on my tranny pan. Braught that info which has the BMW p/n for the fluid to BMW to get the fluid. I helped them poor it into my container, the p/n's on the 20 lit. container it came out of matched the p/n I took off my tranny tag.
According to the Bently manual, green tag = Texaco ETL fluid.

http://tech.bentleypublishers.com/se...4/B305_240.pdf

[2001NJ330I]

This is a project I've been debating for a while. I already have the filter and gasket but several BMW mechanics have talked me out of it on different occasions.

They tried to talk me out of it as well. Had to special order the gasket, they didn't even stock it.

Basically the problem they lay out is that it is supposed to be very difficult to achieve proper level during the fill procedure. They claim you need to start with a dead cold tranny and the rather cool fill temp is very precise.

The refill was easy, tranny temp should be around 80 - 100F when you check the level. Figure the car was in the shop for about 2 hrs during this process, the fluid was room temp going in (70F). So in reality a quick start up, run the gear selector through all the gears and that fluid has start to get warm quick. Pull the side fill plug again, top it off while it's still idling in park and your all set.

I've also heard that there were aftermarket fluids but not for the majority of E46 trannys including my 01 330.

Stick with BMW fluid, heck for $150 bucks every 100K miles, it's worth it for the security of knowing the right stuff is in there. Remember, you've got to get the BMW information including the oil p/n off the tag on the tranny. All the trannys do not have the same fluids in them.

[bimmerboi330]

Good times, I would have already done this at 50k, but I got a new tranny at 35, so I'm cool. Good write up man, Thanks!

[bimmerZ5]

I ordered a pan gasket from BMW and asked about a filter kit, the gasket was 14 bucks, the filter is n/a. I brought a large container to purchase the specific BMW "lifetime" fluid, I got 7 liters @ $24/ltr.

....There is a filter on the intake, I took that down also. It's was what seemed like a cloth filter in an enclosure, there was a p/n stamped on it. I called BMW to as for that p/n, they told me it was n/a.

I have two cars with the same engine, but it seems my transmission is different than yours. There seems to have been 2 or 3 different steptronic transmissions that were used with the M54 3.0L. Anyway, for my particular car, there is a "transmission filter kit" which includes: gasket, new bolts, and filter. I would be inclined to think that a similar kit is available also for your transmission. Sometimes, dealerships don't want to deal with parts they are not familiar with. Since BMW made these transmission lifetime fluid, they are not acustomed to ordering this part. In these cases, do your own research and call around to find a BMW parts counter that is more willing to help you out. I usually research BMW parts at www.realoem.com/bmw first. Worst case, contact ed@bimmerbum.com. I use him for most of my parts needs.

....Then I started it up, ran the tranny through all the gears and let it warm up a bit. According to BMW, the trans level is supposed to be checked when the trans is warm (80 - 100 deg.) car running in park. After I got the car running it took another ~1.5 liters to get the level back up again. Total fluid consumption for this service was just under 7 liters .

This is one part of the procedure I've never really understood. How do you run the transmission through all the gears? Do you actually engage "D" or manual mode and bring the car up to speed enough to engage "M 5"? Are you actually driving the car around with an under-fill initially? Or, do you just run the car in the air with the wheels spinning in mid-air? How did you measure the temp of the transmission? I was thinking of using an infrared thermometer on the transmission, but how did you do it?

Thanks for sharing this info. I've been thinking about doing this myself as preventative maintenance at 50,000 miles or so.

[2001NJ330I]

How do you run the transmission through all the gears? Do you actually engage "D" or manual mode and bring the car up to speed enough to engage "M 5"? Are you actually driving the car around with an under-fill initially? Or, do you just run the car in the air with the wheels spinning in mid-air? How did you measure the temp of the transmission? I was thinking of using an infrared thermometer on the transmission, but how did you do it?

First off don't let the fill process scare you. It's really pretty basic. The Bently manual says to check the level when the fluid is between 80 and 100F. Well, thats just a bit over room temp if you ask me. Being the tranny heats up as it's run, room temp being 70, an educated guess tells me that if I run the car for around 5 min. the tranny fluid is starting to warm up. Thats when you want to check the level. Not when it's hot, or ice cold, but rather just as it's warming.

To get the tranny through the gears I had the car up on a lift. From Park, to Reverse, to Drive. Take off the traction control and step on the gas gently. The wheels spin and the tranny will shift 1-2-3-4-5, got up to around 60 MPH free spin for a second and then stepped on the brake and put it back in park. (MAKE SURE YOU STOP THE FREE SPIN B4 YOU PUT THE CAR IN PARK!) Thats when we opened the fill hole again and checked the level. It took another ~1.5 liters after that process.

I've been driving the car around for 2 days now. The morning shifting is definately smoother. The intial cold shift from reverse to drive first thing in the morning was usually pretty harsh. It would hit drive pretty hard after backing out of my driveway, now it's as smooth as butter.

[bimmerZ5]

2001NJ330I: thanks for the reply. it's nice to have a lift. I will be using jack stands instead. do you have a P/N for the BMW lifetime ATF fluid? why did you decide on using BMW's expensive fluid versus a Valvoline or Mobil1 ATF? i'm sure you researched the whole "type of fluid" issue, what did you find?

[2001NJ330I]

Just read the tag on your transmission pan. It will have the BMW oil p/n on the tag. BMW can id the fluid from your vin# as well. The fluid that went in my car didn't look like any ATF I've ever seen. ATF is pretty thin and usually red in color. The oil that went in my tranny looked more like a new 10W-40 motor oil. It's was clear and looked like industrial hydraulic fluid. Like what you would see in a John Deere tractors hydraulic system.