Esso LT 71141 vs valvoline max life or castrol import atf

[xisco44]

which one did you use
to change the tranny fluid

[curt2128]

I have seen the DIY's done with the valvoline max life atf it depends on the tranny. Most people using anything that are at least dextron 3 rated. I personally used royal purple.

[Al's540i]

I put Mobil 1 Synthetic ATF in mine on my last drain. Car shifts great.

[fifthand]

I've been running the Castrol. Works great. I really like the price, especially considering that the tranny is getting annual changes from here on out.

[Jason5driver]

which one did you use
to change the tranny fluid

Either would suffice, IMO.
But, I prefer Amsoil ATF.

I think you can't go wrong as long as you replace the old fluid.

Jason

[curt2128]

I have read a lot of reviews of people not recommand the mobile 1 atf fluid. There was a guy on the forum that almost ruined his tranny beacuse i guess ( from what I hear) Mobile 1 runs thin

[xisco44]

ZF 5HP19 (BMW A5S 325Z)
thats my tranny
i just call the dealer they sell the quarter for 15 dollars and i need 7 105 bucks

[taggart]

I have read a lot of reviews of people not recommand the mobile 1 atf fluid. There was a guy on the forum that almost ruined his tranny beacuse i guess ( from what I hear) Mobile 1 runs thin

Mobil 1 recently came out with an Esso-compatible ATF fluid. i don't know how good it is though. i used Esso in mine after BFG synthetic didn't work so great. so far so good.

[fifthand]

Lifted from another forum site...

I take a professional interest in ATF, they are not all created equal,
the vast majority are mineral based, a few "long life" or Extended Drain"
ATF's are Semi-Synth and only a rare few are full synth.

I think ATF is a bit of a mystery and has a fear factor for most people
for a couple or reasons, 1 is the amount of meaningless specs from
specific transmission manufacturers, if you look at ATF you see it may be
DexronIII + MBXXXX.X and Voith XX.X and VW XXX.XX and etc.. etc.. even if
you dive a Merc, your probably not sure what spec applies to you, all you
are told is the Merc shop uses the Merc Bottle, part # whatever..which is
a marked up version of some standard OEM product from a Petro Chemical
company such as Esso.. Second reason is, it is usually not part of
warranty service.. meaning the warranty service station takes little
interest in it because it is not their problem during the warranty
period.. such as engine oil is, it becomes your problem/responsibility
usually after your off warranty.

One specific OEM product from Esso actually contributed allot to this
confusion over the past 10 years, Esso Product ATF LT71141, it is a fully
Syth ATF developed for ZF Triptronic transmissions, however it is not
sold to the public or to workshops.. it is typically "only" sold to OEM's
for repackaging.. so most of this High priced ATF that uses a specific
part# from vehicle manufacturers is this product, and though it was
intended for ZF Triptronics, with the OEM deal in hand many manufacturers
applied it broadly to all their gearboxes.. such as with VW/Audi. Now
since it is OEM only and it's a secret recipe you can't find in most
cases any other ATF's that reference those part#'s... because part
numbers and product codes are not ATF spec's.. ya it's a mystery.. by
design, the design is to take more money from your pocket.

Here's the truth.. in LT71141 the LT stands for "Life Time" .. well thats
the first misconception.. I have changed out LT71141 on a few vehicles..
some as low as 55K and I can tell you certainly the ATF had already past
it's Life Time.. the main characteristic besides being full-Syth (the
life time reason) is friction modifiers for the synchro mesh clutches in
those ZF transmissions.. but it falls under a DextronIII fluid spec,
DexronIII with friction modifiers. Today more than 10 years after it was
developed you can find many modern ATF's that have the same
characteristics.. and considering you would be foolish to leave
transmission fluid in there without changing it past 60K kms.. most any
long life or extended drain DexronIII with friction modifiers will be
fine for you.. especially if you get your transmission in for a flush
about every 20-25K.. after some long research and allot of phone calls
and emails.. I flushed out my Part# spec'd ATF for Q8 ED ATF.. ED means
Extended Drain.. because it is Semi-Synth... guess what.. the
transmission shifts better than it ever did, and there is less drag
during coasting that when I paid more than double the price for the
spec'd fluid.

First thing is you need to match the Type of FLuid.. if your vehicle
references a Part# do a little Google and find what category it falls
under (DextronIII etc..) if it is say DexronIII then your gonna be safe
with a Multi-Vehicle DexronIII with friction modifiers. The real ticket
to Automatic transmission survival is to change the fluid about every 20-
25K and to keep it filled to the correct level.. and don't simply drain
it and refill it.. you need to do a complete flush.. so as not to
contaminate the new fluid going in.. and the only way to do that
economically is with a machine based exchanger.. a machine can do most
transmissions in about 10-11 Ltrs , by hand it will take about 14 ltrs.

Like engine oil, there are many good quality ATF's out there and many
poor quality ones.. don't skimp on quality, but don't get raped by your
vehicle manufacturer or ignore your ATF by leaving it in too long
either.. for us we currently carry 3 flavours .. Q8 ED ATF, Q8 ATF, and
ESSO LT71141 in the original 20L packaging.. I am trying to source
Pennzoil Multi-Vehicle ATF and Quaker State Multi-Vehicle ATF, that I can
only find in US and Europe currently. Another Good product would be
Redline ATF's, but they are pricey..

[AK_5eries]

^First time I have heard Esso being referred to as being FULLY synthetic.

[ezbmr]

You can get the factory stuff here...


thectsc.com

[auaq]

Holy crap ... 12 posts but 17,753 views for an old thread like this one!

[larrym3711]

Much like the motor oil threads, there are many different opinions about automatic transmission fluid use. I can't recommend one brand over another here, but it is pretty easy to find high quality full synthetic oil at most any parts house. I would stay with name brands and read what compatibility is claimed. I don't believe your BMW dealer gets some special oil based products you can't get on your own. After checking with a few transmission shops, they have several grades of fluid available...several suitable for BMW's. The "BEST" fluid available was consistently reported as "BG".

larrym3711
2001 540iA Sport

[Poolman]

Pentosin ATF 1--Esso repackaged ,,been using it for years--it's the same stuff---when I first bought it back in 08 ,,cost me 8 bucks a qt,,now it's 14

[rf900rkw]

^First time I have heard Esso being referred to as being FULLY synthetic.

It's wrong, but then so are a lot of other statements in that quote.

[Bimmerman4ever]

Just wanted to add my friend has used Castrol Multi Import ATF in his 2001 530i.
It has been a two years now and he has made a few multi state rounds trips and it still shifts great with no issues.

Hope that may help with any decision making on ATF fluid choices.

01 530i sport & 98 540i base with M5 bumper (Topaz & Montreal blue)

[ferguscan]

I forget which tranny I have, but it's one that requires LT 71141

I've been running Max Life for the last couple of years. No problems at all.

[auaq]

ZF

- - - Updated - - -

What year is your E39?

- - - Updated - - -

And what model?

[rf900rkw]

I forget which tranny I have, but it's one that requires LT 71141

I've been running Max Life for the last couple of years. No problems at all.

Which isn't relevant today. The Max life changed formulations and is no longer blessed.

[ferguscan]

Which isn't relevant today. The Max life changed formulations and is no longer blessed.

** The bottle I have carries a blessing on the label. Otherwise I wouldn't have bought it.

That was a couple of years ago now.

[alxe46]

Wow, this thread started in '08, but since it came up during my research, I wanted to add my $.02 worth if it helps anyone.....I've got a 2002 E46, not E39, but apparently it uses the same transmission, ZF 5HP19 (BMW A5S 325Z), which calls for the same LT71141 fluid. Back in 2010 or 2011 ( I cant remember exactly) I changed my Transmission fluid (after long internet researching) with Castrol Import Multi-Vehicle ATF because it carried the BMW LT71141 compatibility label. My E46 had around 135K-140K miles or so at the time. Initially after i changed the ATF, my transmission felt and shifted slightly better than before the fluid change, but not really too much difference. The stuff that came out was black and I cleaned a lot of sludge from the pan and magnet. I definitely felt at the time that I should of done it earlier. I drained the fluid and replaced the filter/gasket; refilled the pan, ran until warm and drained it again and refilled. I refilled 3 times total to get as much of the 'old' fluid out. Now I'm at 190K and it has worked great ever since with no issues what so ever and I have been very happy with the results, and of course, not spending the $20-$25/Liter or so on OEM BMW fluid.

So approximately 50K miles later, I'm getting ready to do change my ATF/filter it again and went to grab more of the Castrol ATF, only now its called Castrol 'Transmax' Import Multi-Vehicle ATF and it does not carry the BMW LT71141 as before. So i started searching for ATF information again as I did back when i first did my initial ATF/filter change. It seems there are various fluids others have used that now carry the LT71141 compatibility label and for the most part, all with good results. One being Valvoline full synthetic ATF. Even Walmart brand Super Tech has a multi-vehicle ATF that carries the BMW LT71141. But i was surprised that Castrol did not, so i contacted their support regarding why they didn't carry the BMW LT71141 label and I posted their response below.

"Thank you for contacting Castrol North America.

Castrol always recommends following the guidelines of the original engine manufacturer for the recommended fluid for use in your specific application. This information can be found in the vehicles owner’s manual or by contacting the manufacturer directly.

Additionally, for information on all Castrol products (motor oils, ATF, brake fluid, greases, gear oils), please refer to the Products section for “Car” of the Castrol US web page (http://www.castrol.com/en_us/united-states.html).

According to Castrol’s Recommendations Guide recommended for the 2002 BMW 325i2.5L 6-cyl is the Esso Type LT 71141. Castrol Transmax Full Synthetic Multi-Vehicle ATF and Castrol Transmax Import Multi-Vehicle ATF both meet the Esso Type LT 71141 specification and may be used in your application. Good Luck!

So apparently Castrol has two ATFs that meet or exceed BMW LT71141, although they do no listed on the bottles or on their spec sheets. Since I went 50K miles with out any issues and they responded that it was indeed LT71141 compatible, I think i'll keep using the Castrol Import Multi-Vehicle since its only about $4/quart. Although I am considering Valvoline Max Life since its a full synthetic and lists BMW LT71141 compatibility right on the bottle and is about $4/quart as well. Even Walmart brand Super Tech has a multi-vehicle ATF that is a semi-synthetic and lists BMW LT71141 on the the bottle. I think the ATF/filter changes are not really as controversial as they were a few years ago and there is a lot of supporting data that other ATFs do in fact work, but probably at a cost of doing it sooner (~30K-50K miles) rather than the BMW 'Lifetime' of 100K miles. You can get a filter/gasket for around $25 or less and they are readily available.

So I hope this helps anyone who is on the fence of using other than BMW LT71141 or OEM fluids from the dealers, I would have to say that from my own experience and what i've come across on the various forums, that using non-BMW or OEM fluids is safe as long as you can verify that it is LT71141 compatible. Good Luck!!

[lokepup]

** The bottle I have carries a blessing on the label. Otherwise I wouldn't have bought it.

That was a couple of years ago now.

Just bought MAX life (3gal) to do a flush and fill. May pick up another but before i do...

The back of the bottles have BMW included (4 specks including LT71141)

But when i go to the Valvoline website and look at the updated 2015.06.12 pdf and BMW is not mentioned for the product. These bottles are brand new! (the man had to take them off the pallet and no warehouse dust ) The autohouse's computer came up with this recommendation as well.

any thoughts?

I have a 2006 330CI

[alxe46]

You first need to verify which transmission you have. Max life synthetic ATF has been used with good results for the ZF 5HP19 (BMW A5S 325Z) transmission. The GM transmission may use different fluid so you would have to do further research to verify which ATFs are compatible.

[lokepup]

IMG_0530.JPGFullSizeRender.jpg

You first need to verify which transmission you have. Max life synthetic ATF has been used with good results for the ZF 5HP19 (BMW A5S 325Z) transmission. The GM transmission may use different fluid so you would have to do further research to verify which ATFs are compatible.

not shure if i am reading this right

[alxe46]

So you have the GM transmission. Just cross-reference the BMW part number for the aft fluid with compatible fluids. When doing my research for my transmission, i ran across a lot of guys with the GM transmission using Dexron VI ATF fluid, which is full synthetic fluid and good stuff. But do a little more research to verify this. Good luck