just changed the fluid/filter on 540i auto. pics!

[tominos]

first i got the car on stands



then i took off the pan and filter



lots of metal on the magnets.

here is the old esso fluid.



was grayish.

here is the fluid i used.



and here is where it says its compatible





and here's the mess i made.



some background: 2000 540i. 120k miles on the clock, probably the first atf change. shifts much firmer now. will probably drain the atf again in 10k miles to get more of the old esso fluid out. will let u know if my tranny stops working due to using the valvoline fluid.

[540IASport]

Nice work. How does it drive before and after the change?

I didn't know about the Valvoline ATF. I know that the Esso fluid costs an arm and a leg.

[tominos]

it seems better. before, at full throttle shifts, the car would shift smoothly, but slowly. now it shifts a whole lot firmer, and faster. kind of jerks you back when it shifts, but softly. lol.

[540IASport]

I guess time will tell if the Mercon V ATF is fully compatible or not. I hope it is since it's so much cheaper than the Esso ATF.

I went Valvoline's website and did a search on Mercon V ATF but it did not mention anything compatibility with BMW LT71141. I know that the back of the bottle did so hopefully it's all good.

[gt1surfer]

i'm going to look into this. my knee jerk reaction is that it's lifetime fluid, which is kind of a crock. additionally the bmw spec fluid doesn't even look like mercon/dexron type fluid.

[tominos]

http://www.taligentx.com/passat/main...N-V-Letter.pdf

theres many people using mercon v, and have reported good results. look on the roadfly forum. lots of info there.

and above is a letter from valvoline stating that it should be a substitute for the esso fluid.

[tominos]

apparently lifetime fluid lasts 100,000 miles. or that's what bmw considers lifetime.