BMW Long Life Transmission Oil for M54 engine

[exdua]

Here's a snippet from www.honestjohn.co.uk

"General Warning about Automatic Transmissions: Many BMWs have "sealed for life" automatic transmissions. Regardless of whether you have a full BMW service history, the dealer will never change the auto fluid. Many of these boxes are failing around the 120-150k mark - often well outside of warranty and to a cost of £3.5k plus VAT. A good independent or automatic transmission specialist can and will change the fluid for you (and any good BMW independents will recommend this anyway). This is
commonplace in the US and means the 'box should last the life of the car rather than being the cause of it being written off. General advice is ensure the fluid is flushed out every 60k or more preferably at each Inspection II."

note this is from a UK website, so those mileage figures are in miles.

to read the whole thing go to http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/index.php?url=/carbycar/index.htm
and select BMW 5series E39

 

[BMWE39KL]

Fiannly changed my ATF at 126k

Finally took the plunge and changed my E39 Year 2000 528i M52TU ATF fluid last week at ~126k km. The auto box was working find and shifting smoothly with no issue but felt that a change was due anyway. The car was previously fully maintained by AB.

Cost ~RM470 - 7 litres German ZF Automatic Transmission Oil (RM40/litre) along with filter and gasket and labour.

Had a look at the old ATF, was a bit dark but fortunately no large metal bits in it. The auto box seems smoother after changing but I not a great difference before and after.

The mechanic had warn me that he would not be held responsible if the gearbox play up after changing the ATF, but I decided to go ahead anyway.

Based on his experience he had one incident where the owner of a 520i requested that he changed the ATF, which he did but the 520i later suffered from automatic clutch slip.

He had done ATF changes for a few other BM but only the 520i had problems after changing - maybe coincidental.

Had to change my radiator, water pump and thermostat at the same time as the radiator sprang a leak causing the engine to overheat, fortunately I noticed the water temperature and pulled the car over and waited for it to cool down ~45 minutes, topping up with water and driving straight to the mechanic for replacement.

All in all I was out of pocket RM1850 – new Behr radiator, new water pump (metal type), new thermostat and housing, BMW coolant, changed ATF with ZF auto fluid, gasket and auto filter plus labour – reset etc.

I hope that’s the end of spending for the time being as my UDM has taken ~RM5k in the 3 months that I have owned the car.

Still it is a great car to drive (if you can afford it!) – now only to sort out this slight alternator whine that I am having after upgrading the fronts speakers, adding a subwoofer and a couple of amps!

 

[nautica1973]

Hey guys, i am planning to change the ATF oil for my E39. the previous owner has never changed it due to the 'lifetime' word used. my mechanic here in George Town uses Castrol. Question is...how good is this oil ?

and how many litres do i need for my 523 (2494cc) transmission ?

 

[Bailey]

at first my gear cant move into 4th gear then ive changed my transmission oil & my mech put in 8litres of RM60/litres & now going smooth

good luck nautica............cheers

 

[Jerman]

Hey guys, i am planning to change the ATF oil for my E39. the previous owner has never changed it due to the 'lifetime' word used. my mechanic here in George Town uses Castrol. Question is...how good is this oil ?

and how many litres do i need for my 523 (2494cc) transmission ?

You need to do a "flush" and replace with about 6 litres. I would also suggest you change the spark plugs, air filter & fuel filter.
Shock absorbers would be the next thing to check too!

Cheers

 

[willy5]

Hi Nautica, do go back into this thread for the recommended oil to use. Vastrol is a no no.

 

[gshanmg]

Getting nervous reading this thread especially on th eprob after changing the ATF fluid...but still have got to do what I have got to do...a little history...my E39, 1996, 523 UK spec shows 126k+ miles = +/-210,000km...she has been smooth since I got it 2 x months ago with minor touch up...gear change has been excellent...

my concern is on the mileage run so far and not having known the history...whether the ATF been changed before and what not...what shall I do...just go ahead and change the ATF????
quite sure the power steering fluid was changed some time in jan by the previous owner...

 

[Jerman]

Change ATF

Getting nervous reading this thread especially on th eprob after changing the ATF fluid...but still have got to do what I have got to do...a little history...my E39, 1996, 523 UK spec shows 126k+ miles = +/-210,000km...she has been smooth since I got it 2 x months ago with minor touch up...gear change has been excellent...

my concern is on the mileage run so far and not having known the history...whether the ATF been changed before and what not...what shall I do...just go ahead and change the ATF????
quite sure the power steering fluid was changed some time in jan by the previous owner...

bro,
Just change it........it will do more good than harm! "Nothing is forever.........."

 

[gshanmg]

bro,
Just change it........it will do more good than harm! "Nothing is forever.........."

Mate,

Just checked with the previous owner and he is looking into the history...will get to know by this PM but if it has not been changed yet I will take the chance to change out during my next service...early April..

BTW don't I owe you 1 x teh tarik and roti canai...for the E39 manual soft copy..let me know where to meet up for a teh tarik session...

 

[Bailey]

woi national sales manager waaaaahhhhh will be getting teh tarik & roti canai hah, how come u never offer me the E39 manual soft copy hah?

 

[Jerman]

E39 Owner's Manual

woi national sales manager waaaaahhhhh will be getting teh tarik & roti canai hah, how come u never offer me the E39 manual soft copy hah?

Boleh.........cuma another teh tarik & maggi goreng bro.

Get it from here. (scroll to the end)

http://www.e38.org/e39/

 

[initialM]

Boleh.........cuma another teh tarik & maggi goreng bro.

Get it from here. (scroll to the end)

http://www.e38.org/e39/

If uncle bailey must charge higher lor coz now he's OKB

 

[Bailey]

woi lu hah initialM why u tell lies hah?

jerman no show on the pages lah

 

[ICEman63]

Hoi why gaduh2..saya ada manyak luit takde invite pun..he he he

 

[initialM]

Hoi why gaduh2..saya ada manyak luit takde invite pun..he he he

Tak gaduh gurau jek. bang mari kita gi handle.

 

[Bailey]

eleh lu hah initialM wa 2weeks in jb takde plak nak ajak gi handle ke tmpt baru tu ke? pilih bulu lah lu ni tak gerik seeeeehhhh

 

[JoeYazid]

Tak gaduh gurau jek. bang mari kita gi handle.

dia dah tak main handle ..... level 4 lagi gerek ..

 

[initialM]

dia dah tak main handle ..... level 4 lagi gerek ..

tau takpe hehehehe

uncle bailey kat situ takde jual coke la

 

[tank34]

Mate,

Just checked with the previous owner and he is looking into the history...will get to know by this PM but if it has not been changed yet I will take the chance to change out during my next service...early April..

BTW don't I owe you 1 x teh tarik and roti canai...for the E39 manual soft copy..let me know where to meet up for a teh tarik session...

Hey Guys, just changed my ATF fluid at 61,000km and after change, it felt like a complete brand new car (E46 325i). I really was not expecting so much difference. I only changed because of a few things:-
1) The car seemed to be stuck on the higher gears and less reluctant to shift down especially when going up hills/slopes.
2) Car was approaching 60,000km

so, if there ever was going to be a time to take a chance, this was it. The old oil was black, but not much metal shavings. The new ZF oil was gold in colour, cooking oil style. All in all, 7 litres and after change it was brilliant. Absolutely no regretts.

Have consulted a few friends and the 60,000km mark is a pretty good mark to change. A Merc 200 Kompressor friend of mine changed his at 38,000km. He just wanted to flush out any metal shavings since it was a new car and his car is still in tip top condition. The other improvement I noticed was that when the car is stationary, and if you shift from P to D, or from R to D, the car does not "Dive" as much as it used to.

However, tried this on a friends 530i and it gear change when car is stationary was very smooth. So, a couple of things on the 5 series.

1) Perhaps it has a much more robust gear box, hence ATF change may not give much difference;
2) Also, another forummer mentioned that he was on 120,000 miles or km. At such a high mileage, not sure what the concensus is. But, if I was to put my head on the line, any car at 80,000 kilometers and below.... CHANGE IT!!!!!

 

[initialM]

Hey Guys, just changed my ATF fluid at 61,000km and after change, it felt like a complete brand new car (E46 325i). I really was not expecting so much difference. I only changed because of a few things:-
1) The car seemed to be stuck on the higher gears and less reluctant to shift down especially when going up hills/slopes.
2) Car was approaching 60,000km

so, if there ever was going to be a time to take a chance, this was it. The old oil was black, but not much metal shavings. The new ZF oil was gold in colour, cooking oil style. All in all, 7 litres and after change it was brilliant. Absolutely no regretts.

Have consulted a few friends and the 60,000km mark is a pretty good mark to change. A Merc 200 Kompressor friend of mine changed his at 38,000km. He just wanted to flush out any metal shavings since it was a new car and his car is still in tip top condition. The other improvement I noticed was that when the car is stationary, and if you shift from P to D, or from R to D, the car does not "Dive" as much as it used to.

However, tried this on a friends 530i and it gear change when car is stationary was very smooth. So, a couple of things on the 5 series.

1) Perhaps it has a much more robust gear box, hence ATF change may not give much difference;
2) Also, another forummer mentioned that he was on 120,000 miles or km. At such a high mileage, not sure what the concensus is. But, if I was to put my head on the line, any car at 80,000 kilometers and below.... CHANGE IT!!!!!

Yup, for me u need to change the gear oil. I change every 20k km and filter every 40k km. Nothing last forever