E39 AT Fluid

[nautica1973]

This is one of the more informative and user friendly forum i have been in and i certainly applaud the chaps who maintain, design and upkeep this site in cyberspace. bravo to whoever you are. i have a question, trivial it might seem but nonetheless a valid one. i cannot seem to locate from my E39 Manual where the dipstick indicator for my AT is located. having said that, i have at times noticed a faint smell of heated oil emanating from my engine bay. it's not too discernible and it doesnt happen all the time. i checked my Engine Oil dipstick several times and it checks out fine, the level's where it's supposed to be. so whatever's being heated up, i assume it's not leaking gaskets from my Engine. That leaves perhaps my AT.so i decided to have my car jacked up at the workshop and went under it with several mechanics (very helpful bunch of guys) from C.Seng here in Penang and it was just squeaky clean. no marks of leaking fluid, oil etc. they went at my AT underbolt with a Size 14 spanner to check the AT Fluid and it's quite clean still. i neglected to ask them to check if the AT Fluid was sufficient as i thought they'd need to empty out the entire AT to determine that. a complete change of 6 litres of ZF AT Fluid at RM58 per litre would set me back some RM348, labour RM80, Gasket RM1++ and Filter another RM1++. that's a whooping RM6++. Back to my question, i'd greatly appreciate anyone who could tell me how and where i could check the AT Fluid level in my car without having to drain out the AT. thank you. p.s. since we are on the topic of AT Fluid, i'd wonder if anyone in here has heard of a brand for AT Fluid called WIDECO ? i am not too certain of its spelling.

 

[seech]

In the event that there is no dipstick, ATF levels are usually checked by removing the refill plug and checking if there is some ATF flowing out. Check usually done after warming up transmission. As long as there is ATF flowing out then level is sufficient. No need to drain ATF. Procedure to refill ATF is also the same. Refill until slight overflow.

Hope this helps. If you do a seach there should be extensive discussions on whether to change or not to change BMW 'lifetime' ATF.

 

[nautica1973]

SEECH :- thank you for that piece of advice. now i'll know what needs to be done if only i can find the REFILL PLUG. i have absolutely no idea where that is located in my Single Vanos 525 2.5 Litre engine. would you care to tell me roughly where it might be located ?

As for the discussions on TO BE or NOT TO BE where it concerns AT Fluid change, lifetime is defined as the lifetime of THE Gearbox and the Gearbox costs a bomb as compared to the cost of periodic changes of AT Fluids, Gaskets and Filters. So i'd go with the every 40,000km change. preventive maintenance is the word for the day

 

[seech]

good choice with regards to atf replacement. I also believe it should be changed regularly.

Try these pages for more info on ATF:

http://home.socal.rr.com/tyrone/SD92-113.pdf

http://home.socal.rr.com/tyrone/SD92-114.pdf

Should cover types of compatible oils and also procedures to check.