E60 530d ATF Change

[planta]

Since I was heading to Alor Setar on Tuesday, R37720 asked me to take his beast... 530d to change ATF, Axle Oil, Brake fluid and reset at Lee Motors - an authorized BMW service center. The car is a 2005 CBU E60 530d upgraded with Hartge Chip and many other stuffs. Mileage was ~100km. Transmission jerks when slowing down from gear 2 to 1. Other than that this thing is a beast... not enough road to run.

The 100k used ATF...was really dirty... almost black in color compared to the new one which is yellowish.The premium ATF... 6HP26. Sold in bucket of 20 liters. You can buy ZF 6HP in small bottles of 1 liter outside but I was told there are immitations... so be careful if you buy on your own.

Refill

Reset using GT1.

Bill....5 liters 6HP26 ATF RM138.34 x 5 = Rm691.70Trans Axle oil = Rm115.00Brake Fluid = Rm56.20Labor Charges = Rm264.00Total Rm1126.90After the change... for about initial 30 minutes of driving, there was still a mild jerk when shifting down to gear 1 but later...it was gone.... Performance wise.. not enough road ... smooth and powerful acceleration. Alor Setar Sg Dua... 8:00pm to 8:28pm. No jerking when shifting down.planta

 

[r37720]

Thanks Zam....... now the acceleration feels much better

 

[viewfinder]

Thanks for sharing. 5 liter of ATF, that means it's not a full flush? Lee Motors is the authorized dealer in Kedah, correct?

Last year I inquired AB Penang about ATF change for an e46. Estimate RM800++ since they said they needed to see the car to determine (despite me providing the oil part # on the oil span sticker). Still haven't done it yet, kinda takut ABPG screw up. Should I bring to Lee Motors instead?

 

[Mouse]

y didnt flush? i understand there is 10% of old ATF in the torque converter if we never flush. if we want the whole gearbox to fill with new ATF we have to completely flush the old oil. am i right?

 

[Bailey]

wow wat a Hartge beast u hav there R37720

 

[astroboy]

Some said flushing is using pressurised new ATF into gearbox to force old ATF out of the torque converter and its not recommended for old gearbox as it will damage the seals.

Toyota is charging RM250 just for the flushing cost.. ATF count separately.. it needs about 10 - 12 Litres of ATF for a complete 2 phase flush.. u do the math..

The foreman will recommend flushing and they will tell u replacing ATF without flushing is like brush teeth without rinsing your mouth. So I guess engine oil also need to be flushed on every oil change huh.. But that is not so bad la because in the gearbox, I think more than 10% ATF is left behind in the torque converter..

or u all can do the famous planta trick.. remove the gearbox and "tuang" the torque converter ATF out.. It should not cost u more than RM500 in labor to do that.. right planta?!

 

[planta]

Thanks for sharing. 5 liter of ATF, that means it's not a full flush? Lee Motors is the authorized dealer in Kedah, correct?

Last year I inquired AB Penang about ATF change for an e46. Estimate RM800++ since they said they needed to see the car to determine (despite me providing the oil part # on the oil span sticker). Still haven't done it yet, kinda takut ABPG screw up. Should I bring to Lee Motors instead?

Flushing is costly and ineffective as what Astroboy pointed out... each transmission has between 9 to 12 liters of ATF depending on model. If flushing, I read that you will need to use 16 to 18 liters coz you are mixing the ATF and diluting the used ATF till you see a clean oil circulating. Instead of wasting that money, might as well remove the whole transmission, change filter, seals and fill in with 100% ATF.

Lee Motors is authorized service center. They even sell brand new BMWs. Acidburn knows the place well and if you need my help, PM me, I know the technician overs there. I can tell them that my friend is coming over.

planta

 

[joecool]

hey planta,

how much would it cost to do a full atf drain by removing the gearbox? i will be station in penang tanjung bunga for a few week from next month. mind giving me your contact and pricing?


regards

joe

 

[r37720]

Just to update you on the drivings feels after 3 weeks of ATF change.

1. I do not have anymore rough shift from 2nd to 1st esp when you are at traffic light stops.

2. Feel more responsive than before

My advice to those that not yet change the ATF pls do so as initially I am a bit of resistance to change since AB said it is lifetime ATF.

Change every 50K by simply using draining method and most imortanly to use original ATF from AB. Premium grade as mentioned by planta

 

[Bailey]

job well done planta and the owner mr r37720............mmmmmmm when can test drive ek ???????

 

[r37720]

anytime .... last saturday night was kinda tight up ...... after AGM we should make arrangement.

 

[Bailey]

yeah bro since u said the ATF has been changed.......so im eager to feel the smoothness plus sumore racun from yr advisor hehehehe

 

[skylineteh]

My 530d ATF changed but problem still persists.
SC changed [FONT=&quot]universal joint couplings then and a reset on the whole system and everything went back to normal.
ATF change can be temporary solution.

ST
[/FONT]

 

[hunter]

Agree. The gear slam/jerking from 2nd to first gear is 100% disappear after I replaced universal joint couplings. And the cost is less than RM300 including labor. The gear shift feel like a new car again. And you don't need to reset the system.

 

[alantiong]

Flushing is costly and ineffective as what Astroboy pointed out... each transmission has between 9 to 12 liters of ATF depending on model. If flushing, I read that you will need to use 16 to 18 liters coz you are mixing the ATF and diluting the used ATF till you see a clean oil circulating. Instead of wasting that money, might as well remove the whole transmission, change filter, seals and fill in with 100% ATF.

Lee Motors is authorized service center. They even sell brand new BMWs. Acidburn knows the place well and if you need my help, PM me, I know the technician overs there. I can tell them that my friend is coming over.

planta

i beg to differ. i have flush my gb and it had made so so much different. compare to just changing oil. if you guys had followed my post sometimes ago about trans failsafe for my 750iL.

at 107000km, my car starts to have trans failure error intermittently

at 108000km, i have changed atf oil (ZF) 6 liter and new filter. the error went away and i was so glad.

at 115000, it came back with some mechanical problem as well. trans failure + stucked to 3rd gear after kickdown and have to wait till 5k rpm before shifting. everyone told me have to overhaul gb and for 5hp30, its a 7K job. and still no guarantee thats the problem as the error code was indicating mechanical lockup failure.

after discussing with Lubegard representative, he recommend a lubegard transmission flush. i was very skeptical but after doing the math, the whole flush with new lube is around 1200. so nothing to loose. so i did the flush. at cheh auto ulu kelang.

procedure :

add in the lubegard flush.
while car is on jack, engage drive and keeping rpm between 1-2k for few minutes. and do that for each gear including reverse.
when done and let cooled, we drained the oil. it was black black black as black as my engine oil from my diesel truck. and mind you this is new oil after 7k km. when all drained, we top up with cheap SPIII oil.

dismantled the pressure line to cooler. start the engine in "D" and let it push out through the pipe. it takes about 10 sec for it to run out. and then top up again and repeat this step. oil coming out now from the pipe is still black cos its the residue in the torqu convertor, oil pan, line, valve body and every where else.. keep topping up and flush till the oil is actually red which is the SP II color.

by this time we know all the components are clean. remove the oil pan and change the filter. once done, i start to topup with torco transmission fluid. while the cooler line is still open, i repeat teh starting and stopping engine in "D" to push out the red SP III till i see the different color which indicate i have got rid of all teh SPIII and filled with torco new fluid.

installed back the cooling line, tighten up the plug and went for a drive. all error went away. gear changes are seamless and responsive. just like new. it has been 20K since, and fingers crossed it will stay that way.

so.. unless you did the elaborate procedure that i did, you havent actually flush your gearbox.

total damage :

RM200 for 15 liters of SPIII
RM850 for 12 liters of torco atf
RM200 for labour


so total rm1250

i hope the above will help some of you that may have some similiar issue as i had.

 

[rayncc]

I flushed my E90 325i gearbox at Optimum when my car clocked 52k km; flushed using ori Petro Canada Dextron VI ATF.