Gearbox oil - issue to be settled once and for all ?

[Jimi]

Hi, am new in this BMW club.I have e46 318i, year 2001 clocking at 68,000km. Haven't change the gearbox oil before.As you guys are aware, some school of thoughts says there is no need to change gear oil. my sales friend in AB also acknowledge that but he also says nevertheless better change it becos he knows those who had change the gearoil found that the oil is very dirty.i know of i workshop that can change the gear oil.i wonder whether this issue can be settled once and for all.cheers !!!!!!

 

[viewfinder]

Do a search for "E46 ATF change" and you will see all the discussions before. I'm from the school that favors change, but make sure change to the correct ATF oil specified on the gearbox oil pan.

 

[pujiesss]

e36 1996.. clock 260k.. nvr change!

 

[laneza]

my father is the "oil" maker...he said that u have to change the gearbox oil every 5 years


ur car clock at 65k km milleage rite? so for my opinion..u can chage the gear oil when u change ur timing belt set at 100k later...then u can use for 5 years

cheersmate

 

[laneza]

oh ya one more think....please introduce urself at newbie section ..thanks

 

[rexmail]

have to change mah....lifelong...nothing is lifelong lor...I bought my E46 2 yrs back and when I went for dianostic check, reading was that there was a minor fault in 2nd gear....guess what, I bought it anyway...now 2 years later and 60,000km more on the clock, went for the free check at AB recently and guess again....no faults detected.....Going to change my gearbox oil again at the next service in about 5,000km from now.....and so the moral of the story....CHANGE OIL

 

[anaksarawak]

ATF oil is not expensive.. furthermore BMW make it available at their service centre.. Change la so you can prolong the life of your gearbox.

Its not expensive..

Cheers

 

[ichiwan2]

As you guys are aware, some school of thoughts says there is no need to change gear oil.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_transmission_fluid

If you follow this argument/view, perhaps, eventually there should not be a need to change engine oil. Will technology improve that much?

Think about it - the role of the ATF is to lubricate and cool the gears in your auto gearbox. Unless your auto box runs cool all the time??? I think not! Friction will always be there, heat will always be generated. The repeated heating and cooling of the ATF is bound to have some effect on the efficacy of the said fluid, no matter how good, synthetic or not.

Compare the colour of fresh ATF with what you have in your Auto gearbox. If its dark - means there's gunk which has been produced by friction or break down of the ATF (I dunno which - not a chemist/chemical engineer)

Personally, I think it is RISKIER to NOT to change the ATF. Even if you just drain out the two/three litres (if you are not using the full flush) and replenish with fresh ATF regularly may help prolong the life of your gearbox.

 

[meetoo]

All automotive fluids deteriorate due to age, oxidation and constant heating/cooling and their chemical, detergent, lubricating and thermal characteristic will deteriorate. For example, brake fluid thermal characterisics deteriorate over time and at 3 years old the boiling point is below safety level. That's why our lorry drivers experience severe brake fade going downhill and crash, because their brake fluid has never been changed and is boiling and bubbling.

Engine oil, gearbox oil, coolant, brake fluid and even power steering oil (although not critical) should all be changed at set intervals. This is the difference between owner who look after their car well and those who don't when you're looking for a used car. Look for owners who believe in preventive maintenance and avoid those who say "No problem so far wat, what for change?"

 

[pujiesss]

dont bullshit if u dunno shit..

unlike engine oil, transmission oil doesn't burn up. so if you're low on transmission fluid, you almost certainly have a leak.

do some google search. find out what is this lifetime warranty is all about. why they want to prevent u from unseal the gearbox. they (BMW) have dis some kind of smart programming to eliminate the heat source to your transmission fluid. once u unsealed it, there u go la.

that is why BMW have a lifetime warranty on this. they already doing this for more than 100 years! who are you want to question this?

if u ask ur mech for sure la dey want u to change.. there r doing business for god sake! all kind of bullshit oso can come out of their mouth. see bmw, hah! dis ppl is stupid rich ppl. pusing sikit sure boleh makan byk..

easy example.. normal CRT TV rosak u go hantar wireman oso they can do repair.. if ur LCD-screen TV rosak u go wireman ar? sure cannot. u cannot unseal the screen just like that!
same goes here.. u drive proton then yes u go change ATF. the german-engineered UDM, its far more advanced.. mere mech pusing u, so once the box unsealed, for sure u need to come back for nxt change.

my 2cents.. lifetime school

 

[meetoo]

Ya la, maybe you're right friend. We should listen to BMW lifetime warranty because after all, BMW auto gearboxes are known to be their strongest point and they are so good that they never give problem. Right?

 

[viewfinder]

dont bullshit if u dunno shit..

unlike engine oil, transmission oil doesn't burn up. so if you're low on transmission fluid, you almost certainly have a leak.

do some google search. find out what is this lifetime warranty is all about. why they want to prevent u from unseal the gearbox. they (BMW) have dis some kind of smart programming to eliminate the heat source to your transmission fluid. once u unsealed it, there u go la.
...

This is amazing. Heat elimination technology which circumvents the laws of physics comes true in the ultimate dream driving machine. With that maybe the soon to come 7 series won't need any oil at all. Just pump some pure hydrogen will do.

 

[anaksarawak]

Pujiesss,

Please share your findings here.. I am very keen to know how BMW have so much confidence.

From this forums, look like gearbox is the weakest of all, the most discussed also.

 

[ichiwan2]

Has BMW defined and guaranteed the "lifetime" of the auto gearbox?

 

[meetoo]

Has BMW defined and guaranteed the "lifetime" of the auto gearbox?

My guess is they mean "model lifetime"? Maybe they hope that when the new model come out, then you start to have problem with the gearbox and decide to junk and buy the new model.

Even Mercedes and Volvo no longer make their car to last like before. The present Merc and Volvo also quite tin can feeling and not robust like older models. The trend is built-in obsolescense now for more turnover.

 

[Jimi]

Thanks guys. Well there's always 2 sides of facts. one is 'against' and another 'for'. and yea another one is just 'sitting on the fence'.

i guess i have to decide for me self soon.

 

[meetoo]

Whenever talk about the BMW gearbox, sure fierce debate wan. Hahahaha!

Yes, decide for yourself whether you want to change the oil or not, and good luck.

 

[pierreye]

Not sure which version of 3 series started this, but my understanding is e46 and e90 have long life gearbox oil thus not recommend to change. The long life oil is expensive and even some honest workshop in Penang advice against changing the oil.

 

[E46Fanatic]

My take is that there are known risks in changing the ATF of BMWs which come with lifetime oil and sealed units, as a few of our members had their gearbox go kaboom a few thousand kms after the change. There is a lot of info out there on these associated risks and theories behind it (e.g. if you wanna change, change earlier instead of later!).

BMWs recommendations of "Lifetime" should be put into the context of:
1) What does Lifetime mean? 6 years? 160k kms? etc. You can do a bit of research on the term Lifetime and see what manufacturers typically believe is "lifetime"
2) Climate and environment harshness. KL traffic with temp and humidity makes our environment quite different from say typical environments in western countries.
3) No doubt new ATF fluid is much better for the tranny than say 6 year old fluid, so weigh in the risks associated in unsealing the gearbox to do this and the risk of gunk getting lodged in actuators etc with the new fluid with say not changing the fluid.

 

[Lee36328]

dont bullshit if u dunno shit..

unlike engine oil, transmission oil doesn't burn up. so if you're low on transmission fluid, you almost certainly have a leak.

do some google search. find out what is this lifetime warranty is all about. why they want to prevent u from unseal the gearbox. they (BMW) have dis some kind of smart programming to eliminate the heat source to your transmission fluid.

Smart programming to eliminate heat source? Wow. I am gobsmacked. Please enlighten us about this heat source eliminating programming, ya?

Y'know, your advice at the top is a good one actually...