Automatic Transmission Fluid change

HDi fun

TC ModFather
Points
637
Location
Buckinghamshire UK
Car
Passat 2.0 TDi
My 528i is in it's 14th year and is now wearing over 145,000 miles. Everything works perfectly, and a recent investigative emissions test reveals that CO and HC are at ridiculously low levels etc.

However, I have never been near the transmission. BMW says sealed for life. Hmmmmm....... the life of what? The car or just the transmission?

BMW advises against replacing the fluid but many people agree that it doesn't hurt to have it replaced.

There are no particular problems with the gearbox other than the occasional slightly firm downshift from 5-4 or 5-2 under full bore kickdown. I am not sure that the shift quality has deteriorated but then gradual degradation is often not noticed.

So, I have to decide whether to get the ATF (which is some synthetic Dexron III/IV/V derivative) drained and replaced? Cost is approximately £200 but my fear is that if it's not done correctly I could destroy the gearbox in short order.

Anyone any ideas/suggestions? Any recommendations as to whom I should engage to perform this task? I don't mind travelling to get the job done properly.

Thanks in advance folks.
 
My mate recently had his bmw auto box fixed by a auto box specialist. I'll get the name and number if you want? It's in the West Midlands
 
Saab stipulate every 100K but I get mine changed once a year without fail. It gets two oil changes within the space of 250 miles. This is because the oil change does not fully replace what is in the auto box due to what is left in various valves and tubes etc. So the garage say one oil change now and then to come back after 250 miles to change it again, this then flushes out the remaining nonsense apparently.
I had asked about an auto box flush like you can do with engines, but I was advised against having this done.
Also, the Saab recommended oil has to be used only, there are some real horror stories of people who have swapped to a synthetic oil believing it will be an upgrade and they have had nothing but trouble with the auto box afterwards.
 
I would definitely do it HDI. I had it done on my Signum and it made the changes smoother and quicker. I've read up on BMW boxes, the steptronic slam and all that, and it seems they definitely benefit from a change.

I don't believe any fluid can last forever, and in the US autobox fluid changes are as regular as engine oil changes.

My research at the time on auto box changes found that it is best to stick with the same fluid as was originally specced and is in the box. This made it a little hard for me as the Dexron I needed isn't used in modern boxes so I had to source it. I did find it though. IIRC I needed Dexron 3 and these days it's Dexron 6 but it's not good to mix so i got some 3 off an online supplier and passed that to my garage to do the swap with.

Like T9 says it is best to change fully but on my box, the total was about 7 litres, with 3.5 in the transfer box. The transfer box swap was easy - just like an oil change, pull the plug and drain, but a full swap required a process a bit like a brake fluid change, draining and topping up as you go until you see clear new fluid coming out.

I read that people had had good results with a series of 2 or 3 transfer box fluid swaps done in the space of a few weeks, but I only did the one swap, 3.5 litres. Even this though like I say made a difference.
 
I would definitely do it HDI. I had it done on my Signum and it made the changes smoother and quicker. I've read up on BMW boxes, the steptronic slam and all that, and it seems they definitely benefit from a change.

I don't believe any fluid can last forever, and in the US autobox fluid changes are as regular as engine oil changes.

My research at the time on auto box changes found that it is best to stick with the same fluid as was originally specced and is in the box. This made it a little hard for me as the Dexron I needed isn't used in modern boxes so I had to source it. I did find it though. IIRC I needed Dexron 3 and these days it's Dexron 6 but it's not good to mix so i got some 3 off an online supplier and passed that to my garage to do the swap with.

Like T9 says it is best to change fully but on my box, the total was about 7 litres, with 3.5 in the transfer box. The transfer box swap was easy - just like an oil change, pull the plug and drain, but a full swap required a process a bit like a brake fluid change, draining and topping up as you go until you see clear new fluid coming out.

I read that people had had good results with a series of 2 or 3 transfer box fluid swaps done in the space of a few weeks, but I only did the one swap, 3.5 litres. Even this though like I say made a difference.

On balance it's looking that the general concensus of opinion is that I should do it. That's good because I kind of feel that it's the more sensible course of action.

Transfer box is not an issue here as it's a RWD car but obviously a couple of successive changes would be worthwhile cos from what I read it's imposible to fully drain the torque converter without dismanting the box.

Anyone else recommend a place to get this done??
 
I have heard good reports of these, but never used them personally:
http://www.vmtp-midlands.co.uk/

and these, which are near you I think?
http://www.staautogearbox.co.uk/

Bought my dexron 3 from here:

http://www.smithandallan.com/automotive-oil.aspx

Rugby Car Care did my change, I provided them with the worksheet that a VX dealer would use, as the box in mine had a comedy design whereby the securing bolt for 3rd gear is right next to the bolt for the fill hole and if you remove the 3rd gear bolt by mistake and the gear becomes loose it is a full box stripdown to reattach it.

They did a good job but then they always do, they are a decent indy place.

This is interesting url I found a while back, about changing on a later beemer:
http://www.bimmerforums.co.uk/forum...ansmission-oil-filter-change-job-done-t81999/
He says "The oil that came out was black and not very clean, we later found that the sump was covered in a black/grey sludge."
 
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That is exactly where my mind is going. I just want to find a specialist who is going to do it properly ie. using the correct fluid for this particular gearbox, not introduce dirt on contaminants etc.
 

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