Does Changing Lifetime Fluid Kill Transmissions?

[pyro]

well put it this way... i had a 1988 735i that never had its fluid changed untill i risked it and changed it at 275,000. yes thats two hundred and sevinty thousand miles. that car runs like a champ. didn't start it all summer got in it the other day put a batrie in and started right up!

[Cambridge]

is it ok to just leave it in there and never change it as advised by bmw?

Seems best to change it despite what BMW says. I'd say the majority of posts lean that way. There are a few that say the tranny will wear out, regardless, at 100 - 150,000 miles anyway. But again, those are few. Most are hoping to get the most mileage by having a regular program of service.

Indeed many of us, if we had purchased our cars new, would have done the "right" thing and regularly serviced our transmissions. Unfortunatly, many of us acquire our E34's later in their life after 100,000 miles or so of no service.

Hence some of us wonder, will we make matters worse and shorten tranny life by starting a fluid service program now rather than letting matters run their course?

Thus, the poll is trying to find how many went ahead and started servicing their tranny's late in life and were successful.

[swenpro]

I too am interested in hearing more from those who had FIRST-HAND EXPERIENCE with changing automatic transmission fluid...

I've never changed it and am approaching 100k soon! (I too experience notorious *clunk* shift btw 2nd and 3rd when tranny is warm )

You're stories, please! thanks

[Cambridge]

Currently showing a failure rate of 1 out of 5 - not a very large sample. So far doesn't look like many have had first-hand experience at this.

[632 Regal]

what did the old fluid look like?

well put it this way... i had a 1988 735i that never had its fluid changed untill i risked it and changed it at 275,000. yes thats two hundred and sevinty thousand miles. that car runs like a champ. didn't start it all summer got in it the other day put a batrie in and started right up!

[Maki]

I dropped the pan on my newly obtained '95 540ia 10,000 miles ago, when the car had 84k miles. The PO, a wonderful, conscientious man who replaced the Nikasil block at 62K, had had a prior service done at some point -- detectable by the aftermarket filter. Because of the non-OE filter the trans was whining a bit when cold -- a symptom that convinced me in the first place to open the transmission and have a look.

I drained the sump, installed a proper Filtran filter and upon the advice of an authorized Shell Oil distributor I refilled the trans with Pennzoil Multi-Vehicle ATF.

About 2000 miles after the refill, I (actually my wife, to her chagrin) got a trans program error message. I drained the transmission for a second time, dropped the pan and removed and wiped down the two pulse sensors. The transmission has shifted smoothly ever since.

One thing I didn't do when I made the fluid change was to replace the old O-rings at the harness connector. I wish I'd had the replacement rings for the harness when I went into the trans last time, because I think the connector is the source of a small leak. I intend to open it up again once the weather warms up again next year, and I'll do the O-rings then.

I know I'm a heretic on the ATF, but I couldn't swallow the ominous warnings of doom from ZF/BMW, etc., when a number of folks here and on other lists were using Pennzoil and other fluids without catastrophic failure. My rationale is that ATF manufacturers are in the business of blending fluids that replace factory fills. Why would they ignore the needs of a transmission that was the predominant unit in high-end BMWs and other cars for years and years? ESPECIALLY when the same company manufactures the magical factory fluid?

I'm just too damn skeptical for my own good. I don't believe in Jesus either. Sorry.

You can get a nice little hand pump from Harbor Freight that works great to refill the transmission. It costs maybe $20.

Anyway, whatever fluid you choose to use, change the damn fluid And use a Filtran filter. Good luck!

[ArtemLepilov]

You're stories, please! thanks

I took a huge risk at getting my car without paperwork or anything - Put about as muh as I had gotten it for and now for $2400 I got a nice smooth running car. I had to replace the fluid and the seals for it too so I took it to a really great local transmission shop and they fixed it right up. Never even asked me to sign anything. Car runs beautifully now, it was sliping out of drive a bunch of times before I cleaned my ICV, so it would idle higher. Right now I believe one thing that needs to be done to it it the gear Shift lever needs to have its contacts cleaned because sometimes it would go out of D into some unknown gear - D would disappear off the LCD and the car would just act weird. Other than that and LSD needing a fill-up and a few minor things the car is great.

-Artem

[rockyfeller]

Good discussion, I was looking for an answer......Bought the car at 80k been hesitatant all this time and the car is near 124k now. Trans performance can be clunky/hesitant at times. I am paranoid that the tranny can quit on me someday so I think I should risk it and not listen to my indys and just change it.

[dext]

I too am interested in hearing more from those who had FIRST-HAND EXPERIENCE with changing automatic transmission fluid...

I've never changed it and am approaching 100k soon! (I too experience notorious *clunk* shift btw 2nd and 3rd when tranny is warm )

You're stories, please! thanks

Mete, I have just had my fluid changed as I was getting the slip on 3rd, it hasn't took it away, but BMW did the change and they said at 100k it was burnt and needed doing. They have also said that the tranny will give up eventually and too expensive to repair. I would have thought a BM would do more than 150k myself

[Cambridge]

I noted the following posts

"Redline tech support recommends their D4 synthetic ATF as a replacement for the Shell 2634, without reservation. ...and the D4 is newer technology......"

"Redline DT-4 claims to be compatible with the 5HP30 Tranny. And Shell claims that Penzoil multi-vehicle ATF meets all the same standards as their LA2634. However, ZF only recognizes the Shell as being compatible with their Tranny."

"I have to say while the Redline D4 ATF offered some excellent shift characteristics (buttery smooth), there was one or two very hard shifts that spooked me into putting in Pennzoil Multi-Vehicle ATF (MVATF) instead. According to the Pennzoil reps, the MVATF is the exact same formulation as the Shell 2634, its just a marketing game. At any rate, I had 4,000 miles on the D4 ATF before switching to the MVATF and now have a total of 12,000 miles on an alternate fluid that has not caused me one problem. When you do change your fluid, make sure you get an OEM O-ring as the aftermarket filter kits supply a slightly thinner O-ring which causes the tranny oil pump to suck air past it causing the infamous "tranny whine." The Pennzoil MVATF is about $3 a quart at Kragen's. I used 8 quarts last time."

The Nov 2005 Roundel p. 124 Tech Talk "... I have been recommending Red Line oil since I started writing for magazines in 1988. Red Line Oil is a privately-held company that runs a teeny-tiny refinery in California - no small feat, I'm sure, due to all the grass-eaters out there. Red Line doesn't compete with Big Oil, it has no designs on becomming "factory fill," so there's no need to jump through API rating hoops, and it is not sold at Wal-Mart, so it can use the best stuff - and charge for it. You can bet that if Red Line is ever taken over by Big Oil, it will be for the purpose of shutting it down or dumbing down the product - a victim of its own success, kind of like Speedvision."

Here is an interesting thread regarding the use of Penzoil multi-vehicle ATF in 5hp30's from 18 months ago Penzoil MVATF

Here is a pdf showing the Penzoil MVATF compatibility with Shell LA2634 Penzoil MVATF compatibility chart

Here's some information from a company in Australia named "Penrite" Penrite ATF

I'm told these folks offer the Shell LA2634 at about half BMW's price LA2634 supplier You may need to use the ZF part number 0671 090 149. This is for a 20 liter container which is good for two changes.