Custom transmission oil cooler question.

[danielhstout]

Ok so heres the deal... My 95 540i has an automatic ZF 5hp30 tranny that is going south. I plan on replacing the tranny with a ZF 5hp30 from a 96 740i e38. The problem is that the newer tranny is set up for an external oil cooler rather than the older style that has the oil cooler built into the tranny.

So I have a couple of options...
A) I can find an e38 740i stock oil cooler and line set and retrofit it to my 540i e34.
OR
B) I can buy an aftermarket oil cooler and have my own lines made up.

The problem with option A is that I cant locate stock lines. Also, the stock equiptment is going to be a bit spendy and the lines will be the wrong length anyway. Also the stock cooler is designed to be mounted on the e38 radiator with special brackets and I dont want to buy a radiator too.

The only problem I see with option B is that I don't know what kind of connections the transmission takes for the oil cooler lines.

Does anybody know what kind of connections the transmission has for these lines?

I am leaning towards option B as long as I can get the fittings sorted out. What do you guys think?

Is there anything wrong using an aftermarket cooler. Obviously I need to size it correctly, but other than that I see no problems. They mount on any radiator and I could actually end up with better cooling than the stock setup.

What to do?

[Kalevera]

Do what I did and use a custom cooler, hybrid the E38 lines with standard P/S hose and hose clamps and be done with it. Plenty of E38s available in junk yards if you need the E38 lines to hack.

By the by, my cooler is for sale -- used for ~ 6 months until I converted the car. $15 + s/h and it's yours.

Or buy the correct trans for the car. I have two for sale, one from a '94 540, one from a '94 740.

[shogun]

Maybe this helps a bit
http://www.zf-group.com/pdf/5HP30.pdf

[BillionPa]

on my car the oil cooler is built into the radiator, which also helps heat the tranny oil up to operating temp faster.

i thought the 540 did have an external cooler, but it was in a different location. you could find a used radiator with the oil cooler attatched, remove the cooler (is that possible?), and hook it up that way.

[danielhstout]

Do what I did and use a custom cooler, hybrid the E38 lines with standard P/S hose and hose clamps and be done with it. Plenty of E38s available in junk yards if you need the E38 lines to hack.

By the by, my cooler is for sale -- used for ~ 6 months until I converted the car. $15 + s/h and it's yours.

Or buy the correct trans for the car. I have two for sale, one from a '94 540, one from a '94 740.

OK so this has been done before.... Did you do the same thing I am thinking of doing? Using the newer trans in the older car and just using a custom cooler setup.

So I am taking it that the transmission does have special connections... How do you get these connections off without destroying them? Special tool?

I would rather use the newer style transmission because they are a better design and used ones generally have lower miles.

Did the custum setup work good for you? What did you convert to? Six Speed?

PM me with details about the trannys you have for sale. Price, milage ect.
Thanks!

on my car the oil cooler is built into the radiator, which also helps heat the tranny oil up to operating temp faster.

i thought the 540 did have an external cooler, but it was in a different location. you could find a used radiator with the oil cooler attatched, remove the cooler (is that possible?), and hook it up that way.

I am almost 100% positive that the e34 540's transmission cooler is actually mounted on the trans itself... the later models after '96 have the same tranny but with the cooler mounted on the radiator. You can remove them but they are designed specifically to mount on that model radiator. Aftermarket units can mount on any radiator...

So I think I am just going to go for the newer style tranny and fit an aftermarket cooler to it. I just need to figure out what the line connections are so that I can somehow make custom lines.

Does anyone have any helpful info about these connections?

Thanks for your help guys.

[danielhstout]

Bumperoo!

[danielhstout]

Somebody has to know what kind of connection these are!