E36 auto transmission

[Naregindustries@xxxxxxx]

I'm surprised that some digestibles think the auto box in the E36 is sealed 
or that the fluid must be sucked out.  Yes, BMW did make it difficult to 
service by eliminating the dipstick and fill tube, but other than that, it is 
a standard auto box with standard ATF, not the $200 per liter ridiculous ATF 
that comes in the V8/V12 transmissions.

Brett Anderson has outlined the service procedure several times.  Basically, 
when the tranmission is cold, you drain the oil, unbolt the pan, change the 
filter, fill the pan with oil, put it the pan back up, start the car and 
shift gears so that the pump pulls the oil from the pan, remove the pan, add 
some more oil (total of 3 liters approximately), bolt the pan and be done for 
another 30-50K miles.

For all the difficulty that this sounds like, it still beats servicing the ZF 
box on the automatic Alfa Romeo Milanos.  But Alfa beat BMW by including a 
neat sensor in the transmission that would tell you if oil was low.

Gary Krumian

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