Re: Auto Transmission Service

[alex.fadeev@xxxxxxxxxxx]

Henri Baccouche <henrib@domain.elided> wrote:
>
> Interesting post..........a few questions :
> When you say  60000 mile  trans service :
> Are you dropping the pan to change the filter and 5.5 litres of "dark,
> thick, and syrupy" ATF or are you doing a 13.1 litre complete trans
> flush using a flushing machine through the trans cooler lines ?

I'll bet Nate is talking about flushing out all the fluid that can be
drained by removing the tranny and torque converter pans. That plus the new
filter. To flush all of the fluid out of the system (cooler lines and all)
requires hardware only a dealer can justify owning. Speaking of the devil,
the first Dallas dealer I called will gladly perform complete tranny fluid
flush for $17/quart of new juice and 3 hours of labor ($93/hour).
Since the partial flush and refill with RedLine D4ATF is what local Dallas
area independent shops are recommending, that is exactly the service I will
be performing on my wife's 50K mile '98 328i.

> The two 5HP30's at over 200,000 miles, these are the (never rebuilt)
> original equipment units ?
> Driven by conservative or "sporting" drivers ?

I've checked with two Lone Start service advisors and both confirm
increasingly frequent sightings of 200+K mile GM/ZF slush boxes.
Non-rebuild, non-babied and some not particularly well maintained.

Based on the information I've collected over the last two weeks, I'm forced
to draw the following two conclusions:
1. Henry's claims of massively failing GM/ZM automatics in under 125K mils
is unsubstantiated scare mongering. Most of the heavily driven E36 cars are
crossing the 200K mile mark without any transmission issues.
2. There are a lot of insinuations originating from clueless BMW dealers
and a few BMW-Digest posters on the subject of partially or completely
flushing lifetime fluid out of GM/ZM slush boxes. "All or nothing" and
"your transmission will fail if you touch it" rumours are bullshit. Filling
these boxes with RedLine D4 ATF is the recommended course of action for
anyone who wants to have his/her slush-box shift well past 200K miles.

Have fun,
alex f


> Nate Smith <nate@domain.elided> wrote:
> > All that said, we have successfully used several different fluids in
> > the ZF 5HP30 transmissions, as well as the later "lifetime fluid"
> > transmissions.  We have had good success with Red Line D4 as well as
> > a product from Southwestern Petroleum.  We also use the factory fluids
> > for those customers who prefer it.
> >
> > The remaining question about whether it is necessary or prudent to
> > service a transmission filled with "lifetime" fluid also does not seem
> > to have an easy answer.  By 75 or 80,000 miles, the fluid is dark,
thick,
> > and syrupy.  On visual inspection, the stuff looks awful.  The
question,
> > though, is whether it is reasonable to spend the money on a
transmission
> > service if it may not lengthen the life of the transmission.  There is
> > currently no consensus among BMW specialty shops on this one either.
> > We are currently recommending transmission service at 60,000 miles, and
> > we seem to be getting good results from this schedule.  We have two
> > 5HP30's at over 200,000 miles now, and both seem fine.
> > [...]
> >
> > Nate Smith
> > Optimal Auto Care - BMW
> > 2335 Soquel Drive
> > Santa Cruz, CA  95065
> > 831-476-1332
> > 831-476-1567 fax
> > nate@domain.elided

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