I am at 108000 miles on my 2001 530i. I have had the fluid changed out at 55k and again at 90k. It shifts OK today. I rarely shift it "manually" but do use the Sport Mode, which I think shifts in a more optimal fashion. I am wondering what kind of life I can expect to get out of it...
Automatic, steptronic, manumatic, autostick, tiptronic and autotragic trasmissions can last up to 100k miles or even 250K with no fluid/filter changes. It is hit or miss with these units. Our E46 has the steptronic (103K miles) but unfortunately hasn't had a fluid/filter change. However, it still shifts fine. We hardly use the steptronic mode, however, the more you use it, the more stress you are putting on the fragile transmission. Mike Miller always recommends taking it to the dealer for a replacement since he claims domestic rebuild units will eventually fail anyways. However, I beg to differ. First off, you can get a used tranny from many sources in the back of the Roundel WITH a lifetime warranty. That will be a better option and much cheaper than getting it at your local stealer.
We sold our 540 with 190,000 on the original tranny with no service. New owner has added another 2000 miles with no issues. Is that a ticking noise I hear?
Huh? The only good part of the transmission will put more wear on it? What on earth is the reasoning behind that?
I am at 75,000 miles on my 03 330Ci. I had the fluid changed (drain and refill) at 54,000 miles. I will probably get the fluid and the filter changed before it gets to 100,000 miles. I used Red Line D4 fluid, it seems to shift smoother than the factory fill.
Two Qusetions My wife's 01 530 just lost reverse at 96K and I am planning to send the tranny (Z.F.) out to CA for rebuild, should I consider the torque converter as well? Also, my 03 530 just turned 80K and the fluid has never been replaced, is it to late? Thanks in advance
I don't know where you are, but ZF USA is in Michigan - have you checked with them? http://www.zf.com/corporate/en/products/products.html It's not too late to do a fluid flush/exchange @ 80K.
My 2003 525 is at 60,000 miles with no problems. The fluid was changed at 32,000 miles at a BMW dealer's shop. The dealer where I purchased the car refused to do the service. They claimed it would void the CPO warrantee.
I have a 2003 540iA that I bought new. Love this car!!! Plan to keep it until all traces of Chris designs are gone and run flats go away, But, back to the question, the car has 70k and I have heard bad stories on the club about folks who changed the tranny fluid and then had a failure. So would love to hear as much as possible before I change it out. Thanks!!!!
Hogwash. They're either lazy or liars, or both. If they use the OEM fluid it extends the tranny "lifetime" --- that's the whole point. that's a scary dealer if you ask me!
?? Lifetime?? The Dealer told me that the Trans.fluid (5 Speed Steptronic) was "lifetime" in my 2000 528iA.. How long is that?? I have 102,000 on it now..
32,000 ........I would certainly hope so! Of course having a Sirius radio and a black grill do wear on your trans quite a bit.
Most dealers will not touch the transmission fluid. If you have gone this long without changing it, I would continue to let sleeping dogs lie. We had a fresh transmission put in the M3, and an independent shop is more than happy to change out the fluid whenever we want. Our 2000 540 was purchased by a neighbor and now has 192,000 miles on the transmission without any service done to it.
Thanks.. I guess I will wait and see what happens The only reason I was worried about it is that it feels like it is surging when on the highway.. And more so with the cruz set.. But that may not be the Trans at all I guess. But I changed the plugs and cleaned the injectors about 10,000 miles ago..
I've heard of people who have had no problems with their auto trans, they changed the fluid and it suddenly developed leaks or other problems
I service BMW's and have serviced maybe twenty-five transmissions to date and have not had one fail yet. I do keep in touch with almost all of these customers and check them when I do other services. The most mileage on a car that I serviced was 125k. It now has 155k and the owner says it's still running fine. According to BMW, their lifetime fill is between 75k to 100k miles. At least thats what I was told when I worked at the dealership. I have serviced all three of mine on a regular basis and one has 165k on it now. An E28 that I owned had reguler 60k services done and has almost 300k with the original engine and trans. I feel servicing them will extend the life of the transmission, but I know someday one is going to comeback to haunt me.
but that is really encouraging if one follows a fluid change regimen. Now at 110000 miles I just had it changed-- this time my indy put the appropriate Redline fluid in and it shifts even better. I too hope to get the most I can out of this (French made GM hydramatic), as the price of a new one is like 6500. I am not sure the car is worth more than 8 grand at this point
