I was planning on doing a brake upgrade further down the road but unfortunately my car decided otherwise and three days into my triumphant return home the "check brake pads immediately" light went on. Now the front brakes need replacing and my plans have been moved up a few months. I just visited my mechanic and discussed my plans with him. One thing I was looking at was ATE Super Blue brake fluid as I have heard great reviews on it. My mechanic thought it was a full synthetic and discouraged its use with my car. I just looked on modbargains.com and they had the ATE TYP 200 fluid. Are both of these full synthetic and does anyone here have experience with them?
Time for a new mechanic. Both TYP 200 and Super Blue are the same fluid, one just has the blue dye in it. They are a DOT4 fluid, non-synthetic. The Super Blue is technically "not" a DOT4 fluid since it is colored blue, but all its chemical properties are identical to DOT4 rated TYP 200.
+1 I would use TYP 200 because it is easier to see when it is dirty and easier to see the new fluid when bleeding your own brakes. Super Blue is really for racing, it is blue so you know what fluid is leaking at the race track. Remember they are the same, one is just blue. I use TYP 200 in all my BMWs, with great results.
ATE Super Blue and Typ 200 have identical specs (link) and they should be priced identically. Alternate them so you can easily see when the previous one is flushed from the line. Any 'mechanic' who recommends against either of them doesn't have a clue what he's talking about. Reconsider whether you want someone like that working on your car. Better yet, buy yourself a case of decent beer (I'd recommend Leinenkugel's or better), call a bunch of your local BMW CCA buddies and learn how to do brakes yourself! It's stunningly easy and requires so few tools that you'll save yourself far more than you'd pay your mechanic to do them once even after you buy all the tools.
After watching independents dangle my caliper from the hose, I started doing it myself. Some shops don't like to use Ate Blue because it discolors their equipment. My dealer used to use his own pressure bleeder when flushing my fluid. That was before I realized how easy it was to do it yourself. A case of beer? it only cost me a couple slices of pizza and a beer.
Obviously, your Bimmerhead friends are less discriminating than mine ... ... and/or you're even more of a Cheapass© than me.
Thanks for the help guys. The mechanic stays, he asked if it was a full synthetic and I said I thought it was so thats what he was basing his objections on. He sold me my first BMW, a 96 318ti and has graciously worked for me on his own time and has basically not charged me for labor and discounted parts, I can't even change my oil for cheaper than he does it (he changes it for less than it would cost me to buy it!!). Looks like Ill be putting some TYP 200 in along with the other parts Im buying, thanks again.
