CaMo 0 Report post Posted August 27, 2016 Any e38 owners changed the atf fluid? I have a 740i with only 167k on the clock. Engine seems sweet but tyranny shifts hard in some gears. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gjm 3258 Report post Posted August 27, 2016 100k is a reasonable figure to change fluid at. The 'filled for life' rubbish spouted by manufacturers should be ignored, but so can the 'every 25k' suggestion some people in the trade seem to think reasonable. You're unlikely to have any problems by extending change interval to up to 200k if the car is mainly used on the highway (rather than 'round town). Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CaMo 0 Report post Posted August 27, 2016 52 minutes ago, gjm said: 100k is a reasonable figure to change fluid at. The 'filled for life' rubbish spouted by manufacturers should be ignored, but so can the 'every 25k' suggestion some people in the trade seem to think reasonable. You're unlikely to have any problems by extending change interval to up to 200k if the car is mainly used on the highway (rather than 'round town). Yeah I am out of options to be honest. If changing the fluid and filter doesn't fix it then selling it is going to be a pain. It runs so well but the gearbox shifts are far from smooth. Just wondering if anyone o here is done it and has any pointers. Or has had it done at a shop. What was the cost? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hotwire 352 Report post Posted August 27, 2016 At that milage definitely get it serviced. The fluid is well past its useby. As Graham says - 100k is about the benchmark. You are not out of options - you haven't done the obvious yet. $400 ish by the time it is flushed/filter changed. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CaMo 0 Report post Posted August 27, 2016 17 minutes ago, hotwire said: At that milage definitely get it serviced. The fluid is well past its useby. As Graham says - 100k is about the benchmark. You are not out of options - you haven't done the obvious yet. $400 ish by the time it is flushed/filter changed. Sweet! Thanks Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gjm 3258 Report post Posted August 27, 2016 Bear in mind a flush pushes fluid through the system. I'm not sure if this is performed with the filter in place or not, but if not it could cause problems. Have the fluid drained, the sump removed and cleaned and the filter replaced. Ensure good fluid is used - a lot of 'trans flush' places use something cheaper than might be desirable. If you're mechanically minded, it's a faff but not a difficult job to do yourself. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Breaker 980 Report post Posted August 28, 2016 Lots of examples of this being done on YouTube as well so pretty easy once you get the bits. Mines up for the same but shifting isn't currently a problem so just preventative Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hotwire 352 Report post Posted August 28, 2016 11 hours ago, gjm said: Bear in mind a flush pushes fluid through the system. I'm not sure if this is performed with the filter in place or not, but if not it could cause problems. Have the fluid drained, the sump removed and cleaned and the filter replaced. Ensure good fluid is used - a lot of 'trans flush' places use something cheaper than might be desirable. If you're mechanically minded, it's a faff but not a difficult job to do yourself. Yes Graham but it needs flushing to circulate old fluid out of the torque converter. What I was quoting was referring to flushing/draining - pan needs removing to change the filter anyway. Agree too on the fluid quality thing. Requires a place of reputation & the equipment Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bjoern 4 Report post Posted August 29, 2016 I thought of doing a transmission service as preventative maintenance for my E39 540 a couple of months ago. My local independent BMW specialist recommended to wait and to do a service at 100.000 km. The BMW dealer didn't want to do it as preventative maintenance. And a local specialist for automatic transmissions quoted me about $200 but he wanted to use his own ATF (which he uses for any car), and it was just a flush. I ended up not doing it. But in your situation, it seems to make sense to service the transmission. There is a lot of information about it on the internet. And some people recommend a certain procedure with draining the fluid, refilling it, shifting through the gears and draining again and that process might be repeated. I would make sure to use the correct ATF and to get it done by somebody who knows these cars. Maybe a good independent BMW specialist. ZF got a repair service network, which also exists in NZ. That could be a good place too as they build these transmissions. I would assume that a good service will be easily $400 if not more (ZF in Germany charges about 600 in NZD). Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Eagle 1662 Report post Posted August 29, 2016 Ive always drained it with new filter etc, given it a drive and drained and replaced the fluid again. Having a torque converter drain like my benz would be nice or flushing equipment. I bought a 20L container of the correct Fuchs ATF for a few hundred which was enough for 2x changes on 2x BMW V8's. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CaMo 0 Report post Posted August 29, 2016 I've read conflicting things about this. A lot of people say to not flush it but rather just change the oil and filter. I considered doing it myself but it may have found a guy who can do it for me with a hoist etc, making it a bit less painful.. Any recommendations on where's best to get the fluid? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hotwire 352 Report post Posted August 29, 2016 Just bear in mind, as i mention above, that simply draining the fluid - removing pan & changing filter, does not remove the contaminated fluid from the torque converter Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
