bad idea or not...auto fluid/filter change?

General E30 related discussions -
Please put technical questions in E30 Tech Help forum below

Moderator: martauto

Post Reply
SHAKEELE30
Boost Junkie
Posts: 3272
Joined: Mon Apr 04, 2005 11:00 pm
Location: CROYDON

Thu Mar 13, 2014 7:59 am

been google-ing about fluid/filter change, and have come across a link, where people are saying not to change it as it will damage the gearbox after a few hundred/thousand miles but then some are saying its like changing the engine oil...


and even one link, a guy suggests that bmw recommend that you do not need to change gearbox fluid at all...


whats you guys opinions ... is it worth doing or not worth taking the risk...
mcbonio
E30 Zone Squatter
E30 Zone Squatter
Posts: 1868
Joined: Sun Feb 12, 2012 11:00 pm

Thu Mar 13, 2014 9:04 am

My opinion is that autoboxes fail because people don't change the fluid. I change mine and have never had an autobox fail yet.
darkchild
E30 Zone Addict
E30 Zone Addict
Posts: 2730
Joined: Mon Feb 06, 2006 11:00 pm
Location: Kingston 12

Thu Mar 13, 2014 9:29 am

Modern BMW boxes are sealed for life but a specialist can change the fluid & filter.

Assuming this is a standard E30 autobox the fluid and filter should be changed every Inspection II iirc. I change mine every 20K - hardly expensive when you using Dexron III. The filter is peanuts too.
mcbonio
E30 Zone Squatter
E30 Zone Squatter
Posts: 1868
Joined: Sun Feb 12, 2012 11:00 pm

Thu Mar 13, 2014 9:50 am

Modern BMW boxes are not sealed for life, BMW changed their stance on this and now recommend oil change every 100k miles, probably due to the insane amount of autobox failures.

In fact they have a new disposable plastic integrated sump and filter design on the newer models to make oil changes even easier. So yes BMW the say change the oil.

Image
Last edited by mcbonio on Thu Mar 13, 2014 9:52 am, edited 1 time in total.
DanThe
E30 Zone Team Member
E30 Zone Team Member
Posts: 28641
Joined: Sat Sep 10, 2005 11:00 pm
Location: Staffs
Contact:

Thu Mar 13, 2014 9:52 am

Its all bull, changing oil will never damage anything unless you put the wrong stuff back in.
Sealed for life is a con
capnmchl
E30 Zone Camper
E30 Zone Camper
Posts: 1141
Joined: Mon Feb 20, 2012 11:00 pm
Location: Exeter, Devon

Thu Mar 13, 2014 10:05 am

Unlike manual gearbox oil, auto gearbox oil does get contaminated with friction material from clutch packs. It also gets worked a lot harder than manual gearbox oil and can get 'burnt'. And the oil in a manual gearbox doesn't get forced through complicated valve chests and solenoid valves.

You wouldn't never change the oil on a manual box, so why an auto?

Therefore it needs changing.
andreia
E30 Zone Regular
E30 Zone Regular
Posts: 453
Joined: Fri May 15, 2009 11:00 pm
Location: manchester

Thu Mar 13, 2014 10:37 am

If you change it make sure is done by a company what done it before. If anything goes wrong they can deal with it. I got quoted £240 for the fluid and filter change. Not cheap. The procedure in itself its not complicated. Maybe you need to take som precautions if you do it yourself. Hope someone will give us more details
Rtaylor2208
E30 Zone Addict
E30 Zone Addict
Posts: 3004
Joined: Mon Oct 11, 2010 11:00 pm
Location: Ayr, Ayrshire, Scotland

Thu Mar 13, 2014 12:36 pm

andreia wrote:If you change it make sure is done by a company what done it before. If anything goes wrong they can deal with it. I got quoted £240 for the fluid and filter change. Not cheap. The procedure in itself its not complicated. Maybe you need to take som precautions if you do it yourself. Hope someone will give us more details
£240 :mad:

I had Saab change and flush the auto box on my 9-5 which requires 15 litres of mobil 1 specific oil to do fully and it came to £100.

Changing it on a E30 is simple, I did my cab and all it cost me was the filter and oil. Can't remeber exactly how much as it was 2 years ago but it was about £30.
DanThe
E30 Zone Team Member
E30 Zone Team Member
Posts: 28641
Joined: Sat Sep 10, 2005 11:00 pm
Location: Staffs
Contact:

Thu Mar 13, 2014 12:40 pm

On later BMW's the fluid alone costs over £100
daimlerman
**BANNED**
Posts: 15968
Joined: Mon Feb 27, 2006 11:00 pm
Location: Grumpy Old Man

Thu Mar 13, 2014 12:48 pm

DanThe wrote:On later BMW's the fluid alone costs over £100
5% of the cost of a new 'box? :D
pukar
E30 Zone Addict
E30 Zone Addict
Posts: 2225
Joined: Tue Sep 08, 2009 11:00 pm

Thu Mar 13, 2014 1:23 pm

in my sport, 135k miles, the autobox fluid was almost silvery grey instead of red....pete changed it for me easily enough, can't remember how much it cost though....3 scotch eggs from greggs and a beer i think?
Image
capnmchl
E30 Zone Camper
E30 Zone Camper
Posts: 1141
Joined: Mon Feb 20, 2012 11:00 pm
Location: Exeter, Devon

Thu Mar 13, 2014 7:39 pm

It takes longer to fill it up with new oil than anything else!
polsta
Married to the E30 Zone
Married to the E30 Zone
Posts: 10322
Joined: Fri Oct 09, 2009 11:00 pm
Location: portsmouth

Fri Mar 14, 2014 12:34 am

How about manual boxes ? Whilst mines out I think i should change it, is it easy to do ? What oil and how much ? Is it just a case of draining and filling or any dos or donts ?
capnmchl
E30 Zone Camper
E30 Zone Camper
Posts: 1141
Joined: Mon Feb 20, 2012 11:00 pm
Location: Exeter, Devon

Fri Mar 14, 2014 11:04 am

Yes, change the oil as much as you want.

Undo the filling bung first, and then the drainage bung. Let it drain. Put the drainage bung back in, and fill the box to the level of the filling bung. Replace that.

It's really that simple.
Andyboy
Alpina Colada
Posts: 12574
Joined: Mon Sep 11, 2006 11:00 pm

Fri Mar 14, 2014 10:09 pm

Old BMW autoboxes like the E30 etc need oil changes because Dexron (made/licensed by General Motors) is non synthetic and it won't last. The clutch packs are also worked much harder, but Dexron is so cheap you could change it every 6000 if you wanted to. 20'000 is good enough though.

Later boxes such as the 5 and 6 speed units used synthetic oil that will last 200'000 miles. Plenty of old E39's etc have got to that mileage on the factory fill oil and still work. Changing it at 100'000 isn't a bad idea though. Clutch packs have a much easier life because the torque converter clutch engages/disengages between each shift to cushion the gearchange. 5 speed boxes fail because something breaks such as a split clutch drum and six speeders often fail because of a blown gasket in the mechatronics unit. There's not often a failure due to a lubrication issue.

BMW's reverting to a 100'000 mile oil change policy smacks of a 'arse covering' measure!
Post Reply