BMW lifetime AT fluid

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CivicFan

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BMW recommends lifetime AT fluid in their automatic transmissions. This obviously freaks me out. The dealer insisted that it is indeed a lifetime fluid and quoted $60 per liter of ATF.

The question is - what do they mean by "lifetime"? I usually see BMW-s lasting 250k to 300k miles of normal use but this may not be the official definition.

Also, for paranoid people, is there a way to drain and replace the ATF in BMW-s? My guess is that they have some sort of sealed system since they don't even provide a dip stick for the AT (I'm hoping there is a sensor somewhere in there, though).
 
If the tranny dies tomorrow, your fluid lasted the lifetime of said tranny.

IIRC they mean 100k or so, but I think every 30k is what owners do.
 
Depends how you look at it. He also says "My inclination is to tell people to change “lifetime” ATF and filter every 30,000 miles."
But it does seem that you may suffer a catastrophic AT failure even if you do change it regularly.
 
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If your Z4 is simialr to most other BMW automatics, there are both drain and fill plugs on the pan. You need to pump the new fluid in; it's a pain.

Here's a service info sheet which cover's a lot of BMWs, and probably yours: http://www.ge39.com/files/SD92-114.pdf

Essentially you need to warm the fluid to 30C and up to 50C until fluid overflows the fill hole.

If you have the A5S 325Z transmission (2.5i & 3.0i), the data I see is that the fluid is "ESSO ATF LT 71141". Check out Castrol Import Multi-Vehicle ATF. It meets this standard.
 
The Z4 has a ZF5HP19 transmission.

You can probably fill it with Amsoil ATF and it will work just fine.
 
If the transmission uses LT71141, I can say that so far in an AS440Z (E39 540) Amsoil ATF is working FANTASTICALLY. This transmission has always been weird since the day it drove off the lot and the dealer has done pan refills with their "genuine" fluid every 50,000km. All kinds of weird shifts, hard shifts, double-bump shifts under no load, etc...

We used a cooler line method to try to replace all of the ATF with Amsoil (didn't work out as easy as planned) and changed the filter. It's like a new car - it's NEVER been this good. Every weird behaviour is gone, standard "D" mode is super smooth and tiptronic or "S" mode shift perfectly.
 
Craig, how many miles did it have before the ATF change? Mine has 95k on it and has never been changed.
 
BMW is really stressing the low maintenance of their cars.
If you really are going to keep the car past 100-150,000 miles, I'd change the tranny fluid .
 
Originally Posted By: CivicFan
Craig, how many miles did it have before the ATF change? Mine has 95k on it and has never been changed.


The 2002 540 in question is my father's. He purchased new and asked the dealer to do pan drop/change filter/refill ATF at 50,000km and 100,000km. Since day one at 0km the transmission has been weird (compared to the 1999 540 he turned in) and has been getting increasingly weird over the years. Many complaints, diagnostics, changed parts like MAF have never fixed the problem.

It came to light that the dealer was not likely changing the filter despite being asked because they were heard remarking that it was "just a screen". Of course it is not, although it's called a "screen" in the parts system.

We ran into some logistical challenges as a cooler line flush is not a simplistic affair with an AS440Z as with other units but we cycled in 3.5gal of Amsoil ATF 2-3 months ago along with pan drop, magnet scrub, filter change as he is coming up on 150,000km.

Valvoline Maxlife also carries the LT71141 application listed on the back of the bottle and is far less expensive than Amsoil. It's more important to run a "good" lubricant that you're willing to change "often" than an "outstanding" lubricant you leave in too long.

I would recommend Amsoil ATF without question in LT71141 applications and also offer than one of the important things to be done is get the factory original filter out of there since it's full of break-in material and a lifetime of clutch wear.
 
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It's been said here before:

"There's no such thing as lifetime fluid".

All that means is the manufacturer doesn't require it to be changed during the warranty period. Key word: "require".

If you plan on keeping the car for any length of time, change the ATF every 30,000 miles as suggested ^^^. I keep my cars at least 150,000 miles and have NEVER had a transmission problem.
 
Craig, sounds like a good option for a car with 90k miles is to:

0. buy a pump to pump the ATF into the transmission;
1. empty the old coolant;
2. drop the pan, change the filter and clean the magnet;
3. fill it with Amsoil ATF http://www.amsoil.com/catalog.aspx?code=ATFQT-EA
4. hope that it did not dislodge stuff in the transmission and everything is going to be OK.

fiddling with the radiator lines is not in my comfort zone so I will pass on that.
 
Originally Posted By: CivicFan
Craig, sounds like a good option for a car with 90k miles is to:

0. buy a pump to pump the ATF into the transmission;
1. empty the old coolant;
2. drop the pan, change the filter and clean the magnet;
3. fill it with Amsoil ATF http://www.amsoil.com/catalog.aspx?code=ATFQT-EA
4. hope that it did not dislodge stuff in the transmission and everything is going to be OK.

fiddling with the radiator lines is not in my comfort zone so I will pass on that.


If fiddling with cooler lines isn't in your comfort zone, make sure the level check procedure is. I don't know about your exact transmission, but for most ZFs it involves setting the level with the car running and the ATF within a specific bracket of temperature.

I know your vehicle might not be on here, but the below PDF details many fluid specs and how to properly set the level:

LINK

If you don't wish to do cooler line fluid exchanges, you may wish to do a series of drain/refills instead of just one to get you started and then do a singles on a regular basis from now on. Amsoil ATF is great, but Maxlife also meets LT71141 and is a lot less expensive if you're going to do 3-4 pan drops to try to replace "most" of the ATF over a modest time interval.

Depending on your setup here's a couple of E39-oriented writeups you mind find interesting or educational:

http://bimmer.roadfly.com/bmw/forums/e39/9347117-1.html

http://bimmer.roadfly.com/bmw/forums/e39/9309371-3.html

http://bimmer.roadfly.com/bmw/forums/e39/9360227-7.html
(including sub-threads)
 
I change the ATF and transfer case oil every 50K in my wife's 2004 X3 2.5. FWIW, her prior car-a 1997 528iA- didn't get an ATF change until 98K. The current owner uses the same indie shop as me and the last time I asked the car had over 200K on it and the slushbox was still working fine.
 
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