THings seem a tad confusing in BMW land w/ respect to gear lubricants (the owners manual for a '97 3 series E36 only lists "ATF" for the 5 speed and "HD Gear Oil" for the differential).
I've dug up some BMW references to (rear end) gear oils being: 'MIL-L-2105 C', 'ZF TE-ML 05' or (BWM)SAF-XLS.
It's a shame they can't simply give a simple API designation for the differential along w/ viscosity which seems to work just fine for most automakers.
The Mil spec is pretty old and I think it was largely repalced by GL-5 on passenger cars back in the 60s.
The other two specs they reference ... dunno?
- I believe the 'SAF' standard is BMW's own.
The dealer mentioned on the phone 75W140 synthetic but I don't always give much credence to them.
The BMW boards seem to like synthetic GL5s in 75W90 and consider 140 to be a 'truck' gear oil.
Before I dump some 75W90 GL-5 in, if anybody has any insignts - like to hear them!
thanks,
I've dug up some BMW references to (rear end) gear oils being: 'MIL-L-2105 C', 'ZF TE-ML 05' or (BWM)SAF-XLS.
It's a shame they can't simply give a simple API designation for the differential along w/ viscosity which seems to work just fine for most automakers.
The Mil spec is pretty old and I think it was largely repalced by GL-5 on passenger cars back in the 60s.
The other two specs they reference ... dunno?
The dealer mentioned on the phone 75W140 synthetic but I don't always give much credence to them.
The BMW boards seem to like synthetic GL5s in 75W90 and consider 140 to be a 'truck' gear oil.
Before I dump some 75W90 GL-5 in, if anybody has any insignts - like to hear them!
thanks,