BMW Z4 Lifetime Transmission+Differential Fluid Qs

[meep]

local BMW independent says DO NOT CHANGE ATF!!!

these are master techs, trained by bmw, that opened their own shop, drive their own bimmers (old school 3 series that are bad @ss).

Say that bmw builds and fills the ATs in a clean room, complete with white body suits and gloves. the ATs are extremely sensitive to any foreign matter. they will swap the fluid if you make them, but they prefer not to. have also told me that they have not had good results with fluid swaps, with failures 40,000 miles later, more than once. So they admit-- we touch it, and 2 years later it dies. driven nicely, they'll say that a e36 AT can make over 200k miles.

M

 

[Craig in Canada]

IMO, change both. Most of the "it broke after I changed the fluid" stories come from people who waited for too long, until there were mechanical issues.

For the AT, since it calls for LT71141, Amsoil ATF on the premium end or Maxlife ATF on the value end. My dad's 540 (with A5S440Z transmission) has Amsoil ATF in it now. When we put it in it started driving better than the day it was new (with genuine LT71141 in it). Prior to our work he was having the dealer change the fluid with genuine LT71141 every 50k km since new. Drop the pan and change the filter at least once too. The BMW dealer parts guys think it's a permanent "screen" because that's how they translated the parts description from German. It's not just a screen - it's media which gets clogged with wear material just like any other filter. Since the TC holds something like 2/3 of the fluid you'll either have to do something like a cooler line flush or 3 consecutive pan drain/fills to get most of the fluid changed.

For the rear end, if you don't have a limited slip unit you have lots of choice. The spec is 75W90 GL5. I've personally used Redline 75W90 and Amsoil SVG with no issues.

 

[JOD]

Originally Posted By: meep
local BMW independent says DO NOT CHANGE ATF!!!

these are master techs, trained by bmw, that opened their own shop, drive their own bimmers (old school 3 series that are bad @ss).

Say that bmw builds and fills the ATs in a clean room, complete with white body suits and gloves. the ATs are extremely sensitive to any foreign matter.


I certainly understand why shops are reticent to do the swap, given that some transmissions are sensitive to getting foreign matter dropped into them. I have a ZF transmission that must be one of the most sensitive ever made--there are about 789 disclaimers in the factory service manual regarding the dangers of either dirt or any other fluid getting into the transmission.

That said, how much "foreign matter" is in fluid which is 100K miles old? My guess is quite a bit...

I clean the fill area with soap and water, wipe down the fill hole area with some mineral spirits and a lint free cloth, then blow compressed air over it. I break the torque on the fill bolt, but leave it in place until I'm ready to add the fluid, use a dedicated, clean ATF funnel.... If your careful, you can safely change your fluid without adding any contaminants.

Lastly, if your really worried, add a filter, either in inline magnetic filter or a full-flow filter. My transmission actually comes with a full-flow media type filter, but you can add one to any transmission.

I think leaving in the factory fluid "for life" is going to result in a pretty short life.

 

[SteveSRT8]

Any modern autobox is full of tiny passages and solenoid valves, etc. This makes them all sensitive to foreign material in the trans. This is not unique to any one brand. A lot of mfgr's are now outsourcing their autoboxes, and many come from ZF. Many others simply license the manufacture of outside designs.

The benefits of changing far outweigh any risk of contamination as long as reasonable precautions are taken.

 

[MCompact]

I changed the ATF and transfer case fluid in the X3 at 55,000 miles; now at 106,000 miles I guess I'm REALLY living on borrowed time.
Looking on the bright side, only 2/5 of the fleet have just two pedals...

 

[santov]

Well I did the unthinkable and spent this weekend changing out the ATF fluid in my auto 2007 Z4, along with all the other fluids. I went with Valvolene MaxLife Dex/Merc, it says LT71141 on the bottle. I am wondering a couple things:

The Valvolene poured noticably thinner than the OEM fluid that I drained.

It stinks really bad. In fact, 48 hours later there's still a lingering smell. I wonder if it's the "seal conditioners" in the Valvolene. The ATF that poured out looked and smelled like gear oil. For having 24k miles, it was a little dark, but I'm not sure what the orginal color is.

So my questions are:

Even though it's BMW approved (and more importantly ZF approved) should I be concerned with the thinner oil?

This flavor Valvolene comes has "seal conditioners". Should I NOT be using it since I have a newer vehicle with only 25k miles?

The shifts are much improved, especially at moderate throttle. So I'm happy with how it's performed, I just don't want to regret this using this fluid down the road.

 

[unDummy]

Nothing wrong with the stink. All ATF's have seal conditioners. Highmileage is a marketing term.

Maxlife is an excellent choice. Change it out every 30k.

Don't neglect the other fluids(brake/steering/coolent/'ends...).

 

[Stooge]

If your '07 Z4 has an automatic, the tranny is a Steptronic ZF unit in the 6HP19 family, with 6HP19Z designation for the many BMW units that year. These units came with BMW "lifetime fill" ATF, which is listed in the BMW Operating Fluids Manual, Groupe 24, as Shell M-1375.4, only available at the dealer. This is not the same as the old ESSO spec'ed oil you used. I priced this fluid at the dealer at $16 for liter. I instead opted to do some research and found two alternatives for this fluid, Pentosin ATF1 and ZF-Lifeguardfluid6 AT fluid. ZF and Pentosin fluid can be found at dealers. People have found other alternatives with labels stating that their ATF is compatible with Shell but I decided to play it safe. Unfortunately, ZF decided to make the pan and filter as an integrated unit made out of plastic. So, you must change the pan and filter as 1 piece if you dropped he pan.

 

[santov]

Yes, my pan and filter are one integrated plastic unit. With only having 24k miles I decided not to replace the filter unit yet (it's almost $280).

Now I'm a little concerned I picked the wrong fluid.

Where's the best place to buy ZF fluid?


Originally Posted By: Stooge
If your '07 Z4 has an automatic, the tranny is a Steptronic ZF unit in the 6HP19 family, with 6HP19Z designation for the many BMW units that year. These units came with BMW "lifetime fill" ATF, which is listed in the BMW Operating Fluids Manual, Groupe 24, as Shell M-1375.4, only available at the dealer. This is not the same as the old ESSO spec'ed oil you used. I priced this fluid at the dealer at $16 for liter. I instead opted to do some research and found two alternatives for this fluid, Pentosin ATF1 and ZF-Lifeguardfluid6 AT fluid. ZF and Pentosin fluid can be found at dealers. People have found other alternatives with labels stating that their ATF is compatible with Shell but I decided to play it safe. Unfortunately, ZF decided to make the pan and filter as an integrated unit made out of plastic. So, you must change the pan and filter as 1 piece if you dropped he pan.

 

[unDummy]

Don't be concerned. Maxlife will work fine.