[althepa]

...from a practical standpoint, that is. (Disclaimers: I have been working on various European cars, mostly Porsches, for 20+ years; please, no commentary on whether it is wise to change fluid at all/at whatever mileage/ what fluid to use if you do, etc, I am familiar with the controversies over the "lifetime" ATF in these and other cars).

I have an 07 328i automatic with 48k miles I bought a year ago as a CPO car. I planned to do a partial fluid change today, with a new ca$e of Pento$in ATF1 $itting at the ready. Having done this type thing more than a few times in other cars, I scoped out where I was going to put the new fluid in before draining the old.

Unfortunately, the trans in my car looks nothing like the one in the DIY guide here. The typical 17 mm internal Allen socket plug was nowhere to be found. I can see what is probably a black filler plug at the rear of the unit (a protruding, mostly-round-with-two-flat-sides type), but it is mostly blocked by the rear mounting bracket for the trans.

The impression I get is that BMW, like so many other manufacturers, has marched one step further towards making these cars unmaintainable by the home mechanic, even compared to the generation car in the DIY. I can see getting this done by perhaps supporting the trans from below the car, and disconnecting the rear support structure. But man, it shouldn't be this hard. Any constructive thoughts?