[egregor]

I recently took my car to the dealer for a transmission fluid change. The charge was $1100, and they informed me that this was simply a "pan drop" change, and even though some fluid would remain in the TC and other parts, ~5 liters would be replaced. I've attached a portion of my receipt from the procedure, which seems to indicate that only two liters of fluid was replaced.

Is this normal? How many liters are in the 335i transmission total? I can't imagine why the dealer would choose to replace less fluid when i'm happy to pay for the full 5-6 liters...

[kavadarci]

It should not be more than 2 litters in manual tranny (your is automatic so it's more) but $1100?????? That is INSANE.

What I got from my dealership when I asked when should I replace the tranny oil I got this:

"the transmission fluid on these vehicles is a lifetime fluid, that is in a sealed unit. The only time it gets replaced is if the transmission gets swapped"

A lot of confusion coming from the SAs which doesn't make easy

[egregor]

I agree the price is ridiculous but it seems to be about par for this car (maybe 100-200 high ) I was OK with paying it assuming the majority of the fluid was replaced, but if it was like 1/4 - 1/3, that's just stupid.

I'm wondering what I should do.. if this really is all the fluid that can be replaced through this procedure I'll leave it alone, otherwise should I contact them again to get the job done right?

EDIT Regarding the "lifetime" claim, I did ask about their stance on this, and the dealer told me point blank that they consider 100K miles to be "lifetime", and it should in fact be replaced at that interval. No ATF is lifetime, I've found. But if it helps, I did ask them to save a portion of the fluid and I'll be adding my Blackstone results to the forums to contribute to the "lifetime" debate.

[chelica1]

Recently did a complete flush on my '07 328. Just the pan drop should be 3-4 quarts. I took me 12 quarts to flush all the stuff from transmission and torque converter by disconnetcting the transmision cooling lines. I did the work myself and total was $100 for filter and pan gasket + 100 for synthetic DEXRON VI oil. I know 335 has ZF transmission but oil capacity should be in similar range.

[cvc 22349a]

I've read 5-6 liters usually go back in a 335i auto trans for a fluid change.
I hope the dealer replaced the pan, filter and mechatronic sealing sleeve too at that price. What a rip off at $1100!!

[egregor]

I've read 5-6 as well, that's why I'm wondering that happened. I asked BMW NA to respond to me with an official response on the number of liters for the pan drop (on my post-service survey), haven't heard back yet.

The service included the new pan/filter, but they did not replace the mechatronic sleeve. I was told if they see no signs of leakage, they don't touch it :-/

[Surly73]

Originally Posted by egregor

I recently took my car to the dealer for a transmission fluid change. The charge was $1100, and they informed me that this was simply a "pan drop" change, and even though some fluid would remain in the TC and other parts, ~5 liters would be replaced. I've attached a portion of my receipt from the procedure, which seems to indicate that only two liters of fluid was replaced.

Is this normal? How many liters are in the 335i transmission total? I can't imagine why the dealer would choose to replace less fluid when i'm happy to pay for the full 5-6 liters...

I'm not entirely sure I understand the question, but:

1/ why was the pan replaced? Most of your cost was to supply a new pan. Did the SA misunderstand what you asked for? (Or did you not understand what you were asking for when you talked to the SA?) Or is the filter integrated into the pan on the 335? EDIT: Yep, according to RealOEM the filter is integral to the pan, so it costs $350 instead of $15. Nice one, ZF.

2/ Standard procedure is to refill the transmission with the fluid which was removed from it. This is what "lifetime oil" means to the dealer. The 2L of fluid was probably was was spilled when the pan was removed and the new one installed.

It looks to me kind of like you paid a whole whack of money to get lots of work you didn't intend to have done (unless you actually needed a new pan), and didn't even get the work you wanted.

You want to "remove" the pan, not replace it with a new one.
You want to change the filter. (EDIT: part of the pan)
You want to refill with new fluid.

[F32Fleet]

Pan is single use and the filter is incorporated into the pan itself

[intensee92]

Me and a buddy did a drain and fill for my 328i tranny fluids a few months back. I had to drop the pan and replace the gasket since there is supposedly a common leak with the auto trans. I drained as much as I could out of the tranny and put in about 8-9 quarts back in with new fluids.