[Socket]

Originally Posted by vtl

No point shelling out the money for the service if you plan on ditching the trans. Not too hard of a diy though

I'm having mod withdrawals mate lol

[1275]

Originally Posted by Socket

I'm having mod withdrawals mate lol

Are you planning on a manual conversion?

[Ken Oath]

Originally Posted by CYL

Just wonder why some people recommend Motul ATF instead of ZF one?
Are Motul fluids such as brake fluid, ATF a more superior product than BMW ones?

Motul is a French company which use Italian blending plants to produce their products.
The Motul Multi ATF is about $20 per litre retail versus ZF LG 6 at $50 per litre.

The Motul Multi ATF meets M1375.4 and lists the oil as a replacement for the BMW (ZF) part number.
Probably also that it is available via https://clickableautomotive.com.au makes it a convenient resource.

BMW nor ZF, to the best of my knowledge, do not own any blending plants.

[TIRA]

Originally Posted by Trev88

Wow that's cheap paid $900 cash for it >.<

Ouch! I had to do mine cause it was leaking really bad..

[Socket]

Originally Posted by 1275

Are you planning on a manual conversion?

Maybe lol

[e36mmm]

Never got it done on any bmw I owned including my e30 which is on 300k kms, e46 on 115k kms and my e93 which is on 129k kms. And never had a transmission problem either or a sign of failure or slippage on the following cars above which I still own. I am not sure if that's luck or marketing bullshit. I remember somewhere that the transmission oil was for life and didn't require change but please correct me if I am mistaken..

[Ken Oath]

ZF recommended between 80,000km and 120,000km, or 8 years, depending on the load.

BMW say it's maintenance free.

[e36mmm]

I reckon not worth touching unless you have signs of wear. How many people just then, mentioned that they have not serviced the transmission oil. Seems like an optional maintenance item and frequent change of transmission oil I am sure is not a good thing. I'd leave it unless car is tuned and or gets driven everywhere with heavy load. A bit of a grey area and hard to prove whether it is a good idea to change it. Definitely a good debate starter lol

[CYL]

First got the car second hand and never know if the transmission is working as it should be now.
Thought it would be good to do preventative maintenance but quite a lot of people saying better not to touch the transmission as e36mmm said

[e36mmm]

I would get a bmw specialist to check it out for leaks for a peace of mind if you are that concerned. If no leaks, try adaptation reset. And apply adaptation reset in general once every few months. It helps to keep gears for longer, less changes in gears and improves fuel economy slightly. After that If there is no delays and shifts smoothly at slow speeds and also shifts faster than usual at redline when you wot, then you know its good. The car will let you know if you look out for any uncommon noises or gear change behaviour of tranny. Seems like yours is okay. One sign of wear on these trannies is if the car rolls backwards in D. Which it should not. Leaking can occur on zf transmission if the car is a 335d or 330d and very unlikely on the 335i. As some may presume, that's because of load and high level of torque that diesel engines apply on the zf gearbox as my buddy found out last week when he bought a 330d cab MY 2011. We took it for a post purchase inspection and found the tranny leaking slightly. They change a few seals, the oil and the plug and that just cost him 500ish with labour.

Also a tip for automatic users, don't allow the transmission to make that clunk noise when shifting into D from P when leaving a parking spot on a hill. Best way to avoid that clunk which you may experience from time to time when handbrake is applied is to change gears first while applying your brakes and then release handbrake. Not the other way around as most people do.

[SE7EN335]

If any of you are going to do the transmission service around 100k kms, do the 4 clutch pressure rubber seals and mechatronic adaptor behind the valve body, mechatronic sealing sleeve, transmission pan bolts and transmission drain plug along with transmission pan and ZF lifeguard 6 or Motul Multi ATF (have tried both, and they both have no noticeable difference in terms of shifting quality seeing as the Multi ATF is specced identically to ZF life guard 6 and priced less than half of ZF lifeguard 6). If you getting close to 200k kms or above, it would be recommended to also do the Sonnax rebuild valve body rebuild kit (160USD shipped) along with a ZF E-shift solenoids pack replacement from CTSC (375 USD, don't think they do international shipping so just use a US forwarding carrier).

[Ken Oath]

Originally Posted by SE7EN335

.....ZF lifeguard 6 or Motul Multi ATF (have tried both, and they both have no noticeable difference in terms of shifting quality seeing as the Multi ATF is specced identically to ZF life guard 6 and priced less than half of ZF lifeguard 6)......

Motul Multi ATF is NOT the same specification as ZF LG 6.

ZF LG 6: TE-ML 11, M1375.4 partially synthetic
Motul Multi ATF: TE-ML 14A/14B, M1375.4 fully synthetic

[vtl]

Originally Posted by e36mmm

I reckon not worth touching unless you have signs of wear. How many people just then, mentioned that they have not serviced the transmission oil. Seems like an optional maintenance item and frequent change of transmission oil I am sure is not a good thing. I'd leave it unless car is tuned and or gets driven everywhere with heavy load. A bit of a grey area and hard to prove whether it is a good idea to change it. Definitely a good debate starter lol

I disagree, driven heaps of zf 6ats at various kms and a service is definitely worth it if you're at 100k.

You won't notice it unless you drive other cars but whenever I drive a high km one they drive like crap compared to recently serviced ones or low kms ones. The shifts slush more (could be worn out seals which reduces the hydraulic pressure) the transition between coast and drive can be clunky, downshifts not accurate (tries to rev match but doesnt give enough revs and has to slush the shift ). Imo these transmissions dont feel great after 100k and makes me very glad I drive a manual.


tawfeeqh car was upgraded by nizpro but was also rebuilt and freshened up and I can say it is by far the best zf 6at i've ever driven. Drive heaps better than any stock, tuned or recently serviced 6hp21 ive ever driven. Shifts were crisp and downshifts were actually accurate, instead of slushing the mismatched revs.

[tawfeeqh]

100% agree with vtl

Before I had my transmission upgraded I thought my trans was pretty good, however after the upgrade and refresh of all internals + strengthening, new oil the shifts became much smoother and rev matching improved. Might I add this is also without any software changes. Still running revision 1 Alpina. Now with xHP in Beta I will be getting Nizpro to flash the car with one of xHPs OTS maps before getting a custom TCU tune by Nizpro.

Vince - i'll bring the car around again and we'll go for a drive. From the Beta test car videos I have seen the shifts appear more comparable to the new 8 speed ZF gearbox in the F series

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?sto...13294002319955

[vtl]

Originally Posted by tawfeeqh

100% agree with vtl

Before I had my transmission upgraded I thought my trans was pretty good, however after the upgrade and refresh of all internals + strengthening, new oil the shifts became much smoother and rev matching improved. Might I add this is also without any software changes. Still running revision 1 Alpina. Now with xHP in Beta I will be getting Nizpro to flash the car with one of xHPs OTS maps before getting a custom TCU tune by Nizpro.

Vince - i'll bring the car around again and we'll go for a drive. From the Beta test car videos I have seen the shifts appear more comparable the new 8 speed ZF gearbox in the F series

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?sto...13294002319955

That will be awesome to give yours a go. I have previously drive an F30 335i and now recently driven an M240i with the zf 8 speed and it was the best auto I have ever driven. Would be good to compare them.

[bungsai]

Originally Posted by TIRA

I just did this last week, cost me $500 including labour here in Melbourne.

Did the whole transmission fluid kit replacement (pan + gasket + oil) + Sealing Sleeve!

That is a heap cheaper than I've been quoted!

Can I steal workshop details of where you got this done?

Thanks mate!

[SE7EN335]

Originally Posted by vtl

I disagree, driven heaps of zf 6ats at various kms and a service is definitely worth it if you're at 100k.

You won't notice it unless you drive other cars but whenever I drive a high km one they drive like crap compared to recently serviced ones or low kms ones. The shifts slush more (could be worn out seals which reduces the hydraulic pressure) the transition between coast and drive can be clunky, downshifts not accurate (tries to rev match but doesnt give enough revs and has to slush the shift ). Imo these transmissions dont feel great after 100k and makes me very glad I drive a manual.


tawfeeqh car was upgraded by nizpro but was also rebuilt and freshened up and I can say it is by far the best zf 6at i've ever driven. Drive heaps better than any stock, tuned or recently serviced 6hp21 ive ever driven. Shifts were crisp and downshifts were actually accurate, instead of slushing the mismatched revs.

Yeah definitely agree. Huge night and day difference when I did the transmission oil change at 60kish kms when I first got the car. Gear shifts turned from slushy, like you said, into crisp and precise as in the needle dropped down faster after each upshift, whereas before it would hesitate and feel a bit uneasy at each upshift. I reckon if you are tuned and running FBO, would be best to do transmission oil changes between 50k-70k kms.

[MMM335]

Originally Posted by Socket

I need to do this. Is it a hard DIY?

Its easy mech sleeve is a prick but, be careful not to bend pins like i did and have to source another TCU lol

[SE7EN335]

Originally Posted by Ken Oath

Motul Multi ATF is NOT the same specification as ZF LG 6.

ZF LG 6: TE-ML 11, M1375.4 partially synthetic
Motul Multi ATF: TE-ML 14A/14B, M1375.4 fully synthetic

OH Really? so ZF LG 6 is only partially synthetic? How can they advocate for a oil to be used for 100k kms seeing as its only partially synthetic?

[MMM335]

quoted from my build post, ps anyone wanting a stage 2 TCU that has a pre 07 box, ill sell you one i broke the pin on, turns out the pin i broke doesnt send any data anyways. Hence now having a spare and forking out for a replacement i didnt need lol

Finally got around to doing the transmission, fairly easy job and lifetime fluid defiantly requires replacing under my own personal opinion as after smoother shifts and less jerk has been noticed.

Transmission fluid was quite brown, when its supposed to be red to my understanding, not only that the magnetic bits had quite abit of metal deposit on them. Used ryco filter with nulon multi vehicle ATF.


^ ready to role and get shit done despite it being 33 degrees lol. (RYCO filter used, tbh only difference was where the metal deposit ends up on the magnets)


^ weird looking unit, let it drip overnight into the old pan to.. managed to get out just under 7L


^ been having steering creeks and what seemed like bad vibration felt in steering. Found these were all loose to the point of hanging out by a thread.


^ secretions old and new filter/pan


^ took about 6L back which i found odd. Used MHD trans temp feature to check, was 31 degrees without having to warm her up, no matter what it took less fluid then what come out. Will give it another top up tmoz..

Overall, i feel the difference in both diff and tranny after a fluid change, and highly advise doing so.

Fixed a few minor things whilst i was doing this, loose bolts, fixed and tightened steering rack which eliminated the creek/noise, dump pipes were rotated slightly to eliminate the slight rattle that was occurring. Seem to have encountered a boost leak again at 140+ thinking the BOV is set to hard, will test tmoz when i clean vanos solenoids etc, also due for brake replacement and serpentine belt looks like it could do with the new one i bought instead... power steering pulley looks a bit off to, will provide pics, no evidence of rubbing though which is good from what i can see on the subframe.. Valve cover has a small leak which i got to get around to aswell.. never ends lol..

[MMM335]

PS fluid i used was Nulon Full Synthetic Multi-Vehicle Automatic Transmission Fluid (SYNATF) and seems to be holding up fine.

[SE7EN335]

Originally Posted by MMM335

PS fluid i used was Nulon Full Synthetic Multi-Vehicle Automatic Transmission Fluid (SYNATF) and seems to be holding up fine.

Well the fluid does meet 1375.4 Specs and is equivalent to Motul Multi ATF. HAHA looks like the cheaper price of the fluid is because its Nulon as compared to the French Motul.