[montr]

Originally Posted by Wolf 335

Yes I did mine, along with the 4 cylindrical seals.

Had absolutely zero cracks on it when I removed it. Regardless I replaced it.

Removing the valve body is very simple. There really isn't much to it.

Once you remove the mechatronic unit you will drain a lot more oil as opposed to just a simple pan drain.

That is explaining why you used 9 liters of ATF. I just did the drain and fill, I did not remove the mechatronic module. I ended up using 6 liters of ATF. I had 7 liters on hand prior doing this service.

[Yozh]

Mechatronic removal is not difficult. Will need to support a transmission by a bracket off a tranny mount. Have to remove tranny mount to reach electrical plug. Have to remove plug seal to remove mechatronic. Will need a new one. Also make sure you observe ESD precautions with mechatronic and turn right bolts for removal.

[335stoner]

One thing that i think is misunderstood it the term "lifetime" the term doesn't mean the fluid never goes bad. it means that the fluid is rated for general life expectancy of the car. read once that the expected life of a BMW is 70k miles (i cant find the that page anymore), but we can call it 120k miles which is reasonable.

the fluid in the trans will last 120k with no problems and that is called a "lifetime"

after i did my seals and fluid change i cracked the top of the trans filter off the pan to see what it trapped... after 105k miles i will say i have zero worries about doing a drain and fill on my next fluid change. the filter is a large partial trap and not a fine partial remover. there was more dirt in my fluid than there was in the filter.

i should have taken a pic, but i didn't.

[Nadir Point]

Originally Posted by 335stoner

after i did my seals and fluid change i cracked the top of the trans filter off the pan to see what it trapped... after 105k miles i will say i have zero worries about doing a drain and fill on my next fluid change. the filter is a large partial trap and not a fine partial remover. there was more dirt in my fluid than there was in the filter.

This is pretty typical for contemporary automatics over the past 50 years. And it is not a "good" thing. What it means is the gearboxes are well-enough designed to live with little to no fluid filtration. Calling most of the things installed in these units for that purpose a "filter" is really ridiculous. Unemployed rock catchers would be a better description. So basically the longer you run it, the more abrasive the hydraulic environment becomes.

This debate over trans service intervals, fluids, etc. has been beaten to an equine death for decades now. If you want better trans maintenance you can do what some the some of the manufacturers did on the diesel pickups and start adding "real" filters to extend service intervals OR just do the drain and fill on an adequate interval. Either way is good, but disassembling the unit to get more fluid out would be a questionable cost vs. benefit to me, just in terms of time spent under the car.

[dmanb2b]

Originally Posted by Nadir Point

This debate over trans service intervals, fluids, etc. has been beaten to an equine death for decades now. If you want better trans maintenance you can do what some the some of the manufacturers did on the diesel pickups and start adding "real" filters to extend service intervals OR just do the drain and fill on an adequate interval. Either way is good, but disassembling the unit to get more fluid out would be a questionable cost vs. benefit to me, just in terms of time spent under the car.

Totally agree with only one clarification, and this probably wasn't said, but disassembly is not being suggested to remove more fluid, but rather replace the rubber sleeves that have shown to degrade and cause weird shift behavior.

[335stoner]

Originally Posted by Nadir Point

This is pretty typical for contemporary automatics over the past 50 years. And it is not a "good" thing. What it means is the gearboxes are well-enough designed to live with little to no fluid filtration. Calling most of the things installed in these units for that purpose a "filter" is really ridiculous. Unemployed rock catchers would be a better description. So basically the longer you run it, the more abrasive the hydraulic environment becomes.

This debate over trans service intervals, fluids, etc. has been beaten to an equine death for decades now. If you want better trans maintenance you can do what some the some of the manufacturers did on the diesel pickups and start adding "real" filters to extend service intervals OR just do the drain and fill on an adequate interval. Either way is good, but disassembling the unit to get more fluid out would be a questionable cost vs. benefit to me, just in terms of time spent under the car.

The only reason i did a full service was to replace seals against the valve body which go bad. i didn't say anywhere that i removed the valve body to remove more fluid..

i said i opened to look at the inside of the filter which is located in the pan

i also said after seeing the filter i would not have any issues doing a drain and fill... meaning i would skip dropping the pan just changing the fluid..

??

[Nadir Point]

Originally Posted by 335stoner

... meaning i would skip dropping the pan just changing the fluid.

It seemed to me someone was suggesting the mechatronix portion for fluid recovery purposes. No biggie. The bolts holding my trans pan on have been out once, just to confirm what we all seem to be agreeing on. The inside of my trans will never again see the light of day as long as I own it.

[robnitro]

Originally Posted by Nadir Point

It seemed to me someone was suggesting the mechatronix portion for fluid recovery purposes. No biggie. The bolts holding my trans pan on have been out once, just to confirm what we all seem to be agreeing on. The inside of my trans will never again see the light of day as long as I own it.

Unfortunately, I didn't learn about the seals when I did my fluid and pan change a year ago. I will drop the mechatronic next time. Is there a preffered kit for the seals and the sleeve or are all of them off the same quality? Also, can someone link me to the seals alone without the fluid, because I don't want to use zf6. Redline d6 has been working wonderful in all temperatures.

[Wolf 335]

Originally Posted by robnitro

Unfortunately, I didn't learn about the seals when I did my fluid and pan change a year ago. I will drop the mechatronic next time. Is there a preffered kit for the seals and the sleeve or are all of them off the same quality? Also, can someone link me to the seals alone without the fluid, because I don't want to use zf6. Redline d6 has been working wonderful in all temperatures.

Best is to go to realoem and get the correct part numbers.

After that plug the part numbers in the preferred parts site. I used fcpeuro.com.

[9mmkungfu]

Originally Posted by robnitro

Unfortunately, I didn't learn about the seals when I did my fluid and pan change a year ago. I will drop the mechatronic next time. Is there a preffered kit for the seals and the sleeve or are all of them off the same quality? Also, can someone link me to the seals alone without the fluid, because I don't want to use zf6. Redline d6 has been working wonderful in all temperatures.

These are the part numbers / quantities for the mechatronic seals.

Part number Quantity
--------------- ---------
24347588725 1
24347571211 1
24107519314 2
24107519315 1
24107520715 1