[DN328]

I moved to General forum

I was on the phone with my service advisor who I like to think isn't your typical advisor (as he as some racing experience and been around the racing circuit and cars, most known for his M3 seen on speed channel). Just thinking out loud and wanted to share some thoughts in the process...

Tranny Fluid:
The dealer charges about $200 - $250 for the "lifetime" fluid itself (not including labor) :yikes: Once again, he too suggested that I did not change my tranny fluid, as the the factory stuff is good for that and is made to last ~200K miles. To be honest, I'm still on the fence here. That is, if I swap out the fluid with Redline D4 ATF, I will most likely have to do it more often after that (not that there's anthing wrong with that either).

My thoughts; I mean, I know it's the "stealership" and all, but there's got to me some things said for an oil that costs over $200 for about 1.2quarts, right? Another thought is, if I was to continue using the same fluid for say, up to 150K+ miles, I would place my bet on the factory fluid, and not Redline. Again, this is IF I never changed my fluid until up to that point.

Diff Fluid:
My advisor suggested that I change the diff fluid, but didn't give a specific time/mileage. Could someone confirm if BMW recommends fluid change here, or is this another lifetime deal? If not, what is the recommended change interval?

Anycase, this is what I plan to do on my ride (with 60+K) miles within the next week:
* replace sparkplugs: I'm sticking with OEM here. NGK (p/n BKR6EQUP)
* tranny fluid: Redline D4 ATF (on the fence still)
* differential fluid: Redline 75w90

Thanks for reading, feel free to share your thoughts.

 

[bearing01]

I'm with you on the tranny fluid change. I think I'll change my rear differential oil at 40kmiles and leave the OEM tranny fluid until at least 100k miles. The Redline tranny fluid is also not on BMW's recomended fluid list. After 100k miles I think even the best of fluids should be changed.

When you change your spark plugs keep the old ones for a few days. Drive around with the new plugs for a week to make sure your car likes them. If you accidentally damage the cables you can troubleshoot them by putting back in the old plugs.

John

 

[DN328]

bearing - thanks for the tip (btw, this thread is also in the general forum - i accidentally posted in Detail)

The dealer told me that our cars use Bosch or NGK, and, since I've never changed the plugs in the 60K miles so far, I have not confirmed exactly which brand I have. Short of pulling the wire, can you confirm that e46s use NGK?
I've looked on web sites and reading this forum, most folks who use NGK say that the OEM p/n is BKR6EQUP - which I've purchased on-line. I'm fairly certain that this is the correct part, so the car should be "receptive" to the new plug transplant (since they are identical)

 

[bearing01]

I haven't changed the plugs on my BMW yet. When you take out your plugs you can compare them and get the number of the one you remove. If they are the same as the new ones there should be no problems.

 

[SteelBlueXI]

Are we talking manual or auto tranny here? I was thinking about putting that in my manual. I've got 2 quarts of it sitting in my garage waiting.

 

[DN328]

Are we talking manual or auto tranny here? I was thinking about putting that in my manual. I've got 2 quarts of it sitting in my garage waiting.

manual tranny. i read it should take ~1.2qts. what kind are you using?

does anyone know how do we get the moderators to move this thread? i reposted this in the general forum, but this thread is also still alive - but in the wrong area (detail).

 

[SteelBlueXI]

manual tranny. i read it should take ~1.2qts. what kind are you using?

does anyone know how do we get the moderators to move this thread? i reposted this in the general forum, but this thread is also still alive - but in the wrong area (detail).

Redline D4 ATF.. same as you.