Pretty sure what you need is any Dexron 6 fluid. Talked w guys a lot about this in past months. Don't know about a flush and fill, nobody said that in the past. I drained the tranny pan and refilled with new Dexron 6. All fine so far. Cheers

 

Mine is green, but an easy call with an XI as they all have GM trannys. If you have a GM tranny use any Dexron VI. Make sure you have the GM tranny, and not a ZF. There's this dedicated tranny fluid thread.

Official ATF list: GM and ZF

This is intended to be only ATFs listed as compatible by BMW, the AT manufacturer, or the ATF manufacturer. It's not a list of preferences, opinions, recommendations, etc. Just trying to have one list in one place. If you know of others, please chime in and they'll be added to the list...

forum.e46fanatics.com

 

I'm having a hard enough time figuring out what type of transmission I have.

 

Stick your phone under the car and take a picture of the transmission oil pan. People here can help identify it from the picture.

 

Your 1999 323i has a GM transmission.

For GM transmission, any modern Dexron VI fluid will be fine. Dexron VI is GM's own specification that is backwards-compatible with older fluids.

If you have a ZF transmission, LT71141 is the specification you need.

In any case, considering the age of the fluid, I would recommend multiple drain/fills while the car is up in the air to get as much of that old fluid out as possible.

 

To do the 3 times drain and fill, how much do I need? Four gallons?

 

You can also drain, drop the pan, replace filter, refill, and then flush balance through the transmission cooler. I took this approach on 325i, and other other than replacing a slippery fill plug at the end, worked great. Keeps you from having jack and drain x3. Might as well do your diff while there (very easy)

 

You can also drain, drop the pan, replace filter, refill, and then flush balance through the transmission cooler.

I'm interested in this process. Any step by step diys?

 

The transmission was made by GM of France. How do I know? The bottom of the pan is smooth. Your transmission uses Dexron VI fluid.
Be advised that there’s a specific process that has to be followed to properly fill the transmission. Check YouTube.

The pan bottom would be ribbed if the transmission was made by ZF of Germany.

 

Today I bought 21 Liters of this oil for the transmission oil change (X3). Because I don't know how much I need to change it 3 times.
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61KI4DD4MBL._SL1000_.jpg

I got a great deal. I'm having buyers remorse. I just realized you all got Dexron VI (a little hard for me to get at a good price in Canada but do-able). The transmission is the most important component. If it goes, the car and all the money I invested is toast. I can't afford to take a chance.

The label on the back as you can see lists every BMW spec that there is. That's why I got it (plus the fact that it was available and I didn't have to order it). But it also lists like a ton of other specs. How can this be? Can it truly be compatible with so many? Now that I think about it, it just doesn't seem logical. How can I trust something that claims to be compatible with everything under the sun?

Should I try to return it tomorrow??? I'm not even sure NAPA will take it back... The bottles are un-touched/un-opened.

 

Your car has the GM transmission. Use a Dexron VI ATF from this list.
http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=1125083

Notice that the Valvoline Maxlife Multi-Vehicle is the only one on there that satisfies both GM (Dexron VI) and ZF (LT71141).
US_Val_MLMultiVehicle_ATF_EN.pdf - DocuSign CLM

 

I have been running maxlife in my GM 390r for the past 90,000 miles

With that said, I would not be returning the fluid unless you would rather a GM Dex 6 officially approved fluid instead

Being that maxlife is a multi vehicle fluid, I have also used it exclusively in 3 different ZF gearboxes including 5HP19 and 5HP24 units without fault

Do I think lifeguard5 is better choice in a ZF box ? Yes, and so does ZF

Will maxlife be the best option for a Dex 6 GM transmission? Only you can tell us based on subjective feel, however I think you will he suprised how well it works

Sent from my XT1650 using E46Fanatics mobile app

 

A number of users on this and other boards have used this fluid with good results. Don't sweat it.

 

@Bali, so you're saying MaxLife is lying? So are you saying that Valvoline is the only one so if that was possible then why wouldn't other oils do it also....or r u saying that Valvoline is the only one that pulled it off. I guess what your saying is that dex 6 is the safe bet.

 

@Bali, so you're saying MaxLife is lying? So are you saying that Valvoline is the only one

Read the spec sheet. It lists both Dexron VI and LT71141. When I wrote that thread I researched all the ATFs I could find for several days. That’s the only one I saw that supports both specifications.

 

do you think 18 quarts is enough for a 3 times change?

 

Maybe... I've typically used between 5.5 and 6.5 qt when changing (depends on how much drained out), so you *might* be a quart or two short by the third change.


I say get 18qt; you'll know if you need extra bottles after the second change (the third should take place after no less than a few hundred miles -- I went 3000).

 

I went to NAPA today and they took back the Valvoline MaxLife ATF and they ordered 19 Liters/quarts of Valvoline Dexron VI for me. Thanks for all the help guys. I really appreciate it. I don't trust Valvoline nor do I trust GM. I trust you guys. Most of you went with dexron vi from what I can see and did well with it. That's why I decided to return it and pay more and get Dex VI. As far as I know Valvoline MaxLife could be even better than Valvoline Dex VI with all its fancy additives it claims to have... but GM doesn't endorse it because Dex6 is protected under license and dex3 commercial licenses expired (so anyone can make Dex/Merc mix without paying royalties). But like I said, you guys went with Dex6 and seem to like it and I can put my trust in that.

 

I went to NAPA today and they took back the Valvoline MaxLife ATF and they ordered 19 Liters/quarts of Valvoline Dexron VI for me...

 

A little history on the GM transmission used in E46 cars might be interesting.

Back in the late 1990's when the E46 was being invented, BMW was also beginning their trek down the "long life" fluid path that we're all familiar with.

Back then, GM was building the same transmission used in the E46 (transmission named A5S 360R) for other GM vehicles (transmission named 5L40E). They filled those 5L40E transmissions with Dexron III because it was the best fluid they had at the time.

But Dexron III is a "short life" fluid. It degrades quickly.
And Dexron VI, GM's "long life" fluid hadn't been invented yet.

BMW pushed GM to use ETL-7045e fluid in their transmissions as a way to achieve some kind of "long life" in the absence of anything better.

Once GM released Dexron VI, they declared it to be backward compatible in all their automatic transmissions.
( I doubt anyone at GM ever did any long term testing on your specific transmission with Dexron VI).

So, what would I pour into my A5S 360R GM transmission in my E46?

ETL-7045e under the brand name Texamatic 7045e is certainly a defendable choice. That's what was in it when in left the GM factory. When I last did my transmission I used the 7045e. I remember it being a real pain to locate and buy.

Dexron VI is defendable too, given that GM broadly announced it to be compatible. I think if I was doing a fluid change today I'd use some brand name Dexron VI off the shelves of Walmart. Easy-peasy and cheap.

In the world of transmission engineering geeks, the recipe and performance characteristics of Dexron VI are very highly regarded.

podman

 

That 7045E designation for the original factory fill is one of the reasons i am going with liqui moly top tec 1200. but i expect liqui moly top tec 1800 and other dexron VI are fine also. liqui moly actually recommends 1800 for the GM transmission.
Top Tec ATF 1200

 

Get a quality Dex6 and call it a day. Doesn’t seem to matter which auto you have. My ZF for example has been on Dexron since 47k. Now at 170k.