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Gearbox oil recommendation?

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legacy4cam
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Joined: Tue May 16, 2017 9:56 pm

Gearbox oil recommendation?

Post by legacy4cam » Sun Jun 25, 2017 10:22 pm

I'm going to remove CDV, but the gear change is a little notchy also on my early Z4 3.0.
Is there any oil recommended to smooth the change...?

Cheers in advance,

Iain,

flybobbie
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Location: Stourbridge

Gearbox oil recommendation?

Post by flybobbie » Sun Jun 25, 2017 10:31 pm

I've tried Redline ATF and now TITAN SINTOFLUID.
Can't say it's made a vast difference.
Ambient temperature makes most difference, warmer smoother.
And carrying a full load seems to make for smoother gear changes.

Sorry slipped into newbies forum, my car E89 23i.

csquire4
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Gearbox oil recommendation?

Post by csquire4 » Sun Jul 02, 2017 9:46 am

Like you I was disappointed with the manual shift.

For my 2004 3.0 manual gearbox I changed to 50/50 mix of Redline MTF and Redline ATF 4 as recommended by various BMW forums and OPIE oils. You'll need to buy 1 quart of each. It did improve the shift.

Removing the CDV also helps and then fitting a weighted gearknob. Most go for ZHP (about £50) but some including me go for Stormwerks V1 or V2 which are heavier than ZHP. This also makes a very noticeable improvement. The extra weight seems to 'smother' the notchiness.

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=92814&p=1365536#p1365536

One benefit of the Stormwerks is that you can adjust how far down the shaft you want it. I have it quite high which means a longer shift (similar to standard gearknob) but the longer lever means shifting requires less effort. Most would have it as low as possible for 'shorter' shifts with reduced throw.

Gearbox oil, CDV delete and heavy knob will get the gearbox to acceptable
Last edited by csquire4 on Mon Jul 03, 2017 9:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.
2004 3.0i, manual, toledo blue

legacy4cam
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Joined: Tue May 16, 2017 9:56 pm

Gearbox oil recommendation?

Post by legacy4cam » Sun Jul 02, 2017 8:38 pm

Thanks for the advice... mix of oil ? Now one on me....

I'll have to google ZHPas well!

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