E86 Gearbox whine

Zee4Coop · Post by **Zee4Coop** » Mon Oct 15, 2018 4:05 pm

About 6 weeks in with my 2008 Z4 3.0si and so far I've put roughly 1,000 miles on it and just love it! But..... I've noticed a whine from the gearbox in 1st and 2nd between say 1,000 and 3,000 revs. It seems to fade after 3k revs but that could be the engine taking over in the volume stakes. There are no other symptoms. There is no backlash in the transmission, the clutch is smooth, gears engage precisely (with a firm hand) and there's nothing else untoward. Of course I'm now listening to it and wondering whether it was there on the test drive, have I just noticed it, is it getting worse, should I change the oil and why is everyone out to get me? Any views on how common or serious this may be and whether I can do anything about it would be appreciated.

ph001 · Post by **ph001** » Mon Oct 15, 2018 5:45 pm

Gearbox oil change has to be the first thing to do to start eliminating things. Very easy to do - about 1.2l capacity. Just did mine at the weekend.

Zee4Coop · Post by **Zee4Coop** » Mon Oct 15, 2018 7:27 pm

Thanks ph001 can I ask please what oil you used and why did you decide to change it? Cheers!

ph001 · Post by **ph001** » Mon Oct 15, 2018 7:57 pm

My first gear was occasionally getting notchy to engage at lights etc. New gearbox oil has completely cured it. Feels beautifully slick and light again now. I think most of the 75W 80 fully synth GL4 compatible gear oils will be fine. I went for this:

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Just a word of warning on the 8mm alan key drain and refill plugs...they tend to be quite tight and are made from aluminium so are easy to strip if you are not careful. Applying a bit of heat beforehand with a blowlamp made it 10x easier, they come undone no problem at all then. Make sure you can undo the refill plug before you empty all the fluid out!

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You will also need a big syringe to get the new oil in...mine is 500ml. Widely available on ebay / amazon...

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Zee4Coop · Post by **Zee4Coop** » Tue Oct 16, 2018 11:14 am

Brilliant! Thank you so much for taking the time to share your tips and pics.

Zee4Coop · Post by **Zee4Coop** » Wed Jan 02, 2019 12:14 pm

Hi ph001, finally got round to changing gearbox oil over the hols. Simple job thanks to your advice. Gear change is transformed specially neutral to 1st and 1st to 2nd. Thanks and all the best for 2019! Phil

ph001 · Post by **ph001** » Thu Jan 03, 2019 12:53 am

Nice one

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