Anyone Tried TRIPLE QX MTF 75w80 Manual Transmission Fluid?

darchard · Post by **darchard** » Mon May 06, 2019 3:45 pm

Hi all,
I have a 2003 Z4 3.0i and the gear change is a bit clunky. I'm not sure whether it's the transmission oil needs changing or the clutch is on it's way out (I've done 144k miles now). I thought I'd change the transmission oil first as it's the cheaper/easier option.
I've surmised I need to use GL4 75W80 transmission fluid and Euro Car Parts do a TRIPLE QX MTF 75w80 Manual Transmission Fluid with that spec. It's pretty cheap at £14 / litre and also easy to get hold of.
I wondered if anyone has tried it and whether it's any good?
Many thanks,
David

lucasxdiniz · Post by **lucasxdiniz** » Mon May 06, 2019 4:23 pm

I changed my transmission fluid Saturday and found that the shifting does feel smoother, but nothing mind blowing (95k miles). I bought the OEM oil at a BMW dealership for £26/litre (You'll need 2l). I think that changing the oil in your transmission will help with the clunkiness, but at 144k miles your synchros might not be as effective as they once were, so it might not cure the clunkiness significantly, however, if you don't already have a weighted shifter, buy one! My ZHP shifter knob made a significant improvement to the shift feeling.

I am no expert, but as I understand, mineral oil degrades much more quickly than synthetic oils. I looked the transmission oil you mentioned, and it is a mineral oil. So you may need to change your transmission oil a lot sooner than you'd have to with a fully-synthetic oil. I also think that shifting would feel worse at cold temperatures with a mineral oil even if the correct grade has been used.

Z4M-2006 · Post by **Z4M-2006** » Mon May 06, 2019 7:13 pm

I changed all my Z's to Amsoil manual syncromesh transmission fluid.

Made a great difference to changes..

biojo · Post by **biojo** » Mon May 06, 2019 8:22 pm

I used RED LINE Synthetic Manual Transmission Lubricant MTL 75W-80, which feels allot smoother. prior to this had fuchs titan sintofluid 75w-80 but wasnt any improvement on BMWs

Jakg · Post by **Jakg** » Mon May 06, 2019 9:42 pm

biojo wrote: ↑Mon May 06, 2019 8:22 pm I used RED LINE Synthetic Manual Transmission Lubricant MTL 75W-80, which feels allot smoother. prior to this had fuchs titan sintofluid 75w-80 but wasnt any improvement on BMWs

I changed to Sintofluid after 115k, the stuff that came out was black so def needed changing.

I went to Sintofluid as I've used it in my RenaultSport Megane - I haven't noticed a difference, other than the first to second change is perhaps slightly worse. It's only slight though, and I'm happy to have done it considering the condition before.

Opie suggested a 50:50 mix of ATF and gear oil to solve the 1st->2nd issue which is common with BMWs - but as I didn't have it before I changed I didn't think I needed to!

I normally use QX stuff as it's cheap but the Fuchs was barely any more.

I also changed the diff oil as the same time - it is easy to do at the same time (i.e. if you've got the car jacked and level) and although it didn't look that bad, I figured 15 years of service was good enough.

Scooba_Steve · Post by **Scooba_Steve** » Tue May 07, 2019 5:49 pm

Anything is better than what will be in there

biojo · Post by **biojo** » Tue May 07, 2019 6:51 pm

Jakg wrote: ↑Mon May 06, 2019 9:42 pm
biojo wrote: ↑Mon May 06, 2019 8:22 pm I used RED LINE Synthetic Manual Transmission Lubricant MTL 75W-80, which feels allot smoother. prior to this had fuchs titan sintofluid 75w-80 but wasnt any improvement on BMWs
I changed to Sintofluid after 115k, the stuff that came out was black so def needed changing.

I went to Sintofluid as I've used it in my RenaultSport Megane - I haven't noticed a difference, other than the first to second change is perhaps slightly worse. It's only slight though, and I'm happy to have done it considering the condition before.

Opie suggested a 50:50 mix of ATF and gear oil to solve the 1st->2nd issue which is common with BMWs - but as I didn't have it before I changed I didn't think I needed to!

I normally use QX stuff as it's cheap but the Fuchs was barely any more.

I also changed the diff oil as the same time - it is easy to do at the same time (i.e. if you've got the car jacked and level) and although it didn't look that bad, I figured 15 years of service was good enough.

Ye id always used the Sintofluid in clio sport, with no issues. the old oil was clean on mine, but thought a refresh with it would help, as you said 1st n second didnt feel quite right, but after countless internet threads fount the redline stuff recomended by many, there was another brand but didnt seem to be sold much in UK, But 2 years in with redline changes still fell smooth just a little firmer. Admittedly the price of redline over Sintofluid was allot more and its not sold per litre its quarts

but next year when i re do mine itll be having same again

Capa · Post by **Capa** » Fri May 10, 2019 3:01 pm

50:50 Redline MTL 75/80 and Redline D4 ATF.

It'll cost you about 40 quid, but it's honeslty worth every penny. I did it at about 100k and it transformed the gearbox from being something that was unsatisfying to use to one of the strong points of the car.

Magicarcher · Post by **Magicarcher** » Mon May 13, 2019 8:32 pm

Havent tried the QX diff oil, but have tried the Triple QX engine oil in my mini and wouldn't use it again. It is a very different colour to all other oils (castrol, mobil, shell, fuchs) that I have used almost dark brown like tea without milk. The colour may not be a problem but what I have noticed is the oil consumption is much higher than castrol magnatec stop start. I used to get around 3,000 miles per litre. It's now about a 1000.

Considering you won't have to change diff oil again for a long time, if it were my decision, I would pay more and get known quality.

Jakg · Post by **Jakg** » Mon May 13, 2019 9:29 pm

Magicarcher wrote: ↑Mon May 13, 2019 8:32 pm Havent tried the QX diff oil, but have tried the Triple QX engine oil in my mini and wouldn't use it again. It is a very different colour to all other oils (castrol, mobil, shell, fuchs) that I have used almost dark brown like tea without milk. The colour may not be a problem but what I have noticed is the oil consumption is much higher than castrol magnatec stop start. I used to get around 3,000 miles per litre. It's now about a 1000.

Considering you won't have to change diff oil again for a long time, if it were my decision, I would pay more and get known quality.

I've used TripleQX oil in 3 cars for about 100k. Colour is golden just like other oils, and didn't notice any increase in oil consumption - my Megane and ZT never needed topping up between changes, and my wifes Golf burnt oil so regularly I had to keep track of the rate and it was completely unchanged.

Scooba_Steve · Post by **Scooba_Steve** » Mon May 13, 2019 10:10 pm

I was getting a little bit of oil consumption on Petronas 5w30, tried Millers nanodrive 5w40 and it reduced a bit, used Triple QX 5w40 and it hasn't used a drop.

Any oil (of the right grade) changed frequently is better than 'better' brands left for 15k/2 years

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