Changed gearbox oil yourself? (3.0 Coupe)

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 St Albans (one days march from London)
So I've finally had enough of my belligerent gearbox (I have a wife and three kids for aggro - I don't need it when I'm out on my own in a car!)

Car's late 2007, 13.5k miles. The shifting is at best slow and worst awkward. Very often it's difficult to select 1st at standstill (have to select 2nd or 3rd first). Up and down between 2nd and 3rd is just plain difficult. I heal and toe as a matter of course but this is ridiculous when your trickling along in town & very difficult in work shoes!

It's due a service in a month or so at which stage I'll ask BMW about it (I'm sure they won't be helpful but I have read of warranty replacements albeit in the US on Z4M's I think.) I thought that before I take it in I'd at least change the gearbox oil. I doubt it'll make any difference but I feel I need to rule it out + I'd rather do it myself than pay BMW (if they suggest it) + it won't hurt now that it is run in to have some new oil to see it through for the next few years.

I have access to an inspection pit so I'll be doing the CDV & the brake fluid at the same time.

Questions:

Has anyone done this themselves?
Do I need to pump the old oil out or is there a drain plug?
Do I need a pump to get the new fluid in or is there enough room to pour (probably a silly question!)
Can you recommend a cheap pump?
Any other relevant comments/thoughts?
 
I've done it a few times, there's a drain plug on teh bottom of it, you do need to pump the oil in mind you, since the fill plug is on the side of the box (O/S), you can use any kind of fluid pump with flexi pipe on it. Just fill it back up till it leaks out the fill plug, I've also tilted the car to get a little more in there, doesn't hurt but not always possible.

I'd recommend Royal Purple if you want the best stuff Royal Purple

It's dead easy, just can get very messy. always change the O-ring on the drain plug too.
 
Tip for you - ensure you can undo the filler plug before draining the oil else you have a big problem to solve.

disagree with overfilling. The manufarturer sets the level at a certain height for good reason. Too much can foam, but under normal circumstance is unlikely to make any difference, good or bad.
 
Thanks guys - good advice!

I'll see what I can find in the way of pumps in Halfords. Looking on TIS it would seem that 1.5l is required.

I think I saw somewhere that the requirement is for oil of BMW's Green Label spec. does that sound familiar?
From what I can see that means (to quote TIS) "all mineral transmission oils of the viscosity class SAE 80 as per specification MIL-L-2015 or API-GL-4"

I would like to go for the best spec oil I can - although it's hard to know how they compare against BMW's own. What is your recommendation of Royal Purple based on th30d0r3?

Incidentally there is a note on TIS that lower viscosities can be used to help shifting in cold weather (as you'd expect) but that they can cause problems with rattling (as you might expect). Also never to use synthetic or multigrade as they adversely affect the syncromesh (which I suppose I knew). I've seen another note on there that references problems (on rare occasions) from water in the oil). The point is that if the oil is a bit off colour it could cause problems with the syncro so I'm sure this is the most sensible starting point.
 
My recommendation of Royal purple is based on using it many times in the past to help with smoothing the gear changes out. it's also quite good for when you have that stick gear lever issue when it sits under 5th gear due to the centring pin getting clogs up. (doesn't happen on newer gearboxes).
There's also countless BMW forums that also recommend it for the same reason.
 
Do you have any idea what the implications of using a synthetic as opposed to the BMW specified mineral oil are?

One thing I have identified is that the GL4 specification is very old and many oils exceed it by a considerable margin now.
 
Hi i replaced my gearbox oil for the same reason (hard to select first gear ) it made no difference what so ever after replacing !
plus sytners in nottingham told me when i was trying to sorce the correct gearbox oil " no need to replace guaranteed for the life of the car
i used these to sorce correct gearbox and rear diff oil very helpful
"http://www.opieoils.co.uk/c-688-bmw.aspx
 
Thanks Stirz.

Disappointing to hear that your experiences weren't as positive as others. I have to say I went out last night for a long very fast zip round the countryside and got a good bit of heat in to the box and the change did seem a lot less bad than I've become used to.

That difference does seem to indicate that the right oil might help in my car.....
 
OK I think I made a mistake here. I think Green Label is for really old cars (hence reference to mineral oil etc.) Current cars appear to Yellow Label (I really need to get underneath and take a look...)

From someones link on here the gearbox (in my late '07 E86) is Part number: GS6-37BZ-TJES

From TIS: This box was filled with BMW Oil MTF-LT-2 from start of production to 03/07 and after 03/07 with MTF-LT-3.

I also found an official looking bulletin here: http://www.billswebspace.com/BMWOperatingFluidsManTrans230409.pdfwhich states:

F. From Model Year 2006 all vehicles equipped with a manual transmission and the N52, N54 engines require the MTFLT-
3 long-term fluid. Refer to label on transmission, if label is missing enter vin number into EPC to acquire a new label
with fluid description.
MTF-LT-3
BMW P/N 83 22 0 409 878

Then I found a list of lubricants published by ZF (manufacturers of the gearbox) http://www.zf.com/na/content/media/..._portfolio/passenger_cars/TE-ML_11_en0700.pdf

I don't seem to be able to cut and paste from it but under section S6-37 (my box) it lists LT1, LT2 & LT3 with some alternatives to the BMW fluid. BP Castrol BOT 207 being the recommended alternative to LT3.

Interestingly I have found several references of BMW switching from LT2 to LT3 due to improved fuel economy (this is also on the Castrol website).

I want to try the Royal Purple as it is recommended all over the place but I'd feel more comfortable if it was approved to BMW LT 3 spec......
 
A little update in case anyone is interested, Castrol confirmed that BOT 207 (as above) is only available as BMW MTF-LT-3.
BMW only sell in 5 litre cans @ £104ea but said they may be able to fill my own container from their workshop barrel. (I'm not entirely comfortable with this approach as I struggle to trust or believe in the competence of the stealers.....)
 
Jacked the car up this evening and using a mirror I finally spotted the Blue label which states MTF LT-3. The car was built Sept 2007.
 
I know that BMW has published a catalog of alternative engine oils. But has it published a catalog for transmission fluids?
 
Really interesting post this... Ive got a 2003 3.0i manual and am wanting to change the gearbox oil. Ive killed two gearboxes in the past and am keen not to make it three :P The change is notchy at times and a bit catchy (is that a word?!?!). The cars only done 38000 miles but the oil in there is 8 years old and I still cant get over the whole "sealed for life" talk.

So Im leaning towards the Royal Purple stuff, but Im finding the number of different choices a bit perplexing. Does the car need to be totally flat and level to fill? Im presuming it does! How do people go about doing this? 4 axle stands a bad idea?!?! :?

Thanks for any info
 
alekos911, Hi, is your coupe a 3.0. I was looking on redlines website and they recommend the atf d4. I have and 03 3.0 6 speed manual; all of the talk in searching the forums is a bit confusion. I'm really just trying to find how much fluid you purchased, does it come in quarts? Should I buy 2 liters/quarts (im in the u.s.).

second, what did you use to pump the oil in, im a ford tech so im sure someone around the shop has something but theyre all kinda confused. i had seen ecs sells a pump but its pricey but ill do what i have to. thanx

Dan
 
In the past. I've always used a gear lube bottle. The tall slender type with a pointy tip. Just fit a clear hose to it of sufficiant length to keep the bottle inverted and just squeeze.
 
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