Transmission fluid on 2.5i

Z

ZetaTre

Active member
 San Diego County
I was wandering if the Red Line D4 ATF fluid is good for the 2.5i manual tranny as well... That's what I used in the Z3 and the two have the same transmission so I should be fine... But wanted to make sure...

Also, did anyone has any recommendation on some tread sealant for the drain and fill plugs... Using Teflon tape is not recommended as some people had their transmission case cracked because of the extra pressure so I was thinking about a liquid sealant to apply to the bolt.
 
Jesterman said:
Gottta ask why you would need to change the ATF - thought it was a lifetime fill? :o
Click to expand...

There's some debate around the meaning of "lifetime"... If you think about it, if a transmission fails (very unlikely and never heard of one on a BMW) at 150K miles because of lubrication related problem, the lubricant was good for the lifetime... More so for an auto tranny where the fluid is a lubricant, an hydraulic fluid and a coolant (in the manual is simply a lubricant and remains far cooler)

In my case, engaging 1st and 2nd gear sometimes require some effort; I had a similar issue in the Z3 (same tranny) and replacing the "lifetime" BMW fluid with Red Line significantly made shifting smooter... Total cost is probably $20 and I do it every 100K miles, so it's a drop in the bucket...
 
I think most if not all Z4 manual shifts to 1st are slightly stiff?
 
Jesterman said:
Gottta ask why you would need to change the ATF - thought it was a lifetime fill? :o
Click to expand...

BMW says it has to be replaced at Inspection 2, that is around 90.000 km (as far as i understand BMW recommandations, that is...).

First gear is also sometime a PITA to engage on my 2.5i, especially in the morning, when the oil is cold.
 
I guess BMW has different recommendation, because here in the US only some ///M cars (I think it was the ///M 5) had service interval for the transmission fluid. I think currently all cars manual and auto (not sure about the SMGs and other fancy trannies) have no service interval for both diff and tranny fluid.

I was having the same issue with the Z3 when 1st gear was sometimes harder to engage... Red Line ATF D4 reduced the issue significantly (I wanna say the problem is gone). This past week I've been switching between the Z3 and the Z4 for my commute and although they have the same tranny (they both have the 5 speed Getrag S5D-250G), the Z3 engages gears much more smoothly, so I figured I'll give the Red Line a try on the Z4 as well...

I also found that Loctite and Permatex make a liquid thread sealant that is perfect to fully seal the drain plug...
 
I changed my transmission fluid (2003 3.0 6spd) last spring and put in the Red Line D4 ATF. I confirmed via an email to the Red Line web site that this was the correct fluid, even for the manual transmission.

I also found that the 1-2 upshift was significantly improved with the Red Line oil. I'll be changing mine every 50,000Km. It's a small cost for piece of mind. The factory oil came out black when I dumped it at 50,000Km.

I used Red Line gear oil in the diff at the same time.

Bill
 
Ha ha, just read my post and noticed "piece of mind" which should have been "peace of mind". :oops:
 
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