automatic transmission change?

[sebbyk15]

hey guys

so i had my automatic 2003 330ci with 53,400 miles for about a month now and swapped all the fluids belts and valve cover gasket. so now comes the question

do automatic transmission flush or no?

if yes then what kind of fluid i should use?

ive read forums bout people using redline, royal purple, mobile 1, etc etc, which one would be best?

[Bowler807]

I would never flush a transmission. There are too many problems associated with flushing.

I am a proponent however, of draining and dropping the pan. I change the filter and fluid on a regular basis every 50,000 miles or so.

[Littleredti]

For the E46 BMW kinda went away from the "lifetime" idea. It's now 100,000 miles for a filter and fluid. I'd do at least every 50,000 miles if not sooner.

I really don't see any major problem with a new filter and some fluid for your car.

[WolfStrong]

I HIGHLY recommend draining and filling on a regular basis as well, and regular ATF oil works fine (no need to buy the expensive $20-30 oil). I know for our old BMWs, usually Dextron III-VI or something works fine, but not 100% on what the new ones require.

[MIMI1]

Transmission, coolant at least every 25k or 2 years.

[TheClaw555666]

Don't flush! Just fiilter change/clean and refill the dropped fluid. Double check what flluid you use, cause I know the zf's are a bit different, a aamco shop destroyed my trans from imroperly checking the fluid and them trying to put dexIII in it was wrong as well.

[pizzaman09]

I would strongly recommend finding out what model transmission you have in the car and then find the proper fluid for it if you want to flush. Many people on the e38 forum have done this successfully and there where no problems, others, unfortunately did the flush or fluid change and their transmission was toast in a few thousand miles. Then again some have over 200k miles on their original fluid. I had 168k miles on my original fluid and the tranny still shifted flawlessly.

I don't know what transmission is used in the e46 but in all of the 740 and 750 e38 transmissions most people use some very expensive and hard to find esso fluid, which is what is recommend by ZF.