04 x3 auto shifting problems

[dirtx]

Got a 2004 x3 2.5 with 5speed GM autotrans. 165,000 miles. It just started to experience longer shifts while going into higher gears while in Drive. I know its supposed to be lifetime fluid. But I also know nothing is lifetime. I have heard some people start having problems around 150K. Do you think a filter change and fluid fill would help or hurt it making it worse? Any help would be apricated. I'm Just about ready to spend a few hundred on fixing the oil leaks and servicing the vanos. maybe I should wait and see if the trany gets worse? any thoughts?
Thank you.

[jclausen]

It would be a crap shoot on how the trans would react to the fluid change and when you change the fluid your only getting 5 6 qrts of oil out. Really the warning about the trans crapping out was on older cars, but still you never know what will happen, when I got my car at 100k I have change the fluid 4 time since and now I have 178k, the last change I did the fluid twice to get the more of the newer fluid in.

[Court M3]

Jclausen hit it on the head. Mine is at 180k and did it 80k ago but now afraid. Thinking of getting a used transmission and rebuilding and dropping that in.

[dirtx]

Thanks for your replies. for some reason it seems to be shifting ok now. I guess I'll just wait and see.

[dukedkt442]

I wouldn't think twice about several drain/fills within a few hundred miles of each other, with filter/seal on the final one. If there are any problems with the transmission, the old fluid is merely masking them; issues won't be caused by the new fluid. The slipping in the old days occurred because the fluid's lack of lubricity caused clutch pack wear, which then acted as a friction modifier keeping the clutches from slipping.

Use Dex 6.

According to my documentation, GM wanted the fluid changed every 45k miles, and in as little as 15k miles in "extreme conditions."

[bdiefAZ]

100 percent in agreement with this:

I wouldn't think twice about several drain/fills within a few hundred miles of each other, with filter/seal on the final one. If there are any problems with the transmission, the old fluid is merely masking them; issues won't be caused by the new fluid. The slipping in the old days occurred because the fluid's lack of lubricity caused clutch pack wear, which then acted as a friction modifier keeping the clutches from slipping.

Use Dex 6.

According to my documentation, GM wanted the fluid changed every 45k miles, and in as little as 15k miles in "extreme conditions."