540i Transmission Service

[540iman]

So, the filter change and the pan cleaning is more of what is really happening here then? It seems that you maybe get 5 quarts in there then drain again so some of the brand new fluid you just put in will come right back out and then fill again. So, out of the 10 quarts you buy, maybe 7 quarts actually stay in as new? What is the total capacity if anyone knows off hand?

[hcoles]

on page 240-8 of Bentley...

A5S 440Z
with torque converter 9.7L (10.2 US qt) [total fluid amount]
without torque converter 4.0L (4.2 US qt) [amount that will drain at one time?]

assuming these numbers are correct..
you can drain 4.2 qts. and then add 4.2 qts. for one drain/fill

[540iman]

I'm getting ready to order my fluid, filter, etc. I don't show a 540 ever coming with a tranny number like the OP states Like the post a couple above, realoem shows from 1/97 and up a A5s 440Z was used. Did it also come with same brand oil the OP mentions? Anyone point me to the right fluid as I do believe in replacing with same brand especially since you don't get but 1/2 out at a time. Bill

[hcoles]

I haven't seen stated anywhere that the original fluid is not Esso. I'm going with Esso. Right now the only place I've found to buy Esso in 1L containers is Bavauto.

[ronin009]

Great write-up ronin009..I have been wanting to do this myself and was debating whether at 100K a flush is better or a conventional drain, filter and fill. I was leaning that way and now I will do it for sure. I have a couple questions: How much old fluid do you think stayed in there and does it concern you? Did you entertain a quart or two of any of the good additives that are out there?

Thank you for going the extra mile doing the write-up!

Bill

Bill,

I dont think there is a need for any sort of additives. I would say, based on the amount of fluid that I put back into the car that maybe 4 quarts stayed in the car after each flush. Which means after doing it twice I probably got all but 2 or 3 quarts of fluid out. I plan on doing this again in about 15K miles or so (when I hit 60K).

Nick

[ronin009]

there is mention on another thread to not flush...
I'll check with another 540 owner at work who has done the first drain and refill... but a lot stays in there...maybe only 3-4 quarts comes out...
the question I have is for just a bit more detail on proceedure to get the fluid temp. up and then have it dribble out.. I guess just fill a bit at a time and when overflowing when the engine is running measure the temp.... if temp. is in range.. you're done. Stop everything and button'er up.

There has been cases with high mileage cars where that have never had the fluid replaced, having issues after the fluid has been changed. My car only had 43K miles on it when I changed the fluid. BMW used to recommend trans service every 30K miles.

[ronin009]

So, the filter change and the pan cleaning is more of what is really happening here then? It seems that you maybe get 5 quarts in there then drain again so some of the brand new fluid you just put in will come right back out and then fill again. So, out of the 10 quarts you buy, maybe 7 quarts actually stay in as new? What is the total capacity if anyone knows off hand?

Yeah, that is about right, I would say there is 2 to 3 quarts of old fluid in the car. The only way to replace all of the fluid would be to drop the trans and remove the torque converter.

[ronin009]

I'm getting ready to order my fluid, filter, etc. I don't show a 540 ever coming with a tranny number like the OP states Like the post a couple above, realoem shows from 1/97 and up a A5s 440Z was used. Did it also come with same brand oil the OP mentions? Anyone point me to the right fluid as I do believe in replacing with same brand especially since you don't get but 1/2 out at a time. Bill

Check out the trans and oil application chart on bmwtips.com. There you will see the trans listed as a 5HP24 (A5S 440Z). Hope this helps.

[Zekerbox]

So I should be able to do the two filter two flush job, with two filter kits and a case of fluid.

[ttgxc]

I am planning to have this done, I know the transmission holds 9.7 L, but if we are just doing a filter change with drain/re-fill. How many liters will drain out and how many should we actually buy?

[JoshuaM5]

Damn ...this will leash a new life in to the transmission
Thot they were sealed for life.

[sienayr]

Did my tranny fluid yesterday on my 540i touring automatic. Wanted to add that I performed the torque converter flush via the oil cooler, avoiding the pain in the arse multiple drain and fills to try and replace replace all fluid. Since I did not find anything specific to 540i and oil cooler flush in my research, I thought I would add this addendum to a very nicely done DIY.

My transmission has 102K miles and had original fluid. It was not exhibiting problems of any kind, this was strictly a preventative maintenance fluid change.

Handy tools for the job

• 2 post lift
• A vessel to drain fluid into that has measurement markings on it, preferably quart
• Assenmacher BMW Transmission Cooler Line and Power Steering Line Disconnect Tool
• Motive Power Fill Pro Fluid Transfer Pump-1.5 Gallon, for filling the oil pan with fluid. Shut off valve is nice when the oil starts dripping out. Not the fastest pump in the world but saves hand pumping.
• a length of plastic 3/4" inner diameter tubing/hose
• a hose clamp to attach the hose to the oil cooler

Procedure

• After following the standard pan drop, filter replacement and filling the oil pan back up with fluid, I removed the outlet hose from the oil cooler and attached some 3/4" clear plastic tubing with a hose clamp to the outlet pipe on the oil cooler.
  
  • We figured out which pipe was outlet/inlet by identifying the hoses by picture and RealOEM; each one has a different connector to the transmission and are labelled 'inlet' and 'outlet'. The outlet hose connects to the transmission on the passenger side, you can trace the hoses from the oil cooler back to the tranny to figure out which is which.
  • Note, I had the special "Assenmacher BMW Transmission Cooler Line and Power Steering Line Disconnect Tool", and the "quick" connect line was still a bit tricky to get off. Very easy to get back on though. I'm pretty sure you could fashion one of those tools out of PVC pipe and a rotary tool. See the link below for more info on the quick connectors.
  • I filled the pan up with Valvoline Max Life on the first run, knowing that most of it would be pumped out ($7 per quart vs. $12 per quart for Redline). I used Redline on the rest of the fills. I'm sure some might cry foul mixing fluids; there are oodles of threads out there on transmission oil voodoo so you will need to do your research and make your own decisions on the topic. I will warn you though, going down that rabbit hole can make your head spin and make you question your very existence!
  
  

• Next I had my assistant turn the engine on, watched until two quarts pumped out, and had him shut the engine off. He shifted through the gears while the fluid pumped out. Doesn't take long to pump out two quarts, maybe 30-60 seconds. He also turned off the traction control as a precautionary measure.
  
  • This is where the drain pan with markings on it comes in, make sure you can clearly see the measurements on the pan before you begin pumping.
  • 2 quarts seemed to be the magic number in my research to stay on the safe side of running the transmission low on fluid. It seems overall the risk is pretty low, some folks just run it until it starts to sputter and then shut off the engine. I did not find any anecdotes of damaged transmissions from this procedure.
  
  

• Then, fill up the oil pan with fresh fluid again until it drips out. I repeated this 3 times, pumping out a total of 6 quarts.
  
  • The first time the fluid was dark and nasty like the stuff out of the pan, by the third time it was still darker but looked much more red and fresh. Those that are OCD could repeat this as many times as desired to flush out as much old fluid as possible.
  • There is still old fluid in the return line from the oil cooler to the transmission since that line will not have the return fluid from the oil cooler running through it. I considered pumping fresh fluid in through that hose, rather than the fill hole on the transmission, but decided that was overkill, and I only wanted to have to jack around with one of those oil cooler connectors.
  
  

Almost 5 quarts drained out of the pan, for a total drain of 11 quarts. (Technically speaking some of the 6 quarts that were pumped out of the oil cooler probably contained some of the fresh fluid that was put into the pan after changing the filter.) Filled 'er up with Redline D4 ATF. Following the three flushes, we finished up with the standard bringing the tranny up to proper temp and topping off until it dripped out of the fill hole.

I drove home about 60 miles mostly highway following the procedure, and everything seems happy!

Here are my references

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=239968

http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh...sion-Flush-DIY

http://www.e46fanatics.com/forum/sho...d.php?t=679783

http://www.e46fanatics.com/forum/sho...d.php?t=827105

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsdPAadc9fY

amsoil technical service bulletin (I did not use the flush product)
http://www.workablewebtools.com/site...Procedures.pdf

540i oil cooler thread
http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh...nt-%28540iT%29

cooler hose quick connecter thread
http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=316568

[sjenkins1129]

Now that you have had 4 months since the drain/flush/fill procedure, how have things been going? Are you happy with your choice of Redline D4 ATF?

I bought BMW fluid from the dealer and the parts adviser gave a slight discount to $17.xx per quart. I am thinking I could have special ordered the Esso or ZF Lifeguard 5, I even considered the Pentosin product & Febi Bilstein fluid but everything I found locally was about the same money per quart as the BMW dealer sold fluid. I even considered the Redline but was concerned only from the standpoint that Redline kinda thinks in a "one size fits all" paradigm (everything takes Redline D4 ATF, just ask) and it was still only about $3/quart cheaper.

I hope to do mine this weekend and report back results.

[sjenkins1129]

At 166k I did the transmission service. Drained and dropped the pan, replaced the filter and cleaned things up. The old fluid was as dark as dirty motor oil. I feel the old filter and magnets were at capacity and not doing much anymore. I used the BMW branded fluid from the dealer. The car shifts significantly smoother.
One thing that concerns me is when I did the final fluid level check with the engine running, things to temp and after cycling the gear shift slowly through the range, the fluid that weeped at the fill plug looked just about as bad as what drained out initially. Capacity is apx 10qts and I drained and filled roughly 6qts. That means 40% old fluid... I think I am going to drive a couple thousand miles to let the new filter and clean magnets do some more work and repeat the process. Until then my hard downshift from 2 to 1 when stopping in traffic is gone! Just kinda wish the PO had done this roughly twice before I got the car at 165k

[sjenkins1129]

At 166k I did the transmission service. Drained and dropped the pan, replaced the filter and cleaned things up. The old fluid was as dark as dirty motor oil. I feel the old filter and magnets were at capacity and not doing much anymore. I used the BMW branded fluid from the dealer. The car shifts significantly smoother.
One thing that concerns me is when I did the final fluid level check with the engine running, things to temp and after cycling the gear shift slowly through the range, the fluid that weeped at the fill plug looked just about as bad as what drained out initially. Capacity is apx 10qts and I drained and filled roughly 6qts. That means 40% old fluid... I think I am going to drive a couple thousand miles to let the new filter and clean magnets do some more work and repeat the process. Until then my hard downshift from 2 to 1 when stopping in traffic is gone! Just kinda wish the PO had done this roughly twice before I got the car at 165k

After the first 750miles I started experiencing problems. The car, when warm, did not want to shift to higher gears properly. At one point I was stuck in town with a car that wouldn't shift above 2nd. Needless to say I was very concerned and regretted my decision to open the "lifetime" transmission. Ultimately the issues seemed to settle out at shifting hard between 3 & 4 and dropping out of 5 back into 4 or refusing 5 all together.

After much consideration, I decided that the only next step was to do it again. The first time, I used an aftermarket filter kit. I really liked the rubber trans pan gasket and the filter itself seemed comparable and all with a $24 price tag. I decided this time to use a genuine BMW filter at $60 to go along with my BMW fluid but I kept and used the rubber pan gasket.

The draining process yielded about the same 6 quarts of fluid as before. It was very dark but I considered it a slight bit lighter/better than last time. The magnets showed almost no change but the filter media looked like it had been doing its job.

Since I had read a post about the transmission cooler and issues of plugging on the coolant side and various shifting or limp mode associated issues, I ordered a replacement cooler and coolant regulator assembly. I replaced these items before refilling the transmission.

Upon refill, the car shifted much better but not perfect. Rough but not horrible shifts from 3 to 4 and 4 to 5 but no refusals to shift and no un-called for downshifts.

I am now 300miles down the road on the second change. I was very gentle on the car for the first 200 miles. I then got on it a bit more and after a verrry harsh shift from 3 to 4 under hard acceleration and in (S)port mode, everything seemed to magically settle out. It has been fine for the next 100 miles and better than before I started down this path. I wonder if doing the first change and with how bad the fluid was, if debris was stirred up and was plugging or restricting flow in the valve body. It kind of felt like that verrry harsh shift was something cleaning out or some plugged passage opening up. I guess time will tell. I will report back with further issue or success.

[sienayr]

Now that you have had 4 months since the drain/flush/fill procedure, how have things been going? Are you happy with your choice of Redline D4 ATF?

I've put 6,500 miles on since the change. I've noticed no difference to the good or bad since the change. Happy with D4 ATF I don't think you can go wrong with it.

[sjenkins1129]

I am 2000 miles since the second fluid filter change. Still experiencing issues. My latest symptom sets revolve around hunting for a gear between 4th & 5th and bouncing between the two at a steady 60MPH with cruise and a flat stretch of road.

Cold, all seems well. Warm (50miles) I get some inability of the transmission to choose a gear. If I switch to sport mode, the symptoms disappear for a while but will come back in another 10min or so on the same trip. When this happens, if I choose Manual mode, it will hold the chosen gear fine and go through the paces, even spirited driving. It does not seem to slip or having any noise or strange/harsh shifting, just this back and forth gear choosing when warm.

If I understand the transmission correctly, the valve body & solenoids choose the shift points based on speeds and pressures. If there were a bad band, gear teeth problems, bearings, drum, etc. I would have a completely different set of mechanical symptoms and noise. I am really leaning towards a valve body related issue. Perhaps a chunk of crap got stirred up and stuck in there and/or scored or bound something up OR just new fresh fluid has cleaned things up and worn or out of tolerance items are now more symptomatic.

Not sure I want to gamble on a used transmission and a reman was quoted at over $4K installed. I am debating the possibility of replacing the valve body. Any input or suggestions would appreciated.

Thanks,
Stephen

[justinca540i]

Even though it's "lifetime" do transmission fluids need replacing? Is "lifetime" actually lifetime or something like 10 years?

[sjenkins1129]

I did end up with a reman valvebody from Valvebody Exchange (VBX). It was $1000 for the valvebody, filter & fluid shipped. I had to ship the old one back as a core.

I am 5000 miles since the valvebody replacement and my shifting problems are gone.

I think high miles and new fluid & filter either stirred up dirt that restricted something OR it cleaned up some varnish that was actually holding things together.

The thought is that the overall problem was related to pressure regulation.

Perhaps I would have ended up replacing the valvebody or transmission in time but I regret having changed the fluid on a very high mile car. I go back to the school of thought that you either service it regularly along the way OR leave it the hell alone.

[JaimeZX]

I think BMW means "lifetime" insofaras how long an average BMW Owner keeps their new vehicle before replacing it with another one, though I find it strange that the manual recommends saving old fluid for reuse. (?)

In any event, if you have over 100k on the fluid and it still smells red and fresh (not brown and/or burnt) then I would replace the fluid & filter and you should be G2G.

[acspecialists]

Great thread, the DYI link is dead. I have a e38 and this works perfect for me. Thanks to all of the people that added details.