bloom wrote

Inside the transfer case are two oil chambers that are electronically controlled. You need ISTA to put the transfer case into service mode (opens the gates). This will let you remove all the fluid from the case. The software will then set the transfer case to recalibrate.

gokcan wrote

Without ISTA it didn’t work. I couldn’t drain the oil (maximum you can drain is around 50-100ml)

I also tried with Foxwell BMW scanner but the operation has been cancelled by indicating the temperature of the oil was 0 degrees celcius. (It was 15 degrees celcius reported on ISTA. I believe below 20 degrees celcius there is a threshold in that device and does not allow you to continue below that temperature. Just because of that message I didn’t try it again and continue with ISTA either)

I recommend warming up the oil a little bit before the procedure. (ISTA also recommends that too) In my case, I warmed up the car for about 10-15min. but it didn’t heat up the oil inside of the transfer case and I continue draining the oil at 16 degrees celcius. I think putting the car into gear would help on that one rather than idling. I could only drain about 500ml instead of 600ml. Maybe low temperature is the reason (not sure) and I hope this information helps.

gokcan wrote

Without ISTA it didn’t work. I couldn’t drain the oil (maximum you can drain is around 50-100ml)

I also tried with Foxwell BMW scanner but the operation has been cancelled by indicating the temperature of the oil was 0 degrees celcius. (It was 15 degrees celcius reported on ISTA. I believe below 20 degrees celcius there is a threshold in that device and does not allow you to continue below that temperature. Just because of that message I didn’t try it again and continue with ISTA either)

I recommend warming up the oil a little bit before the procedure. (ISTA also recommends that too) In my case, I warmed up the car for about 10-15min. but it didn’t heat up the oil inside of the transfer case and I continue draining the oil at 16 degrees celcius. I think putting the car into gear would help on that one rather than idling. I could only drain about 500ml instead of 600ml. Maybe low temperature is the reason (not sure) and I hope this information helps.

Iridium7777 wrote

I’m literally planning on changing my oil this upcoming week and reading here and elsewhere I never seen a step where the car has to be put into some maintenance mode. People did suggest to have a flexible hose because there are obstructions but ultimately you can jam it to the bottom and siphon out. 550-600ml is the volume quoted.

The only foxwell step was to initiate a recalibration. I bought the ECS tuning version since they’re running a 20% off sale and that’s my only worry finding that menu.


https://f15.bimmerpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1860683

gtx2010 wrote

F15 and G05 transfer cases are different, not the same.

gtx2010 wrote

You can always give it a try, just in case if you can't get oil out then try ISTA function for opening the internal lock which is according to BMW TIS

Iridium7777 wrote

This is so unnecessarily complicated

I don’t know where to get ISTA and also only have macs, so I ended up buying the ECS programming tool because it was on sale and it’s worthless. Cold it read the temp at 0c and would not open the valve.

I did the oil change and got about 200ml of dirty oil out, replaced with new and went on a 20 min highway/city drive. Came back, tried the tool and it still said 0c and did nothing.

Did the change again, got another 100ml of dirty oil out, replaced with new and tried the calibration procedure at which point the tool would just say loading for 5 mins at a time and did nothing.

Gonna be returning the tool asap as it’s totally worthless, should just have gone with the regular foxwell so I could at least do calibration.

Went on another short ride through the city and car felt good. Still have about 600ml of oil left and a local Indy quoted me about $260 the job included with oil - should have just done that and will do that in about 2 weeks anyways.


Still happy I went through this mess myself because I learned something. And the gearbox is right there so in the future I can do that myself. Also poked around rear diff and that seems very easy to get to. Front diff seems to be more intensive?

Also, did not remove the brace, used the ECS wrench they sell and it’s easy to get to.

aerof16 wrote

Still, I wish I would’ve spent a little more money getting a nicer scan tool. The Foxwell works, just pretty basic interface that is sometimes slow.

aerof16 wrote

The front diff has a fill and drain plug, so the process is much easier than the transfer case. The rear diff is fill plug only but you’ll have no problem getting a tube down in there to pump all the fluid out.

BobsM3Coupe wrote

The F95 X5M has a fill and drain plug on the rear diff.

Iridium7777 wrote

Welp, I took this whole week trying to figure out how to get Ista on a Mac (I plan on posting instructions) and redid everything today with ISTA - was able to activate the open, close and recalibrate functions. Got about 400ml of dirty oil out and recalibrated to 0.3deg difference, whatever it means.


Point being here is, sadly, one way or another you gotta invest in ISTA for this procedure, the diagnostic tools won’t help here.

markslc1 wrote

I’m in the same boat. I have an older version of ista 4.14 but it does not have the option for oil change. So I guess I need the newer version. Where did you download it?