[m2-6mt]

Hey Guys- did you change the transmission fluid on your 6MT? Is it worth it at 3K miles?

Thanks,

[M Fifty]

No.

[Anthony1s]

It was changed at 1200 miles for the break-in service, wasn't it? For my previous vehicles, it wasn't even in the service maintence until 100k miles. Meanwhile, some mfgs say it last the lifetime of the vehicle and doesn't need to be change.

[AndrewC1989]

Originally Posted by Anthony1s

It was changed at 1200 miles for the break-in service, wasn't it? For my previous vehicles, it wasn't even in the service maintence until 100k miles. Meanwhile, some mfgs say it last the lifetime of the vehicle and doesn't need to be change.

Pretty sure they only change the tranny fluid after break in on DCT's, no?

[M Fifty]

Originally Posted by Anthony1s

It was changed at 1200 miles for the break-in service, wasn't it? For my previous vehicles, it wasn't even in the service maintence until 100k miles. Meanwhile, some mfgs say it last the lifetime of the vehicle and doesn't need to be change.

Engine oil/filter and Differential fluid - but not the MT Fluid it seems at the RIS.

But yes - BMW are one of the manufacturers who currently use lifetime fill. MTF LT-5 on the M2.

[heavyD^2]

Originally Posted by andrewc89

Pretty sure they only change the tranny fluid after break in on DCT's, no?

Seems like BMW is all over the place when it comes to the M2's first service. For my car they changed the 6MT fluid but I'm in Canada and maybe the service here calls for it and not in the US?

[M Fifty]

Originally Posted by heavyD^2

Seems like BMW is all over the place when it comes to the M2's first service. For my car they changed the 6MT fluid but I'm in Canada and maybe the service here calls for it and not in the US?

Probably marketing then.

[jason86]

They only changed my engine oil and differential fluid for my break in service.

[m2-6mt]

I wonder what makes it Lifetime? I guess for them lifetime ends when warranty expires.

[M Fifty]

Well, probably look at changing it if you're heading towards 100k miles. It's fully synthetic, it isn't exposed to water, and there are no combustion products to worry about so it will last years without degrading. High/hard use will result in some wear to the innards of the gearbox however, so changing it will help keep any traces of worn metal out of the moving parts.

I changed the transmission fluid on my e46 at 150k miles. It was not a good colour (completely black) and the shift action was much, much better afterwards. I've been running it on non filled for life stuff since with changes every couple of years to flush out the remains of the old fluid.

[fleetfoot]

Over the last 200,000 miles in my e92 328i and Acura TSX, I always changed the transmission fluid every 30,000 miles. And after every flush, the shifts always felt smoother. I think there's definitely some fluid degradation that happens. I use Redline MTL now and previously used GM Synchromesh FM in the Acura.

I had my e92 in the shop this week and went ahead and had them do a transmission fluid flush even though my fluid was only 2 years and 20,000 miles old. And there was still a noticeable improvement in shift actions. It feels like the synchros aren't working as hard.

So from now on, my MT fluid changes are going to happen every 2 years or 30,000 miles.

[Wolf_Zero]

Originally Posted by m2-6mt

I wonder what makes it Lifetime? I guess for them lifetime ends when warranty expires.

That's basically it, the lifetime of the vehicle is the amount of time BMW expects the average person to own one of their cars before they replace it with a newer model. From that standpoint, their 'lifetime' fluids will last the lifetime of the vehicle. From a long term ownership standpoint, you should absolutely be changing your 'lifetime' fluids as part of yearly/mileage based routine maintenance. How often you do will depend on how you drive and may simply be based on mileage or something you'll want to do every year regardless of mileage (e.g. if you track the car, you really should be changing transmission fluid at least once each season).

Once I finally get my M2, I do intend on replacing the transmission fluid around the same time I get my break in service done and regularly thereafter. It's cheap insurance for a car I intend to own for a very long time. Plus I plan on sending a sample off for analysis so I have a baseline to work with for future reference.

[3t3p]

Never thought of this and I intend to keep my car a long time. Should I change it out? At 23,000 mi atm, cheers

[edycol]

Originally Posted by 3t3p

Never thought of this and I intend to keep my car a long time. Should I change it out? At 23,000 mi atm, cheers

Track? Yes.
No track? No. Every 60k is ok.

[3t3p]

Originally Posted by edycol

Track? Yes.
No track? No. Every 60k is ok.

Was spitballing 50k otherwise cheers

[F87source]

Originally Posted by edycol

Track? Yes.
No track? No. Every 60k is ok.

I actually did mine at like 8k km and it made a huge difference. The difference in shift feel is amazing, it eliminated all notchiness from 1st - second and now I am able to down shift back into 1st gear from second at low rpms whereas before I would never be able to do so regardless of rpms as I would be locked out by the synchros.

[3t3p]

Originally Posted by F87source

I actually did mine at like 8k km and it made a huge difference. The difference in shift feel is amazing, it eliminated all notchiness from 1st - second and now I am able to down shift back into 1st gear from second at low rpms whereas before I would never be able to do so regardless of rpms as I would be locked out by the synchros.

Interesting. I get nothiness 1st and second when car isn't warmed up. No synchro grind or anything, after it's warm it's good to go.

[M Fifty]

Originally Posted by F87source

I actually did mine at like 8k km and it made a huge difference. The difference in shift feel is amazing, it eliminated all notchiness from 1st - second and now I am able to down shift back into 1st gear from second at low rpms whereas before I would never be able to do so regardless of rpms as I would be locked out by the synchros.

What did you fill it with?

[edycol]

Originally Posted by F87source

I actually did mine at like 8k km and it made a huge difference. The difference in shift feel is amazing, it eliminated all notchiness from 1st - second and now I am able to down shift back into 1st gear from second at low rpms whereas before I would never be able to do so regardless of rpms as I would be locked out by the synchros.

Was that OE fluid or?
When we talk OE fluid we have to take into consideration requirements like oxidation. OE fluid is compromise. Fluid like Redline is not intended for long OCI, regardless what they claim.
Taking those two things into consideration, they will provide different performance.

[F87source]

Originally Posted by M Fifty

What did you fill it with?

OEM fluid mtf-lt5

Originally Posted by edycol

Was that OE fluid or?
When we talk OE fluid we have to take into consideration requirements like oxidation. OE fluid is compromise. Fluid like Redline is not intended for long OCI, regardless what they claim.
Taking those two things into consideration, they will provide different performance.

Yeah OEM fluid, I wanted to go redline dctf since dctf satisfied mtf-lt5 requirements as dctf is a low viscosity MTF, but unfortunately for my local parts shop to get it in it would take quite a long time. So I didn't have the time to wait and just opted for MTF lt5.


What's the oci on redline fluids? I might switch over next time.

[edycol]

Originally Posted by F87source

OEM fluid mtf-lt5

Yeah OEM fluid, I wanted to go redline dctf since dctf satisfied mtf-lt5 requirements as dctf is a low viscosity MTF, but unfortunately for my local parts shop to get it in it would take quite a long time. So I didn't have the time to wait and just opted for MTF lt5.


What's the oci on redline fluids? I might switch over next time.

I would do Redline every 30k.

[F87source]

Originally Posted by edycol

I would do Redline every 30k.

What about time interval? Like 4 years?