[Encendido3]

Originally Posted by EL Jeffe 5

How did you get all wheels off the ground with out car falling off from one of the stands

What I did was start by driving up on some 2x4s to start from a higher position then used the central jack points. I kept the jacks under as well (under the central points)

[Unspec]

Originally Posted by beegeezy

I completed my round of trans fluid changes today with the pan/filter and mechatronic sleeve replacements. FYI, the mechatronic sleeve was a real pain in the butt, mostly because I couldn’t figure out how to remove it. There is a metal release lever that has to be pulled down otherwise the sleeve is locked in place. You have to remove the fluid reservoir cylinder, just behind the mechatronic unit under the pan (3 bolts and one electrical plug) to gain access to the lever, which is held down with one bolt. After you do this the sleeve can be pulled out and replaced.

Were your sleeves bad? I haven't heard of any real need to replace them.

[beegeezy]

Originally Posted by Unspec

Were your sleeves bad? I haven't heard of any real need to replace them.

No. I did it proactively. I wouldn’t recommend messing with it unless yours is leaking.

[OrcaPod]

Thank you Unspec for such a great DIY!

Just completed auto transmission pan/filter, fluid replacement on my 2011 F10 528i RWD (N52).

My car has 160 500 km (~ 100K miles) and I don't think it was ever replaced by previous owners based on condition of the fluid/pan.

The shifting is noticeably smoother after replacement.

i got ZF 8 fluid from rockauto.com and trans pan/filter from autohausaz. That was the cheapest option for me considering shipping to Canada.

Around 4.3 L went out and around same volume went in.

Few notes to re-iterate:
- Make sure to do the "Rev to 2000 and hold it there for 30 seconds to fill the torque converter" part. I mistakenly skipped it at first and was not able to add any fluid during "required temperature" fill. After doing this step i was able to add some extra fluid, so old fluid volume OUT was equal to new fluid IN based on my estimates.

- On my model, It was a pita to remove a protective/supportive bracket on passenger side of transmission pan (to get access to fill plug). There is very little space to access 2 nuts which are holding the supportive bracket behind exhaust pipes. I had to cut my 10mm wrench in half so it can be squeezed between pipes and car's bottom.

[lsturbointeg]

me and Burrninja just did mine the other week! glad he knew how to do this as it was a very fun project to do as well as i got to learn more about this

[wmg/bmw]

Hey, If I bring my wheels out to you in NJ can you help me with a Tranny Change? Im in New York

W

[Unspec]

Originally Posted by wmg/bmw

Hey, If I bring my wheels out to you in NJ can you help me with a Tranny Change? Im in New York

W

Unfortunately, I've since moved from the time of writing the guide and no longer live in a place where I can work on my car, though I still do live in Jersey City. I work on it down in the Cherry Hill region now, at my parent's garage.

[glemmy]

Thanks for the guide! I might give it a try in the spring, my car will be at 140.000 km by then

[aks9393]

make sure to be careful of oil temperature, it can be too hot.

[aks9393]

Detailed steps, Thanks

[aks9393]

where you bought Liqui Moly and how much you paid?

[Encendido3]

Originally Posted by anilsingh_9393

where you bought Liqui Moly and how much you paid?

Best bet is FCPEuro. You can get the whole kit for a decent price and if you keep the car long enough (or rack up the miles) you can warranty the parts and fluid

[OldShadeTrEE]

Originally Posted by Sylverlee

Nevermind got it. Dang that was tough. For those that strip the drain bolt.. don't worry, the fluid will just drain if you leave one bolt in. Getting under the car when it was running was a lot less painful than I was expecting.

Thanks OP for that that fluid pumper video, that was super helpful.

I didn't find a video in this thread. Did I miss it or was it deleted at some point?

[Unspec]

Originally Posted by OldShadeTrEE

I didn't find a video in this thread. Did I miss it or was it deleted at some point?

This is the referenced video, it was just a text hyperlink so you might have missed it:

[ctcarbonari]

This is one of the very best threads I've read on ZF Transmission Oil Servicing.

Very nice job to the OP & the detailed technical input from others is great!

For those out there interested in seeing some empirical data for what the transmission oil looks like, I've attached a pdf of the Oil Analysis from when I had mine serviced.

2015 BMW 535i @60,245 miles.

[bujokpl]

Thank you for a great tutorial.

I'm plannig to do it next week in my F11 520d.

[Blue Angel]

Great thread Unspec!!!

For those who have done this without the pan removal, how much fluid can I expect to drain?

Another question; without pulling the pan, if I start with the car tilted rearward towards the drain plug instead of level, can I expect to get more fluid out? I would then level the car before filling.

This is based on Unspec's comment regarding not tilting the pan rearward during removal to keep the fluid from draining out of the filter. Or are we talking about an angle that's not practical to jack the car to?

[Unspec]

Originally Posted by Blue Angel

Great thread Unspec!!!

For those who have done this without the pan removal, how much fluid can I expect to drain?

Another question; without pulling the pan, if I start with the car tilted rearward towards the drain plug instead of level, can I expect to get more fluid out? I would then level the car before filling.

This is based on Unspec's comment regarding not tilting the pan rearward during removal to keep the fluid from draining out of the filter. Or are we talking about an angle that's not practical to jack the car to?

Any discernible angle should be fine to drain fluid out of the filter. You might run into some issues with the fluid pooling a bit behind the drain.

[akaaceman]

Thanks a ton for such a well written DIY!
I did my own service on my E64 with the ZF 6HP and this seems pretty similar.
Now I have no worries about doing my 8HP!

[deanchen]

Thanks for writing this up. Didn't realize it was so much work, will definitely be taking mine to the dealership.

[Unspec]

Originally Posted by deanchen

Thanks for writing this up. Didn't realize it was so much work, will definitely be taking mine to the dealership.

Once you've done it once, it gets significantly easier. The hardest part is probably the filling

[Smytty]

Had this thread pinned for a while; going to tackle this sometime in March just trying to visualize the repair. This is done entirely without the wheels spinning? Can I keep the car on Jack stands while running through the ISTA procedure or will the wheels have to be on the ground?

The wheels will not move during the below procedure?

Step 4. Foot on brake, release parking brake, shift car into reverse, release brake. Wait 10 seconds. Brake, shift into drive, move shifter to the left and go into M1. Release brake, wait 10 seconds. Shift into M2, wait 10 seconds. Brake, shift into park, engage parking brake.