After reading several posts on sticky gear shift and what type of gearbox oil to use could anyone let me know what they feel to be the most appropriate oil to use for easy gear shift with sufficient gearbox protection. I have heard some people say that synthetic is not suitable.
Many thanks for any replies.
PS: Only had my M5 for a couple of weeks after selling the Subaru Impreza WRX and i still can't believe how good these cars are.
look around the filler plug for a colored sticker dot. If it is orange/red, the trans should use ATF. If green, then 80-90 wt gear oil. No dot, or sticker fell off? Then, try either of above. Note: BMW srevice bulletins state to use whatever works; even Redline MTL - which is a in between viscosity of the other two.
bulletin also says NOT to use synthetic in the M5 trans.
1) Suggest you determine what kind of fluid is in there now and refill with like kind, unless you are having problems.
2) If you decide to change to a lighter viscosity, two changes may be needed to purge all the old oil out. (drive it for 1,000 miles and redo)
3) quite a few owners have added some Molybdenum DiSulfide powder to the oil - for its lubrication properties.
4) make sure you can loosen the 22mm fill plug before you proceed.....
Thanks mywong, the sticker is orange with ATF on it.
The reason i asked is that selecting 1st gear is sometimes a bit stiff and wondered what oil could possibly make things better.
Originally posted by mywong23 look around the filler plug for a colored sticker dot. If it is orange/red, the trans should use ATF. If green, then 80-90 wt gear oil. No dot, or sticker fell off? Then, try either of above. Note: BMW srevice bulletins state to use whatever works; even Redline MTL - which is a in between viscosity of the other two.
bulletin also says NOT to use synthetic in the M5 trans.
1) Suggest you determine what kind of fluid is in there now and refill with like kind, unless you are having problems.
2) If you decide to change to a lighter viscosity, two changes may be needed to purge all the old oil out. (drive it for 1,000 miles and redo)
3) quite a few owners have added some Molybdenum DiSulfide powder to the oil - for its lubrication properties.
4) make sure you can loosen the 22mm fill plug before you proceed.....
Right on the dot (pun intended) with that. If your dot says ATF, then try Redline D4 ATF. I have it in my car and it was a huge improvement. It help tremendously in the colder weather. I remember being at a stoplight with people honking behind me because I could not shift into 1st. Now it goes in easily.
Many of the e39ers use Royal Purple Synchromax and swear by its capabilites. I only hear good things about it. I don't have personal experience with it, but I am planning on filling the 6spd of my 540i with it soon.
__________________ Brandon
'93 525i/5 w/ S38 power (0-60 in 5.56s w/ snow tires) chip, Euro cam gears, staggered T-stars, Pilot Sports, Sachs Sport Suspension, RD swaybars, Dinan camber plates, M5 brakes, etc.
'99 540i/6 Dinan stg 2 software, Dinan c/f intake, Dinan exhaust, Dinan rr swaybar, UUC SS, M5 brakes, 18in M parallel wheels, 245/275 Michelin PS2s
If memory serves from previous discussions about this,
Early cars came with Castrol SMX, a heavier oil that is now discontinued. This oil, being heavier, caused the issue of being harder to select gears whilst cold.
Also, being heavier, it offered better protection to the load bearing shafts and gears, but less protection to the syncho wafers said someone.
BMW dealers have been using ATF to replace the SMX branded item since it became unavailable. Whether Castrol discontinued it or BMW simply changed to avoid the customer complaints about gear selection in cold weather is unknown to me.
ATF is thinner, resulting is easy gearshifts, and will protect the wafers more, but is not as good at protecting load bearing faces of metal in the gearbox.
The various weights Dexron II, III etc etc are a trade-off of the two factors above.
Pretty much everyone these days is using ATF, sticker or not. I personally would probably prefer the heavier oil, and let the car warm up before entering Colin McCrae mode, but at the moment I`m on Redline and have had no problems.
Ivan.
__________________
"Never enter Karussell when on the brakes! I have gone round there on the roof, I know what I'm talking about." ~ Sabine Schmitz
Gearbox Oil ?
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