DIY: Transmission fluid flush

WallyM5 · Aug 25, 2012

I changed my transmission fluid today following Clyde's instructions. I was having some major hesitation when taking off in first gear, and shifting between every gear I had a pause between shifts. But now after changing the fluid everything is normal again. I gave her the Euro launch and she loves it again!

Thank you Clyde, I also wanted to add a few pictures and some additional details:

Below are Clyde's Notes: My notes are in blue.

The job can be done on jack stands, but it's not very comfortable squeezing under the car.

Off the top of my head, here are the steps:

1. Remove the black plastic panel under the bumper. Many screws and 4 nuts. The 4 Nuts are 13mm
2. Remove the black plastic panel under the engine. Many screws. Use a drill and removing the panels will take 5 minutes.
3. The transmission oil cooler is mounted on the side of the transmission, with flexible oil lines. A bolt (5mm allen) holds the cooler in place. Remove the bolt, and the cooler can be shifted toward the rear of the car and down out of the way. The cooler lines stay attached. But you will also need to disconnect one connector attached to the cooler, see pic. Before you remove the cooler use 22mm wrench and loosen the filter nut. Other wise you will fight it while it's hanging there.
4. The drain and fill plugs should be accessible (8mm short allen socket). Torque 30 lb-ft
4.1. Break the fill plug free first and then the drain. That way you know you can at least fill it again when you are done draining it. The fill plug is tight to access, I ended up putting a 8mm allen wrench and then used a adjustable wrench to break it free. See pic for example.
4.2 Drain fluid, replace washer with new crush washer. Tight to 30lbs.
5. There is a screen filter on the cooler (22mm socket), which should be removed and cleaned. Torque 18 lb-ft. I cleaned it by using compressed air and blowing it clean. Do not forget to add a new washer
6. Fill transmission with new fluid. 3 quart bottles will be enough. You end up using 2.8 bottles. Once it starts spilling out the fill hole you are done. Put a new crush washer on and tighten to 30lbs. I could not get a torque wrench up there so I hand tightened it.
7. Reassemble the black plastic panels and you are good to go.

Some part numbers:
83220309031 transmission fluid, I used Redline MTL
07119963300 transmission washer (3 needed, both plugs and filter)

Some useful parts diagrams from realoem:
RealOEM.com BMW E63 M6 GS7S47BG Transmission oil cooler
RealOEM.com BMW E63 M6 GS7S47BG seals/mounting parts

Tools Needed:
8mm allen socket
8mm allen wrench
5mm socket
6mm socket
8mm socket
13mm socket
Breaker bar
screw driver or bit
torque wrench

Details on Pics:
1. Tools used
2. Bolt to loosen Trans cooler
3. Connector to remove on cooler
4. Cooler pulled back
5. Drain bolt & fill bolt
6. Breaking trans fill bolt free if you do not have short 8mm socket
7. Draining
8. Happy Helga
9. Dirty Cooler filter
10. Clean Cooler filter

08e60M5SMG · Aug 25, 2012

Thanks for the detailed information.

I did mine about four months ago, however I wasn't aware that there was a filter.

Guess I will do it again sometime soon.

I would prefer to have a lift because like you said it gets really crammed with the jack stands.

kendall993 · Aug 25, 2012

Chad, great write up. One question, where is the filter at?

WallyM5 · Aug 25, 2012

Its on the end of the trans cooler. If you see the pic of tha Gettag pump, it's on the end of that. It's easy to spot when the cooler is still attached to the transmission.

douglas_ngo · Aug 25, 2012

Thanks for sharing. I will doing this myself soon.

SvenM5 · Aug 25, 2012

Thanks for the great write up!
What is the best oil to use?

Thanks

WallyM5 · Aug 25, 2012

That's up to you. But you have some choices. Their is the obvious BMW's, Redline, Royal Purple, Pentosin, LubMoly. You cannot really go wrong with any of those. But what I learned was the importance of staying on top of regular maintenance and changing fluids regularly.

SvenM5 · Aug 25, 2012

I Will keep that in mind! What viscosity did you use?

Clyde · Aug 26, 2012

WallyM5 said:
4. The drain and fill plugs should be accessible (8mm short allen socket). Torque 30 lb-ft
4.1. Break the fill plug free first and then the drain. That way you know you can at least fill it again when you are done draining it. The fill plug is tight to access, I ended up putting a 8mm allen wrench and then used a adjustable wrench to break it free.

Harbor Freight sells an inexpensive Drain Plug Socket Set
I can't verify the Harbor Freight 8mm is short enough to allow clearance to access the fill plug, since I used an even shorter Facom socket (part number D.107-8)
Ultimate Garage sells the Facom Drain Plug Socket, but the single socket is more expensive than the Harbor Freight set.

kendall993 · Oct 1, 2012

thanks for the info on the socket sets. Just to add to this thread I found that when I did this job a couple weeks ago I figured out that the wiring harness that runs along side the fill plug is held by clip so all you have to do is push it straight up and it will pop out of the clip and then its out of the way. So if you dont have the short sockets dont worry about it for this job but Im sure youll need them for something else.

WallyM5 · Aug 26, 2012

Thanks Clyde, for 16.99 you can't go wrong, I am going to grab a set. With a drain plug socket that would make is a piece of cake.

petesamprs · Aug 27, 2012

added to DIY master

kaa · Aug 30, 2012

Is the redline MTL the 75w80 or 75w90?

06M5V10 · Sep 30, 2012

I would like to know this as well.

Duschanio · Oct 3, 2012

when you want to do it right you must connect your car to a tester (DIS or INPA) and when the oil is out you must activate the oil pump from the transmission and 200 ml comes also out who is in the lines ...

bya8 · Oct 10, 2012

Thank you for DIY

i just did this because I thought tranny should be smoother. It did not feel like a manual tranny at all. After the change it feels soo much smoother and gears change much faster. I'm soo glad I did this!! Now this is smg!!:applause:

KILLZBUGZ · Oct 12, 2012

What does the dealer charge for a tranny flush and has anyone done a SMG fluid change? Any differences?

kaa · Oct 12, 2012

In vancouver dealerships charge an arm and a leg for that! The bmw oil is $45/ltr. I did it myself but if u dont want to get ur hands dirty Get the oil and take it to a mechanic shop to change it for u. Its easy an easy job, but with a lift its much easier!:wroom:

bya8 · Oct 12, 2012

tranny fluid change cost $559 in MD

I used LT2. its not a hard job at all

wrxified · Nov 18, 2012

Appreciate the write-up. So just a quick question. Where is the filter at? You show it attached but can't tell from your pics where you removed it from.

WallyM5 · Nov 18, 2012

Its on the end of the trans cooler. If you see the pic of the Gettag pump, it's on the end of that. It's easy to spot when the cooler is still attached to the transmission. It's a larger black bolt, I forget the size but its on the end of the cooler. You can't miss it.

Ex-XFR · Nov 18, 2012

UK dealer quoted me £300 for an "SMG Service" which involves changing the oil in the gearbox and the differential. Does this sound about right? Should I be asking them to change the filter as well?

Thanks!

kaa · Dec 3, 2012

I think its a good deal if that includes everything. Just make sure they put the new bmw diff oil. The filter om transmission is reusable and they just need to clean it!!

jcolley · Dec 3, 2012

Just did it on lunch today (there is an auto center nearby you can rent lift space from) and it took about an hour and a half, for the first time ever having been under this car.

A couple of notes:

- You don't have to remove the front most engine cover from the bottom. I took out all the 8mm bolts to release it from the rear cover, but never removed the 13mm bolts and dropped the front cover itself.

- If you removed the large round plug (SMG motor I think?) from its clip holder and drop it down and to the center of the car just a tad, you can get a regular 8mm allen socket (mine are Husky from Home Depot) and torque wrench on it if you go in with it about 30 degrees from vertical in the forward direction.

- torquing the filter bolt is also tricky with the cooler dropped, but theres no way I can think of to verify the torque if you bolt the cooler up first.

- finally, as shown in the first pictures of this thread, support the cooler with something while it is hanging just as you would a brake caliper. Plenty of evidence on my car of bad shop practices when I dropped the cooler and found bent radiator fins from a wrench. I suspect many people who have to replace fittings and crush washers on these cooler lines are a result from mechanics letting them dangle when they did the initial fluid changes on the car.

Finally, I'm amazed at the attention to detail and engineering in the underbody design. Anyone else notice the little barge board/strakes about 2 inches long to divert air into the cooler inlet?

Ex-XFR · Dec 4, 2012

Thanks for the reply and advice. I'll get it done.

Gnne60 · Dec 28, 2012

hello gus,

i'm looking into doing my oil change, but i cant find any redline 75-80 or royal purple 75-80. any suggestion where i can find this oil, or is it 75-90.
thanks

M5 Jed · Jan 23, 2013

Mesa Performance in Costa Mesa carries all of the Redline products.

M5 Jed · Jan 21, 2013

Either Redline 75-80 or 75-90 will work fine. I put in 75-90 just for extra protection. Been using Redline engine, tranny and diff oils in all my cars for 15 years, great stuff and won't break down and adds like 50 hp easy!

Gnne60 · Feb 12, 2013

finally tackled this today!! fyi i took a 3 ltr bottle to dealer and they provided me with oem mtl fluid for $42.00 not a bad deal.
thanks again for such a helpful diy........

5soko · Mar 15, 2013

Im thinking of doing this next week on my car even though i have warranty i dont trust dealers..
There was mention that a computer needs to be hooked up to be done correctly? Is this true?

M5 Jed · Mar 15, 2013

No computer hook up necessary. It's a basic fluid change, drain and fill, that's it. Won't take more than 30 min to do.

5soko · Mar 15, 2013

M5 Jed said:
No computer hook up necessary. It's a basic fluid change, drain and fill, that's it. Won't take more than 30 min to do.

Reason I ask is because a member posted this:

"when you want to do it right you must connect your car to a tester (DIS or INPA) and when the oil is out you must activate the oil pump from the transmission and 200 ml comes also out who is in the lines"

But I guess this doesn't reset anything or change anything. Its just to get a little more oil out.

M5 Jed · Mar 15, 2013

That is correct, that procedure is just to remove the remaining fluid in the lines.

Remaining true to the spirit of a DIY, none of us have any computers or scanners at home to hook up to the beast and prime the pump. So, the next best thin is to drain and refill. Drive the car for a week or two and then drain and refill again. By then you will have removed 95% of the old fluid.

5soko · Mar 16, 2013

M5 Jed said:
That is correct, that procedure is just to remove the remaining fluid in the lines.

Remaining true to the spirit of a DIY, none of us have any computers or scanners at home to hook up to the beast and prime the pump. So, the next best thin is to drain and refill. Drive the car for a week or two and then drain and refill again. By then you will have removed 95% of the old fluid.

Ahh gotcha! thanks! im under warranty but I hate when my dealer does work and most dealers for that matter. Im very anal with my car and they always make a mess and do work just ok.

its a pretty straight forward easy job so ill just do it myself. lil extra oil in the lines is nothing as most of the dirty heavy oil will remain at the bottom. or in the filter.

sjsuM5 · Mar 16, 2013

This is something my M5 most definitely will benefit from, thanks for the write-up and pics.

sjsuM5 · Mar 16, 2013

Real quick, does the redline transmission fluid work for SMG transmissions? Also, how did you add the fluid? Does not look like there is enough room from the pictures posted.

kaa · Mar 16, 2013

red line manual transmission oil is what i have. u need a hand pump with plastic tube to fill. U can buy for less than $20 at any auto parts stor.

DIY: Transmission fluid flush

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