 » Site Navigation | | | | » Recent Threads | | | |  |  |  | |  08-17-2007, 04:52 AM | #1 | | Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: N. Texas Posts: 187 |  Changing differential/tranny fluid
At what intervals should this be done? My car has 115k and I am not sure if the fluids were ever flushed or changed. I remember when I changed the oil in my MR2 auto trans, it went 45 miles and then exploded apart because noone had ever changed the oil in it. No, I didn't do anything wrong, it had 140k on it. If I am way past due, what should I do? |  |  | | 08-17-2007, 07:04 AM | #2 | | Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Auburn, WA Posts: 1,814 |
dont know dude but is better if u changed just to make sure __________________  5/96 318TI Sport BIG TURBO | | | | | 08-17-2007, 09:05 PM | #3 | | Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Land of the Vikings Posts: 2,700 |
bmw calls it "lifetime transmission oil" i dont believe this though. a change is always recomended  Be sure to check the oil type and quantity before changing. your service manual shoud have all the info __________________ 
Vin Number decode and Retrofit Pdfs Available Free ! Just PM  | | | | | 08-18-2007, 04:51 AM | #4 | | Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: N. Texas Posts: 187 |
I forgot to mention that its a manual. Is it common to change tranny fluid everytime the clutch is changed? | | | | | 08-18-2007, 05:00 AM | #5 | | Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Minneapolis Posts: 1,587 |
I'd change them at about 30,000 miles. The fluid changes on the manual transmission and differential are pretty simple, plus they don't take much fluid. Neither has a filter either, so it's very cheap maintainence. Go ahead and do it. It's not like a fragile autotragic where a fluid change will theoretically wreck it. | | | | | 08-23-2007, 04:41 PM | #6 | | Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: back in PA Posts: 204 |
+ if your a new owner, like I was, definitely do it due to unknown history. I pulled the drain plug on my manual trans. case, and before the plug was out, all of this watery red fluid started trickling out. It appears that someone had ATF in the manual trans.  I put in RoyalPurpleSyncromax for now... appears to be ok. | | | | | 08-23-2007, 05:10 PM | #7 | | Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Greenville, SC Posts: 9,356 |
Quote: Originally Posted by elfhearse  + if your a new owner, like I was, definitely do it due to unknown history. I pulled the drain plug on my manual trans. case, and before the plug was out, all of this watery red fluid started trickling out. It appears that someone had ATF in the manual trans. I put in RoyalPurpleSyncromax for now... appears to be ok. | ATF is fine. Nothing wrong with it. You can use either. I use BG SyncroShift. __________________ ...steven
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1996 BMW 328ti • 2003 MINI Cooper S • 2016 M235i
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| | | | | 08-23-2007, 05:29 PM | #8 | | doesn't care about you. Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Denver, CO Posts: 3,925 |
I change mine every 20-30k miles, both diff and tranny.
Royal Purple in both. __________________ 
'99 Dinan M3 | | | | | 08-23-2007, 06:04 PM | #9 | | Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Halethorpe, MD Posts: 1,028 |
Just make sure you remove the fill plug before you remove the drain plug. DustenT, how do you like the Royal Purple? I've been thinking about giving their oil a try. | | | | | 08-23-2007, 08:04 PM | #10 | | doesn't care about you. Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Denver, CO Posts: 3,925 |
Quote: Originally Posted by bullmand Just make sure you remove the fill plug before you remove the drain plug. DustenT, how do you like the Royal Purple? I've been thinking about giving their oil a try. | It's amazing. The 3.45 LSD that I just sold had it in for 30K miles and it spins SO FREAKING easy. The 3.73 that I picked up had Mobil 1 in it, and is really kinda hard to spin. I just got back from the local race shop with 2 jugs of glorious Royal Purple for it. Hope that loosens it up. It REALLY helps in the tranny too, it shifts smoother and seems a bit quieter, especially when it's cold out. __________________
'99 Dinan M3 | | | | | 08-23-2007, 09:03 PM | #11 | | Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Halethorpe, MD Posts: 1,028 |
Hmmm. I've already got Red Line in the diff and tranny, but they've been in there for a couple of years. I'm gonna hit 100K miles soon so maybe I'll change it again. | | | | | 09-16-2007, 11:00 PM | #12 | | Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Vancouver, BC Posts: 30 |
I need to change the fluid in my Auto tranny and diff.
I went to napa and they told me the dealership only sells the ATF and diff fluid. So i should be looking at getting Royal Purple or that redline stuff instead then? __________________
1995 318ti Jetblack - m3 CSL replica bumper - m3 side skirts - AC schnitzer lip spoiler - m3 clear side and signal markers - rear tints -328 callipers+rotors+pads | | | | | 09-17-2007, 02:14 AM | #13 | | Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Halethorpe, MD Posts: 1,028 |
You can buy the Red Line or the Royal Purple or the dealer's stuff, or you could go to a different parts store where they know what they're talking about. The stock fluids are not magical and can be replaced. It's ATF in the transmission and 75w90 gear oil in the diff. Any name brand lubricant manufacturer's products will be fine if you don't want to spend the extra for synthetics. Mobil 1 is probably more than adequate and is less than the fancier options. | | | | | 09-17-2007, 06:01 PM | #14 | | Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Florida Posts: 2,525 |
I've been using the mobil1 gear lube in my differential. I'll have to give the royal purple diff oil a try. I run redline in my transmission and love it. I had some vibration kind of noises from the transmission before I switched it over to redline and it really quieted the transmission down. | | | | | 09-17-2007, 06:20 PM | #15 | | Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: N. Texas Posts: 187 |
Is using synchromax royal purple good for both differential and tranny? Is the auto fluid from royal purple a better option? | | | | | |
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