So I was at the local dealer today picking up a couple of bolts and thought I'd ask about Mini's recommended Transmission fluid and what it would take to pick up a couple bottles while I was there. The dude behind the parts counter said "well that's a special fluid and we only have it in a big barrel out back, you would have to have a container for us to put it in". OK, whatever... So I ask him about price, he said "well, you'll need seven "units" went and checked... came back and said $97.00!!! for a couple bottles of tranny oil? I'm assuming this guy was confused or something and this is the dealer idiocy I hear about...

Anyway, I need to fill up my transmission and was curious about what kind of fluid people use. I'm thinking Redline MTL, or Royal Purple Gear Max. Any opinions or suggestions?

Thanks to you all

 

MTL is good, never tried RP. But you did not mention which MINI you have it might not use MTL, I have a GP and I need Red Line D6ATF.

 

oh yeah, that could be helpful..
I have a 2003 R50 with manual trans.

I've always used Royal Purple engine oil and have been quite happy with it and always hear good things about RP. So I'm thinking I might give their transmission oil a shot. Assuming I can find it locally

Oh another question. The transmission has been out of the car and on a bench for the last couple of weeks (very slow clutch replacement). Do you think it might be a good idea to fill it up, run the car for a little bit and change it out again? As far as I know this is the first time the fluid has been drained and the stuff that came out was pretty much pitch black..

 

I'm due for mine also but thought about using Motul, but want to get an opinion what is best for 6 speed gearboxes.

 

just changed the axles and a few onces came out .so i might as well change mine too but I have a Quaife LSD! they probably use some thing diff in their diff ? and I think its around 1.5 quarts to change.

 

I have the OEM LSD and use Redline MTL.

 

The factory specs call for 1.5 quarts. I drained the transmission reservoir to the best of my capabilities when I was adding a lsd and new clutch/flywheel and I could only add 9/10 of a quart of oil before it reached the top of the fill line. I replaced the factory fluid with Royal Purple SAE 75W-90, which meets requirements for GL-4 and GL-5 transmission oils. I believe I paid around $25 or $30 dollars for the quart of oil.

I couldn't detect any difference in the amount of noise coming from the drive train and the shifts feel the exact same, but I have peace of mind knowing I used the oil that many race car drivers use and stand by.

 

I tried to buy a couple bottles today of whatever the dealer uses & got the same run-around whyme26 experienced. The parts dept. ran up a price of a drum for $400.00+. WTF???!! I then went to the service drive to talk to a service advisor that didn't even know. Kinda scary if ya ask me, she turned me over to someone else that called the parts dept. that said they use a "Texaco brand product." That's all I could find out but they kept thrying to say they could change my transmission fluid for $200. I still can't believe I wasted a an hour of my time with this crap.

 

I don't understand why you want to drive to the Mini dealer and buy their "special" transmission fluid for their "special" price at $400 a barrel whatever. That's ridiculous.

The dealer doesn't want you to know that they simply use normal manual transmission fluid (MTF) with GL-4 standards. You have several options to choose from; either go with a generic MTF GL-4 at your local auto parts store for around $10 a quart, Redline makes a GL-4 that Mini Mania sells for $16.95 a quart, and Royal Purple has their own MTF suitable for our applications called Max-Gear for around $18 a quart.

 

WJHMH
You could just get two quarts of MTL for like $24.
Not sure what R50 uses but I would think MTL would be safe.

 

Hi guys,

I'm going to change out my transmission fluid soon, and i'm just wondering, since this is my first time, what kind do i use? as in the ratio of the oil (75w-90 etc), my mini is at 55,000miles right now.. and most likely i am going to Royal Purple since i am using their engine fluid which i like very well

OH and also!, how to do it too, there is a bottom nut like the engine oil, that pours out?

thanks guys

 

There are bottom and top allen head bolts on the transmission. I forget the size but I know it's been posted on here before. LOOSEN THE TOP ONE FIRST. This will prevent a very bad day if the top one shears. 75w-90 should work, many of us use Redline MTL but RP will probably work fine as well.

 

Thanks Kapps, I'll try and look for the top and bottem allen heads hahah

I'll look around the threads for the how to look for those