Hey everyone, I was wondering if it is recommended to replace the manual transmission fluid in these cars or if I should just leave it like the for life recommendation on the transmission wants me to. My car has 51k, is it too late to replace the fluid for the first time and avoid issues or am I better off leaving it? I am almost certain that it has not been done before.

 

 

I don't buy the lifetime transmission oil theory just like I don't believe the original 15,000 mile oil change intervals that they changed after the fact. I would treat the transmission like any other car, change it every 30,000 miles since it's far cheaper to refill with new gear oil than spend $13,000 on a new transmission, it's a financial decision and an easy one at that. Use the BMW spec fluid MTF-LT-4 as it's 25 percent thicker than anything Redline has available.

 

I agree with Systemlord. Replacing transmission oil is an easy d-i-y that unfortunately seems to be shrouded by mystery and paranoia rather like changing/refreshing coolant.
My thoughts? Change gear oil, coolant + brake fluid every 2 years before they're 'spent'. No motor fluid is 'for life' when 'life' exceeds manufacturer guarantee, surely...
Imo car ownership all about maintenance not dealer-induced (therefore costly) crisis management.

 

It's your car, and there is nothing wrong with exceeding the manufacturers time intervals for service. I think it's actually a positive measure, because you are under your car, looking at things, and potentially finding issues before they become real issues.
It's not too late to change fluid should you desire, just make sure that you pick a compatible, recommended fluid, and do it yourself.
That being said, I've put over a million miles on manual transmissions in my life, and never changed the transmission oils in any of them. I checked them, but didn't change them.

I'm also one of those people that has a significant amount of distrust with respect to having work done on my cars, and prefer to do it myself to the greatest extent possible. That way I know it was done. Changing fluids in a vehicle is usually very easy to do, and cheap insurance, but the amount of consumer "rip-off" associated with having this type of work done is very significant.

 

ignore what bmw/mini says and go with what ZF or the transmission manufacture has, they specifically state when the fluid should be changed and it sure aint lifetime

 

Unless you are a gear grinder, I would not hesitate to say wait till 75,000 or even 100,000 if you want to do it...
Cars that DID NOT HAVE LIFETIME FLUID usually had a 75,000 to 100,000 interval.....and even that was pretty aggressive, since most cars NEVER had done....and the tranny outlived the cars.... manual tranny fluid does not get heated much...so it lasts a VERY LONG TIME...also it can only can contaminated from gear grinding....
+1 for check the level...add if needed...but change?

Folks on these boards tend to become myopic....and often prevention OCD. But often cause issues in their zeal to make their cars last forever....
Reality check.... doing excess preventative work is a waste of time, $$$, and can sometimes cause issues if the person doesn't have the skills, the tools or the experience.

If you track the car, or grind lots of gears, YES, it might be wise to change the fluid a bit early, but race and track cars are an ENTIRELY DIFFERENT STORY for everything.
Yes...the gen1 5 speed Midlands failed lots...but it was in an application that had more hp than it was designed for...it was in the MINI for political reasons...notice Midlands units are not used anymore? Nuff said...

 

I'm not a gear grinder, maybe once in my ownership. My trans is getting replaced next Monday with 130k on it, shifts great but the input bearings are now shrapnel. I'd change it, at least once, better safe than sorry. I drank the" getrags last forever" kool aid, well it's costing me ALOT of money for that mistake.

 

Agreed. "Lifetime" fluid is a bad joke. General rule of thumb for preventative changes is 30 to 40K miles for the auto and 40 to 50K miles for the manual trans. Two quarts of Motul 300 is $35 (cheap insurance) and changing the fluid is super easy.

 

I changed mine at 40K miles and it seemed to help with trans smoothness. Absolutely... and I mean ABSOLUTELY use the dealer MT-LT-4 as I tried redline and had bad grinding on second gear when cold. Replaced with OEM fluid, perfectly fine again. Never too late to change fluid. It's expensive but $100 every 40K or 50K miles is less than thousands for a new trans.

 

Good point. Stay away from any fluid that includes friction modifiers. Especially if you have a Quaife or Wavetrac LSD. All ATB type LSD's rely on friction within the differential to function properly. Redline also has micro particles suspended in the fluid to act as absorbers between the gear teeth. Some have had success with it but many have not. Stick to a full synthetic fluid that meets the specifications and you'll be good to go. P.S. OS Giken and Wavetrac both recommend Motul 300.