OT: Talk me out of this (BMW content)

[Blue Jays]

Originally Posted by redir

"...Maybe Scotty Kilmer can talk you out of it.."

He seems like a funny and genuinely fun guy.
He would be a hoot telling stories at a party.

[redir]

Originally Posted by Blue Jays

He seems like a funny and genuinely fun guy.
He would be a hoot telling stories at a party.

He is really funny indeed

[RFC]

Here is my 2003 Z4. It finally died after 15 years. The transmission blew and the SMG transmission is very complex and expensive. Loved the car. It was a driver's car. The relative lack of suspension would bounce passengers around.

I traded it to my house painter for a paint job and $1100. A good deal for both of us.

IMG_6377 by Robert Copple, on Flickr

[CDM]

[QUOTE=RFC;2630983]Here is my 2003 Z4. It finally died after 15 years. The transmission blew and the SMG transmission is very complex and expensive. Loved the car. It was a driver's car. The relative lack of suspension would bounce passengers around.

I traded it to my house painter for a paint job and $1100. A good deal for both of us.

IMG_6377 by Robert Copple, on Flickr[/QUOTE

........with a ten foot pole....or ladder..!

[Ken Robb]

[QUOTE=CDM;2631073]

Originally Posted by RFC

Here is my 2003 Z4. It finally died after 15 years. The transmission blew and the SMG transmission is very complex and expensive. Loved the car. It was a driver's car. The relative lack of suspension would bounce passengers around.

I traded it to my house painter for a paint job and $1100. A good deal for both of us.

IMG_6377 by Robert Copple, on Flickr[/QUOTE

........with a ten foot pole....or ladder..!

How many miles before it died? Was there required normal servicing on that tranny? I know BMW decided years ago that their regular automatics had "lifetime" fills of transmission fluid from the factory. Of course there were enough premature failures that led to many jokes about how long a "lifetime" they referred to.

[Red Tornado]

[QUOTE=Ken Robb;2631084]

Originally Posted by CDM

How many miles before it died? Was there required normal servicing on that tranny? I know BMW decided years ago that their regular automatics had "lifetime" fills of transmission fluid from the factory. Of course there were enough premature failures that led to many jokes about how long a "lifetime" they referred to.

We owned a vehicle with "lifetime" transmission fluid. It was a Volvo XC90 AWD. The foreign car guy who serviced it for us told me you could change the fluid if you really wanted to (not literally a sealed transmission), but he had never done it. Told me if it doesn't give you trouble don't worry about it. We put close to 180K on it before trading it for my truck - never any issue with the tranny or shifting. Probably not the same tranny, and could also be a function of how the car is driven.
I have heard of people running them for a long time, say 80K+ miles, and then telling the mechanic to change the fluid, even though they were advised against it. The electronics have compensated for the changes in the fluid over time, and introducing all new fluid forces the computer to "re-learn" how to shift. Some folk had issues with transmissions after a fluid change. At least that's what I'm told.

[cinema]

[QUOTE=Red Tornado;2631233]

Originally Posted by Ken Robb

We owned a vehicle with "lifetime" transmission fluid. It was a Volvo XC90 AWD. The foreign car guy who serviced it for us told me you could change the fluid if you really wanted to (not literally a sealed transmission), but he had never done it. Told me if it doesn't give you trouble don't worry about it. We put close to 180K on it before trading it for my truck - never any issue with the tranny or shifting. Probably not the same tranny, and could also be a function of how the car is driven.
I have heard of people running them for a long time, say 80K+ miles, and then telling the mechanic to change the fluid, even though they were advised against it. The electronics have compensated for the changes in the fluid over time, and introducing all new fluid forces the computer to "re-learn" how to shift. Some folk had issues with transmissions after a fluid change. At least that's what I'm told.

This isn't true but I'm not eloquent enough to describe why. Regardless, a transmission should always have the same shift points if operating properly. Lifetime fluid should be changed around 60-80k. at most. lubricity breaks down over time due to temperature. Heat is what kills transmissions. Once fluid has lost lubricity, metal items wear much faster. If you never change your fluid and then suddenly change it at 200k, since you have missed crucial change intervals, your transmission has worn to a point where the increased amount of metal debris suspended in the fluid is keeping you in gear by providing extra friction. That's why you should just leave the old fluid in at that point and just be nice to it. Lifetime fluids are more like 'guaranteed for life' aka the warranty period of the vehicle. because once that's up, you get to pay for a new tranny from the dealer

[GScot]

On the topic of lifetime fluid in automatic transmissions with the ZF 8 speeds there are many versions used by many automakers. It seems the consensus in the Audi and Mopar crowds that I'm familiar with is if you run it hard, especially drag racing, change it with a drain and filter at 30-50k miles depending on just how hard you drive it. If you treat it normal service interval about 60k miles seems good. Always just fluid drain and filter swap. Going for the full system flush seems to bring its own set of risks with high mile transmissions that get a flush being more prone to problems after a flush.

[mulp]

Originally Posted by GScot

On the topic of lifetime fluid in automatic transmissions with the ZF 8 speeds there are many versions used by many automakers. It seems the consensus in the Audi and Mopar crowds that I'm familiar with is if you run it hard, especially drag racing, change it with a drain and filter at 30-50k miles depending on just how hard you drive it. If you treat it normal service interval about 60k miles seems good. Always just fluid drain and filter swap. Going for the full system flush seems to bring its own set of risks with high mile transmissions that get a flush being more prone to problems after a flush.

I agree with what was stated above. For Lexus, I havent found one mechanic who recommended keeping the lifetime fluid in the care indefinitely, they all recommended a drain and fill if you have higher mileage and a flush if you start at 40-50k.

[cmg]

here's Scotty's videos on BMWs https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q...6489&FORM=VIRE and a fav. https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q...095C&FORM=VIRE

Had a friend who had an Audi 100LS, what a pile of junk. then a co-worker had a modern VW with an exploding water pump. Why put yourself through it especially when you know it's going to happen? This is a funny thread.

[YesNdeed]

Late to join the party, but I would make the jump to rid myself of those Outback roof racks alone.

I hope to drive my S4 Avant for another couple of years, but I'm wondering what in the heck could follow up such a great car. A Macan GTS or RS6 Avant would suffice...I'll start my own Talk Me Out of This thread at that time.

[Ken Robb]

[QUOTE=cinema;2631258]

Originally Posted by Red Tornado

This isn't true but I'm not eloquent enough to describe why. Regardless, a transmission should always have the same shift points if operating properly. Lifetime fluid should be changed around 60-80k. at most. lubricity breaks down over time due to temperature. Heat is what kills transmissions. Once fluid has lost lubricity, metal items wear much faster. If you never change your fluid and then suddenly change it at 200k, since you have missed crucial change intervals, your transmission has worn to a point where the increased amount of metal debris suspended in the fluid is keeping you in gear by providing extra friction. That's why you should just leave the old fluid in at that point and just be nice to it. Lifetime fluids are more like 'guaranteed for life' aka the warranty period of the vehicle. because once that's up, you get to pay for a new tranny from the dealer

Hey, I didn't post about owning a VOLVO as quoted above. That is someone else's comment.

[Red Tornado]

[QUOTE=Ken Robb;2631292]

Originally Posted by cinema

Hey, I didn't post about owning a VOLVO as quoted above. That is someone else's comment.

Sorry for the thread drift. I was commenting in reply to the "lifetime" tranny fluid. Probably could have left the make of vehicle out.

[Red Tornado]

[QUOTE=cinema;2631258]

Originally Posted by Red Tornado

This isn't true but I'm not eloquent enough to describe why. Regardless, a transmission should always have the same shift points if operating properly. Lifetime fluid should be changed around 60-80k. at most. lubricity breaks down over time due to temperature. Heat is what kills transmissions. Once fluid has lost lubricity, metal items wear much faster. If you never change your fluid and then suddenly change it at 200k, since you have missed crucial change intervals, your transmission has worn to a point where the increased amount of metal debris suspended in the fluid is keeping you in gear by providing extra friction. That's why you should just leave the old fluid in at that point and just be nice to it. Lifetime fluids are more like 'guaranteed for life' aka the warranty period of the vehicle. because once that's up, you get to pay for a new tranny from the dealer

Excellent points. I was going off of what I was told by a mechanic when asking about my vehicle. Maybe I didn't remember correctly and that is what he was telling me - it's been a while. Makes sense. At the time our vehicle had ~90K on it. We bought it with 80K. Prior to that SUV, all my other stuff usually recommended fluid/filter change approximately every 30K, so that "lifetime" thing was new to me. The guy did say that changing the fluid in that particular vehicle was a PITA - maybe an additional reason why he told me what he did?

[saab2000]

I avoid most of this by just bringing it to my VW dealership on schedule. With one exception for a major repair (that I was expecting because it was a known issue - premature camshaft wear), my 2006 GTI has been dead reliable. It has never left me stranded, which is the prime directive of any automobile.

To be sure, there are some expensive items along the way and some of those periodic service items make my eyes water. I now own a 2018 VW Tiguan, which Scotty, in the videos, condemns. It's never done anything but run perfectly for me so far. I expect along the way some of the services will be expensive and at one of these services, there will be a flushing of the 8-speed automatic transmission.

None of this is to say that there won't be surprises but I've owned two automobiles new from the lot and both have always and only ever been serviced by VW authorized service centers and neither has had any nasty surprises, except the one I mentioned, and that happened when the car had over 100K miles, so by that point to have had a reliable car is pretty good. Start bringing them to other places and all bets are off.

Follow the manufacturer's maintenance schedule and I'd say most customers will be just fine.