[Quasimodem]

Looks like BMW accidentally left the transmission fluid dipstick off my 335d.

Anybody know the part number for this item?

But more seriously, I have looked at photos of the 6Hp26/28 tranny and, as I suspected, there appears to be a hole for the dipstick which BMW left out when it decided to tap a new income source for their dealers (drivers who develop a tranny leak and don't notice it).

So has anybody retrofitted a dipstick from another model into their 335d? I suppose it might take some pipe bending and don't ask me how you would get access to the port on the transmission to install it....

This transmission has been in many cars: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZF_6HP26_transmission

They cant all not have transmission dipsticks.

I recently changed the pan and replaced some of the fluid. I noticed that the fluid leak I thought was coming from the pan was actually coming from higher up on the rear passenger side of the tranny.

Has anybody had a similar leak?

I looked at some photos of the tranny online and there is a large connection up there, not sure what it is for, but the leak was very slow so I can put off fixing it for a while. Not looking forward to dropping the tranny. By the way, the car has 134k miles so warranty work is not a possibility.

[Needbmwpartzz]

Lol....accidentally!!
I'm going to make sure my next car comes with an oil dipstick and tranny dipstick,if not that company just lost a sale

[BB_cuda]

This version of this 6 speed ZF has a very short dipstick that you have to get under the car (mustang) and pull it out. The part that protrudes out of the casing is less than an inch I recall. A friend has a Ford Raptor truck also with basically same 6 speed ZF from a trans casing perspective. The bottom pan has identical bolt pattern to mine. He also has the shorty dipstick.

I wonder if there is a spot on our casing that has an u drilled boss or something where the Ford provision is installed?

[BB_cuda]

If course, the BMW fluid level could be different that what ford wants. Ford uses Mercon fluid too.

[Quasimodem]

Originally Posted by Needbmwpartzz

Lol....accidentally!!
I'm going to make sure my next car comes with an oil dipstick and tranny dipstick,if not that company just lost a sale

Well, the excuse for the omission of the oil dipstick is because the oil level can be monitored electronically. As far as I can tell, at least through BMWhat, there are no sensors on the tranny, even a temperature sensor might warn us that the fluid is low and the tranny is beginning to melt.

Maybe I should to mount a wireless temperature sensor to the tranny itself. Regardless, I would prefer to know the exact fluid level or pressure rather than wait until the absence of fluid is effecting the operating temperature of the transmission.

All this combined with an apparent frequent leak in some "Mechatronic" sleeve is really annoying. Apparently, our transmissions have a known defect causing a leak and there are no safeguards other than checking for fluid under the car.

[Hoooper]

The mechatronic sleeve link is not a 6hp26 issue, it's a 6hp19(or whatever number it is that the 335i uses).

It may not be available in bmwhat but there is a transmission fluid temp sensor. Obviously a hard to find reading is no substitute for a gauge or dipstick though.

[Quasimodem]

Originally Posted by Hoooper

The mechatronic sleeve link is not a 6hp26 issue, it's a 6hp19(or whatever number it is that the 335i uses).

Well, that's a relief, but I did see something leaking from above the rear passenger side of my tranny when I was doing the pan replacement, but my car does have around 134k miles on it.... It was a very slow leak and probably not noticeable with the undercarriage cover on the bottom of the area.

[Hoooper]

No doubt you could still have a leak or probably do, heck it could even be the mechatronic sleeve still, just was hoping to alleviate some possible concerns.

The fill plug is right about where you said your leak is, could it be that?

[BB_cuda]

Per above post, here is a pic of the shorty dipstick as well as a thread where they talk about it. On page 2 of thread, there is a short video demonstrating fluid level check. So much easier than our let fluid run out of the hole on side of trans method. I bet it highly likely that we can't mod to add this dipstick to our BMW spec'd ZF trans. Hope i didn't get anyone's hopes up in earlier post.

http://www.fordraptorforum.com/f7/ho...ip-stick-6839/

[Quasimodem]

Originally Posted by Hoooper

No doubt you could still have a leak or probably do, heck it could even be the mechatronic sleeve still, just was hoping to alleviate some possible concerns.

The fill plug is right about where you said your leak is, could it be that?

It was coming down from much higher than the drain hole. I couldn't see the source, while the entire drain hole was visible. That's a great link to the shorty dip stick. I am sure we could install that dipstick, but not sure we have access to the port. I will look for it this weekend when my car is back up on jack stands.

[BB_cuda]

we don't have the machined feature that the shorty threads into :-(