[snipnoob86]

I had a 2006 audi a6. It had done 192k by the time i got rid of it. I remember the transmission was a *sealed for life* unit that never need oil changes. At about 110k miles i noticed the transmission was becoming more clunky so i had it in to an independant for an oil change. it wasnt cheap the oil itself was about £150. but the guy who did it was almost certain the oil change saved its life and enabled it to go on and on.

my point is the bmw transmission is also a sealed for life unit, but ill be getting someone to swap the oil and filter out at around 60k.

for those of us planning on keeping our cars for a fair time might be worth bareing in mind

edit: just to add i remember the oil being a shiny grey colour and the magnets had some minor metal flakes on them, but only very minor.

[....,,,,..,,..]

Used to do this with previous cars, either myself of local garage.

Used to have regular engine oil changes and then intermittent gearbox / diff oil changes.

Main thing is always getting maximum amount of old oil out and cleaning everything that is possible.

Not actually thought about current car yet.

I used to work with someone that used a grease gun and nipple set to lube his car yearly, oil change, sump clean, filters, seals, relube etc.

too lazy to do that these days

[gembrain]

I had a good old read on this a couple of years ago for my E39

Cynics would say that "sealed for life" means OK until the warranty runs out!

IIRC if going to change it then:

1) Do it regularly every 50K miles as some were reporting that changing it after 100K would do more harm than good.
2) The process of changing it is not entirely straightforward so one can end up with too much or too little fluid - bad news.

[snipnoob86]

Originally Posted by gembrain

I had a good old read on this a couple of years ago for my E39

Cynics would say that "sealed for life" means OK until the warranty runs out!

IIRC if going to change it then:

1) Do it regularly every 50K miles as some were reporting that changing it after 100K would do more harm than good.
2) The process of changing it is not entirely straightforward so one can end up with too much or too little fluid - bad news.

absolutely right about the changing process. tranny box has to be perfectly level and also has to be done using temperature gauges as the oil is quite sensetive. needs a proffessional

[HighlandPete]

Also note that ZF have a different view on oil changes and 'sealed for life' than BMW.

Agree on the change intervals, can be too long and cause issues, rather than 'save' the gearbox.

HighlandPete