[F10_Anthony]

Hey everyone! So I've had my 2020 540i (05/2020) for about 4 years now, I recently just hit 70,000 miles, and wondering if now is too late to service my transmission. I know ZF recommends 50,000 miles, and I get mixed signals from lots of people on weather or not to change it.

Since February of 2021 the car has been Stage 2 by BM3 on 93 octane, with supporting mods. It is also on a stage 2 XHP Tune as well.

Just wanted to get everyone's opinions on weather or not if I should replace the transmission fluid with the $499.99 Kit from FCP Euro or is it too late.

Thank you!!!

[aerof16]

Go for it. Think I did mine around 75k for the first time, now I’m at 113k and still going strong. Just did the service on my Wife’s X5 40i as well, pretty straightforward.

$500 seems like a lot, I feel like $250ish for the kit is closer to what I paid each time I did it.

EDIT - the kit you’re looking at has an aluminum pan, which is why it’s more expensive. If that’s what you want, go for it, otherwise I’ve been using the kit below which matches your OEM plastic pan.

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...-24118612901kt

[F10_Anthony]

That’s what I was looking at, but I saw a gasket in that kit as well, do I need to buy it separately? Or does the plastic plan not have a gasket seal?

[rsc1]

Originally Posted by F10_Anthony

Hey everyone! So I've had my 2020 540i (05/2020) for about 4 years now, I recently just hit 70,000 miles, and wondering if now is too late to service my transmission. I know ZF recommends 50,000 miles, and I get mixed signals from lots of people on weather or not to change it.

Since February of 2021 the car has been Stage 2 by BM3 on 93 octane, with supporting mods. It is also on a stage 2 XHP Tune as well.

Just wanted to get everyone's opinions on weather or not if I should replace the transmission fluid with the $499.99 Kit from FCP Euro or is it too late.

Thank you!!!

It's never too late! I just did mine 2 weeks ago (62K miles) and it shifts noticeably smoother now. Just make sure you do a drain & fill instead of a flush where they try to get all of the old oil out - that can cause damage on higher mileage ZFs when residue gets dislodged. Like above post I used the $250 kit from FCP. Go for it, you won't regret it.

[rsc1]

Originally Posted by F10_Anthony

That’s what I was looking at, but I saw a gasket in that kit as well, do I need to buy it separately? Or does the plastic plan not have a gasket seal?

The gasket is part of the plastic pan, so when you do another service you'll have to get a new one. If you get the aluminum pan you only need a new gasket.

[aerof16]

Yep, the gasket comes preinstalled on the plastic pan with the built in filter.

Just make sure when you pull the old pan off that you clean the mating surface well and none of the old gasket is left stuck on there.

Before you do anything though, make sure you can get the fill plug loose. It’s a very tight space without much room, you cannot get a socket or normal Allen wrench on it.

It is an 8mm Allen. What I did was use my angle grinder to cut a piece off an 8mm hex and then bought an extra long set of box end wrenches. Place the hex in position on the fill plug and then slide the box end 8mm over it to crack it loose.

[aerof16]

I couldn’t find my 8mm wrench (turns out it was in my 5 year old’s tool box haha) so I snagged a cheaper set from Oreilly auto parts. Worked really well.

https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/c...et/ptt0/gm4807