sams255

A mate and I changed gearbox oil today in his 530D f10 Took around an hour. We knew a guy and he let us use his ramp for some beer money. It took around 5.5-6litres and it made a huge difference, gear changes are so much more smoother. The zf kit comes with instructions so anyone who has basic mechanical and basic tools can do it. Purchased this kit off eBay. Cheapest one going for ZF https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Original-ZF-Servicekit-Komplett-8HP45-70-8-GANG-Automatikgetriebe-Olwanne/152577915975?_trkparms=aid%3D1110001%26algo%3DSPLICE.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20140131123730%26meid%3D048b4886dacf43ed9579727de0de47f8%26pid%3D100167%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D15%26mehot%3Dpp%26sd%3D153343000646%26itm%3D152577915975%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D5411&_trksid=p5411.c100167.m2940&shqty=1&isGTR=1#vi-ilComp

I didnt take into account the oil cooler, i just drained it and did first fill when it was 30 degree, then started it up and got the guy to rev engine to 2000rpm for 30 secs and go through the gears, then did another refil untill it was coming out.

How much did you spend if you don't mind me asking

took a look at their website looks very good. Have you used them before ? there are no prices on the website

i'm not sure why the kits come with 8 litres i still have 2 and a bit bottles left over. But i do recommend doing the change even if its just a drain and refill.

The steering wheel is starting to get a bit grubby again. Even though I have been cleaning it and conditioning it with leather auto glym. Only really lasted a year. Need a better solution if anyone has any ideas

No the dealer said they havent been given the go ahead from BMW HQ Germany.

The dealers wont touch the car, i tried to ask them many times before. I think the dealers are abit stupid and losing out. Imagine if a dealer were to offer and even suggest Gearbox and diff oil changes, they would be making a decent amount ontop of the regular servicing. Even those people who dont know about servicing the gearbox and diff oil changes lost income

Opened the drivers side rear door today and a whole lot of water come pouring out on to the floor from the door. Do the water ways need clearing ? shouldn't the water just drip onto the floor anyway ?

Or do it yourself, as I don't have warranty.

Im still trying to work that out as well

The dealer will do a brake fluid change for 80£ as part of the value service

What did they do ? did they just do a drain and refill or strip out valve body etc ? That price is very reasonable as the kit can be as much as that alone

its located under the car, you have to take the undertrays to get at it

I'm going to change the diff oil in my Mates car, just wondering if it's limited slip or open diff. His is f10 530d and mine is f11 530d. There seems to be different oils depending on which diff you have. The oil from dealer is really expensive

The guy was drilling down into the different part numbers that BMW has released on oils, he was telling me how BMW has moved away from castrol oils in the last 5 years and now uses shell. He also said that diff oil could be anyone like Mobil etc They have had quiet a few part number changes on oils for the diff as well. he said originally its hypoid GL4. I did email the dealer and they wanted 75 pounds as they sell the diff oil in 500ml. so went for the diff oil that was GL4 and Hypoid (motul) which was 18 pounds on amazon prime.

Put my Reg on Opieoils and its coming up as motul Gear 300 GL4/5. I did call Castrol technical and he said not to use syntrax which is GL5 and use syntram which is GL4 as BMW spec is for Hypoid axle oil. Motul gear 300 seems to cover hypiod and GL4

The one i purchased from that ebay link came from Germany it is genuine. There are plenty of videos online so watch them first and it will build up your confidence

Here are the ZF instructions

I had mine done by ZF at 150k but now car is at 180k. So not sure when I should do it next.

For your n57 f11 (which I also have) What's the interval for oil changes and did you get a new plug from dealer or just use the old one with a crush washer

No you don't have to move it. You just go through all the gears for 10s each like P,R,N D1,D2 then refill it. The kit comes with ZF instructions on what to do. You do need a way to measure the gearbox oil temp. Some people use the laser temperature sensor. I have had the Carly app for a long time so I used that

120k . When I got my f11 done by zf for the first time I had 150k on there. But ZF said change the oil every 30-50k miles. Or every 5 years. And considering oil and pan is cheap compared to agearbox repair etc it's worth doing it yourself.

There was some on the magnets but not too bad. Although the oil was quiet black

That 11 litres includes the oil in the torque converter. When doing a drain like this you are just doing a partial change like 60 percent. People say you should never do a flush, zf included. I had my F11 gearbox serviced at zf in Germany they sucked out all the oil. This kit that I bought is the service kit that zf sell. It comes with 8litres but I think they are happy if you do partial changes compared to doing nothing (which is what BMW want you to do) Just doing a service like we carried out still had a major improvement on his gearbox. Plus with a new pan comes a new filter and new magnets. For guys who do their own oil changes this service is very simple and can save loads of money if you do it yourself