Hi all, as many have read in my other posts, the dealer replaced my transmission at ~62k miles (I can check on the exact mileage later) as it was diagnosed with bad syncros.
Having read and experienced how "annoying" it is to shift from 1->2 and 2->3, I thought a fresh MT was going to fix the problem...WRONG! While shifting was improved, the 1st gear hard engagement was still there, having to basically find my way into 1st gear gate and then babying the shift to second, and notchiness in third. I was annoyed at this point and thought I needed to break in the tranny. OK, so I did and while things loosened up a bit, it was still a PITA to shift. I was seriously starting to question my choice in MT vs DCT
After reading that other members have also had their tranny replaced at around the same mileage as mine, it got me thinking that perhaps the OEM oil and BMW's "extended" maintenance was just not up tp par to what this tranny needs. This was also "confirmed" in my mind by an article i read, written by Mike Miller on Redline oils, where he states back in the day, BMW trannys had a life span of 60k (which coincidentally is when mine was replaced) while using OEM oils. After switching to Redline MTL, these problems started to go away and as Mike Miller now calls Redline MTL "mother's milk for manual gearboxes", i made the switch and replaced the OEM oil (with 800 miles) to Redline MTL. I was able to flush all the oil and put exactly 2.5 qts back in the transmission.
IMPRESSIONS:
This morning was the first time I was able to test out the new oil and let me tell you...Mike was right
Fisrt gear engagement is now crisp and direct. I dont have to find my way into the gate and it just goes in (TWSS).
1st to 2nd is GREATLY improved, no more hesitation! Third gear notchiness is gone and while before I had a hard time going into third (slight hesitation from the transmission to accept third), now it feels like the tranny is pulling third in, instead of me forcing in the gear, hard to explain but if you ever experienced this, you know what i'm talking about.
Cold shifting is also vastly improved and as soon as the oil is warmed up, shifting becomes a pleasure rather than a chore.
Now some of you might object to this, as most are still within the warranty period. While I am one of those people (1 year left on CPO), I did not want to ruin yet another transmission, and retain OEM oil just to make it to CPO end.
In closing, the diff is next on the list and while I have the oil, I hurt my back changing the tranny oil (twisted on the wrong side
). As soon as my back feels better, I will switch the diff oil to Redline. And guess what! Redline engine oil as soon as CPO is over. (insert jokes here).
I hope this quick review serves as a catalyst for some other people hesitating in making this switch. DO IT, you will not regret it.
Thank you for reading.
