Cost of DCT Transmission Flush?

[Radiation Joe]

Does anyone have details on how much it costs to change the fluid in the DCT transmission. Believe it or not, I asked my SA and he couldn't easily tell me. I know the correct fluid is hard to get and expensive, but my SA said he thought there was some serious time associated with the flush as well.

[FusionM]

I'm interested to know as well.

[Radiation Joe]

GTR guys are switching over to Pentosin FFL-4 (BMW OEM DCT fluid) and paying around $20 a liter.

[Radiation Joe]

The nice people at BMW told me that they would not change the fluid. Even if I wanted it done and would pay for it. Said they would have to contact BMWNA and get authorization.

[Dartanium]

why do you want to change the fluid, does it help with anything? Thanks.

[hugehead]

DCT fluid does not need changing that why yr local BMW cannot authorize it

[Dascamel]

Originally Posted by hugehead

DCT fluid does not need changing that why yr local BMW cannot authorize it

In theory... I would try calling BMW North America and discussing why you want the fluid change. Extreme activities would justify it.

[haze gray]

You could do what I did on my first and last trip to my selling BMW center.

Take it in for a 1200 mi service, tell them it's a DCT and they are NOT supposed to touch the transmission fluid. Have the SA to act like I'm an idiot for raising such a basic issue, they "know" M3's. Get a call about 4 hours later from a different SA saying they "drained" the transmission fluid and don't have any of the correct type to refill it. Wait 5 days for them to get it all squared away. Call them repeatedly for updates when hours and days have gone by since their promise to call you back. Have them try to charge you for the lame loaner car they provided.

Name of BMW "service" center provided upon request

[Radiation Joe]

Looks like no-one has had this done and paid for it?

Hugehead, If you don't think the DCT fluid needs to be changed at some point in the car's life, then I suggest you sell yours before you get too many miles on it. These cars use a wet clutch and hydraulics which use that same fluid to operate the transmission. Over time, particulate from the clutches and other wear parts in the transmission will collect in the fluid. Also, over time, high temperatures generated in the transmission will break down the 'lifetime' fluid in the DCT. Changing the fluid is common sense maintenance.

I'm at 40k miles and think around now is the best time to start changing fluids throughout the car. This includes PS, rear end and the transmission. I flush the brake fluid once or twice annually.

[evanirene]

Originally Posted by Radiation Joe

The nice people at BMW told me that they would not change the fluid. Even if I wanted it done and would pay for it. Said they would have to contact BMWNA and get authorization.

I got the same msg as well.

the fulid is LIFETIME....

[Moxie]

Originally Posted by evanirene

I got the same msg as well.

the fulid is LIFETIME....

Lifetime for the Lifetime of the transmission is what BMW says, but the tranny lifetime will be reduced if it's never replaced. They say the same thing on the E36 tranny that I just replaced with 95K miles on it.

I've seen the fluid on Ebay before. ~$35 a liter

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...K%3AMEWAX%3AIT

[Dascamel]

Originally Posted by Moxie

Lifetime for the Lifetime of the transmission is what BMW says, but the tranny lifetime will be reduced if it's never replaced. They say the same thing on the E36 tranny that I just replaced with 95K miles on it.

I've seen the fluid on Ebay before. ~$35 a liter

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...K%3AMEWAX%3AIT

Is the process difficult or require special equipment to change the fluid?

[Radiation Joe]

Originally Posted by Dascamel

Is the process difficult or require special equipment to change the fluid?

Yes and yes. You need to activates the hydraulic pump to get most of the old fluid out.

You could just do a drain and fill at the transmission. This would get about half of the old fluid out. Better than nothing.

[hugehead]

Originally Posted by Radiation Joe

Yes and yes. You need to activates the hydraulic pump to get most of the old fluid out.

You could just do a drain and fill at the transmission. This would get about half of the old fluid out. Better than nothing.

and then do another change after a few miles to get the other half out

ps i was just quoting the info in the Bmw manual re DCT trasmission fliud change

If i had 40k miles on my M3 .....I also will be thinking of a transmission fliud change(but i've only 1180miles on mine at the mom and only do around 4k miles per year , so will not be changing in the near future lol )

[fe55]

I am in Canada so the prices may be different but here goes.
I purchased the oil from my BMW dealer
83-22-2-148-579 In 20 l pails for $463.00 cdn (Purchased 10 litres)
This number has been upgraded to
83-22-2-148-578 in 1 l containers cost to me was 28.81/l
You need 10 l of the stuff

I had this done at a local specialist . They were only able to get out 4 l of the trans oil.
There is a TIS for changing the Oi and it dictates what the temperature must be when the oil is checked.
They only charged me $125.00 but it took them overnight even to get that much oil out. The majority is in cooling lines and radiator. It will not come out unless you pressurize the lines. So I did not do this.
They let it drain overnight because the temperature was to high according to the TIS and they could not get a proper reading on the amount that had to go back in .
However .
I will probably do this again ( I still have 6 litres of oil left) this fall because I track the car a lot.
Was that any help
You can do the math but the amount of oil changed is the overriding factor in the cost.

[Radiation Joe]

Thanks Fe55.

I'm picking up the car on Tuesday. I think the dealer might have actually performed the work this time. I will let everyone know what it cost and how much oil they got out.

[Radiation Joe]

Update.

BMWNA told the dealer to pound sand. Won't let them change the fluid; even on my dime.

[swamp2]

Time to look to industry or other savy forum members for a hack to cycle the DCT pump. I very much want to change the oil in mine somewhere in the 40k-60k range.

[Radiation Joe]

Originally Posted by swamp2

Time to look to industry or other savy forum members for a hack to cycle the DCT pump. I very much want to change the oil in mine somewhere in the 40k-60k range.

I believe the Bavarian Technic tool can be used to cycle the fluid.

[swamp2]

Originally Posted by Radiation Joe

I believe the Bavarian Technic tool can be used to cycle the fluid.

Great, do keep us posted. Doesn't PG have that tool?

[Radiation Joe]

Originally Posted by swamp2

Great, do keep us posted. Doesn't PG have that tool?

I just got one a couple of weeks ago. Mine may not be capable of cycling the pumps, however. Activations (cycling pumps) are part of the professional system. I just got the hobby version.

[aus]

Originally Posted by hugehead

and then do another change after a few miles to get the other half out

ps i was just quoting the info in the Bmw manual re DCT trasmission fliud change

If i had 40k miles on my M3 .....I also will be thinking of a transmission fliud change(but i've only 1180miles on mine at the mom and only do around 4k miles per year , so will not be changing in the near future lol )

That will get you to about 75% changed since you're only getting 50% of mixed oil out. This will get costly if you need to do 3 changes to get most of the oil out.