Attention all 6 speed MT owners! - 1200 miles service bulletin

I spoke to my dealer about this today after seeing my 1,200 mile service included the differential and engine oil but not the transmission oil. The service guy said their tech had just come back from training and that only certain builds of the 6 MT trans required the oil change at 1,200 miles, and that my trans was not in that range.

Any idea whether later builds (mine is a 2009, built late in 2008) no longer require this service? Or is the dealer just wrong?

rldzhao wrote

Hey John,

Just checked my record from a year ago (5/27/2008) and the trans oil wasn't changed. Now that I have moved to a different state, can the dealer here still do it for me at no charge?

Also, could this have caused any damage to the transmission?

Thanks for the thread!

My 1200 was done in November and it appears that the 6MT oil was not changed. Shame I only found this out 7 months and 11,000 miles later. I hope this wouldn't cause too much damage?

check my receipt from last year...
4 items on it.
11-42-7-837-997 oil filter
07-51-0-009-420 engine oil 10w60
83-22-0-406-582 gearbox oil
83-22-2-282-583 diff oil

sandwood wrote

I spoke to my dealer about this today after seeing my 1,200 mile service included the differential and engine oil but not the transmission oil. The service guy said their tech had just come back from training and that only certain builds of the 6 MT trans required the oil change at 1,200 miles, and that my trans was not in that range.

Any idea whether later builds (mine is a 2009, built late in 2008) no longer require this service? Or is the dealer just wrong?

Dealer is wrong. They're just cya.

sandwood wrote

I spoke to my dealer about this today after seeing my 1,200 mile service included the differential and engine oil but not the transmission oil. The service guy said their tech had just come back from training and that only certain builds of the 6 MT trans required the oil change at 1,200 miles, and that my trans was not in that range.

Any idea whether later builds (mine is a 2009, built late in 2008) no longer require this service? Or is the dealer just wrong?

Dealer = wrong. Changing the engine oil and the final drive only (and not the transmission oil) is how the 1200 used to work for the S54 MZ4s and E46M3s. That is not correct for the S65M3s. I think they are confusing models in your case.

Yeah, the dealer came around yesterday, so now I can take the car back in. Good thing, because I have a track day on Friday!

Here was the response from BMW N.A.

Thank you for contacting BMW of North America, LLC regarding your 2008 BMW M3 Sedan. We appreciate your inquiry.

I apologize for any inconvenience this has caused. However, I can tell you that your 2008 M3 Sedan, 6 speed manual, the transmission oil does need to be changed at the 1,200 mile service. The dual clutch transmission does not need the transmission oil changed at the 1,200 mile service. Therefore, BMW does recommend the transmission oil be changed at the 1,200 mile service for the 6 speed manual transmission. I hope this information is helpful.

If you have any further comments or questions, please respond to this e-mail or contact the Customer Relations and Services Department at 1-800-831-1117, Monday through Friday from 9:00 A.M. to 9:00 P.M., Eastern Standard Time. Again, thank you for contacting BMW.

Sincerely,

Christa McGrew
Customer Relations and Services
Representative

On the invoice for my 1200 mile service, it shows "Perform Microfilter Service per CBS/FSM." However, there is no part number for transmission fluid anywhere on the invoice.

Is it possible to do the microfilter service without replacing the transmission fluid?

Just go to the shop and say:

I want you to Replace the engine oil and oil filter

Replace the transmission oil on the standard-equipment 6-speed manual unit.

Remove and clean the transmission filter on the standard-equipment 6-speed manual unit

Replace the differential oil

thank you and good bye.


Don't listen to any of their bullsh*t, if they won't do it... then move on to another dealer and post their dumbasses on this forum so nobody else goes there either.

Thanks to this sticky I was able to get my transmission fluid changed yesterday at my 1200 mile service. At first they had only done the engine oil and diff, after I gave the the service bulletin number they got it right.

keep it up guys!

What kind of damage might be done if transmission oil wasn't changed? I have 11k miles on my car and IIRC, i don't think i remember seeing either the diff or the tranny oil changed at teh 1,200 mile service (it was one or the other, i forget). I am trying to find my receipt from the service a little over a year ago to be sure... but is it that bad if one of the oils wasn't changed?

Bought my 08 E90 M3 in Oct 09 with 5K miles. Just swimming through endless amounts of information.. I called the dealer about this SI B 00 04 08 bulletin related to transmission and differential fluid change and a couple other things. He took a look at it while I was on the phone and said that specific service bulletin mentioned 2009 models specifically but he would check with his master tech about relevance to 2008 models and call me back.
Any chance anyone has a copy of that bulletin?

After some searching, found the 1200 mile service related bulletins. SB00 04 08 does have specific wording that applies specifically to 2009 models. I then found reference to a SB00 01 07 within. SB00 01 07 does mention 2008 models specifically.

SB00 04 08:
http://www.bmwtis.com/tsb/bulletins/bulletin_graphic_temp/B000408g.htm

SI B00 01 07:
http://www.bmwtis.com/tiscode/cgi-bin/omcgi.exe?sie_path=server.mappath/11649.3.B000107.xml&brand=bmwtis&sie_id=11649&usersession=211089527

These year specific mentions are marked 'new' in the documents as of 7/09.

Thanks. Those service bulletins are very helpful. I just picked up my 08 M3 coupe a few weeks ago and now its saying that it wants the brake fluid changed. I am loathe to pay BMW a pile of $$ to do this as bleeding brakes is easy but I don't want to void the o'l warranty.

3 questions,

My car has 18,800 km on it, 300 of which I did. I have some receipts from the BMW dealer that installed some Dinan upgrades for the previous owner and an oil change for $300. This was done around 12,000km. The computer says 7000km left until next oil service which is cool. What I don't have is an invoice for a 1200km service. The previous owner might have had it done and turfed the invoice or he may not have had it done at all. Can BMW tell me the service history of the vehicle and should I go to the dealership or BMWNA online?

Secondly, can I get away with doing any services myself without voiding the warranty or will BMW throw a sh#t fit? I love working on my cars and its half the fun of owning them.

Lastly, what does BMW cover service-wise under the warranty program. I understand that they do an "early" oil change free once a year but then you still have to go back for the "scheduled" one to get the filter changed and the comp reset. Which I imagine you have to pay dearly for. Do they change the brake fluid for free? air filters, anything while under warranty?

Thanks,

This is really interesting. I need to keep my eye on this thread. I just picked up an 08 E90 M3 last month with less than 10k miles. But I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the previous owner did everything right with the car and treated her like a baby.

Is there any way that we could find out what were done during the 1200 mile service without going as far as tracing the original owner and asking them right out?

armorrig wrote

Is there any way that we could find out what were done during the 1200 mile service without going as far as tracing the original owner and asking them right out?

Methinks any BMW dealer can bring up maintenance records.

I figured that too. I'll have to give them a call tomorrow and find out.

corrupt23jj wrote

Methinks any BMW dealer can bring up maintenance records.

irish_tyrant wrote

Secondly, can I get away with doing any services myself without voiding the warranty or will BMW throw a sh#t fit? I love working on my cars and its half the fun of owning them.

BMW can not condition your warranty on them servicing the car unless that service is provided free of charge. Canada may or may not have different rules though. Since you have to pay for your servicing I can't see any reason that you can not perform your own fluid chages as long as you use the correct BMW approved fluids.

So, after 1200 miles, how often should these be changed?

RTFM

Seriously.





































But if you're feeling lazy it's every 3rd oil change after the 1200 mile service for gearbox and diff changes.

Seriously

quality_sound wrote

RTFM

Seriously.





































But if you're feeling lazy it's every 3rd oil change after the 1200 mile service for gearbox and diff changes.

I'm not the one that would rather wait for a random reply on a web forum that look in the book that came with the car. That really says a lot about you. But whatever, if you're comfortable not knowing anything about your car, more power to you.