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      04-10-2021, 02:55 PM   #23
MarcoZandrini
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I just changed the transmission fluid in my manual transmission. The fill and drain plugs are 9mm, and not 8mm.

Last edited by MarcoZandrini; 05-21-2021 at 12:16 PM..
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      04-10-2021, 03:37 PM   #24
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Any pictures ? I was planning to do mine soon
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      04-11-2021, 10:26 AM   #25
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Quote:
Originally Posted by iv-128i View Post
Any pictures ? I was planning to do mine soon
Sorry, no pix. It's pretty straight forward. The part that took the longest time was removing the plastic aerotray that sits under the transmission. There are a bunch of 8mm screws to remove. The transmission fill plug is partially blocked by a tubular support bar on the right side. I had to get the ratchet with the 9mm allen bit above the bar. That limited the rotation of the ratchet.

ALWAYS remove the fill plug first. Why? Supposed you remove the drain plug and can't get the fill plug off. OOOOOPS!

Last edited by MarcoZandrini; 04-11-2021 at 12:15 PM..
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      04-11-2021, 05:40 PM   #26
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Ok thank you for info ! Will be doing this soon
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      04-12-2021, 09:31 AM   #27
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Quote:
Originally Posted by iv-128i View Post
Ok thank you for info ! Will be doing this soon
Glad to help.
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      05-01-2021, 05:44 PM   #28
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Maybe a stupid question... Can you do this on ramps or does the car need to be level to fill the transmission properly?

Thanks for the help.
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      05-01-2021, 06:33 PM   #29
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I did it today, had car on ramps in front and jack stands behind to be level. All other cars I did in the past had to be level, so I assumed this one is the same.
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      05-01-2021, 11:38 PM   #30
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Quote:
Originally Posted by iv-128i View Post
I did it today, had car on ramps in front and jack stands behind to be level. All other cars I did in the past had to be level, so I assumed this one is the same.
Thanks! That's exactly what I was thinking. I still find lifting these cars to be somewhat a PITA.
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      07-10-2021, 08:21 PM   #31
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Tried this today in my '17 M240i, but ran into many issues. There's some sort of bracket directly in front of the fill plug that made it very hard to access. Pretty sure I stripped the plug (8mm allen) and barely if at all turned the plug, which will be a wonderful little situation to fix soon. Luckily, I didn't drain it first, so the car isn't a 3500 lb. paperweight.

Anyone know what that bracket is? Any advice for getting out that fill plug?
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      07-10-2021, 08:23 PM   #32
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Quote:
Originally Posted by watermelon3878 View Post
Tried this today in my '17 M240i, but ran into many issues. There's some sort of bracket directly in front of the fill plug that made it very hard to access. Pretty sure I stripped the plug (8mm allen) and barely if at all turned the plug, which will be a wonderful little situation to fix soon. Luckily, I didn't drain it first, so the car isn't a 3500 lb. paperweight.

Anyone know what that bracket is? Any advice for getting out that fill plug?
Do you have a picture of the bracket?
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      07-10-2021, 09:46 PM   #33
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Quote:
Originally Posted by watermelon3878 View Post
Tried this today in my '17 M240i, but ran into many issues. There's some sort of bracket directly in front of the fill plug that made it very hard to access. Pretty sure I stripped the plug (8mm allen) and barely if at all turned the plug, which will be a wonderful little situation to fix soon. Luckily, I didn't drain it first, so the car isn't a 3500 lb. paperweight.

Anyone know what that bracket is? Any advice for getting out that fill plug?
were you using a ratchet ?
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      07-11-2021, 09:43 AM   #34
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Did you read this post ? 9 mm and a bar in the way.


Quote:
Originally Posted by MarcoZandrini View Post
Sorry, no pix. It's pretty straight forward. The part that took the longest time was removing the plastic aerotray that sits under the transmission. There are a bunch of 8mm screws to remove. The transmission fill plug is partially blocked by a tubular support bar on the right side. I had to get the ratchet with the 9mm allen bit above the bar. That limited the rotation of the ratchet.

ALWAYS remove the fill plug first. Why? Supposed you remove the drain plug and can't get the fill plug off. OOOOOPS!
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      07-11-2021, 11:51 AM   #35
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Quote:
Originally Posted by EEBreh View Post
Do you have a picture of the bracket?
Yes; it's not really a bracket, but I wasn't sure what to call it exactly. "Tubular support bar" sounds about right.


Quote:
Originally Posted by ScottSinger View Post
were you using a ratchet ?
I was using a torque wrench, not set to any torque level, with an 8mm hex bit socket; OP stated 8mm, and I couldn't find any service guides online. It seemed to fit pretty snug in the drain plug (which I didn't turn but just put it in to test) but I'll buy a 9mm just to see if that helps. Yes, using a torque wrench to loosen something is a bit weird, but it's the best tool I had for leverage.

Last edited by SpencerC_6MT; 07-13-2021 at 06:14 AM..
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      10-16-2021, 07:08 PM   #36
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2016 model here, plugs were both 8mm for me. No issue getting a torque wrench in there. Bolt was a little tight and I was really tight on space, hit it with a little PB blaster and off it came. Shifts like butter! Instant improvement.
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      11-25-2021, 02:31 PM   #37
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I changed my MT fluid this morning. Whoever put that bar there is a sadist. Otherwise it went smoothly. Didn’t even knock over an open bottle of oil while trying to maneuver under the car! (This time.) I did notice that more fluid (few hundred ml) went back in than came out. I didn’t see any signs of leakage so I assume it’s fine. The car was leveled on ramps and jack stands and filled until I got drips.

I used Motul Multi DCTF (claimed to be MTF LT-5 compliant) simply because I’ve had a heck of a time finding OEM fluid. It felt good on a short test drive. I’ve noticed the occasional 4th gear lockout when cold so I figured fresh oil can’t hurt.
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      02-17-2024, 03:59 PM   #38
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TL;DR: changed gear oil from MTL to MT-85, have to double-clutch when cold but synchros are happier at operating temp

Reviving this thread from the dead since its been a while. So yes, it turns out I did strip my fill plug 3 years ago, and I had a shop finish the job for me. I've been using Red Line MTL for the past 26k miles, and recently changed the fluid again to Red Line MT-85. This is against the advice of Red Line themselves, and I'll explain my thinking behind this decision in the following paragraphs.

My experience with MTL was pretty good, in short. Immediately I could tell the transmission was happier than with the OEM fluid once up to temp. However, as time went on, I began noticing issues with its performance in the cold. 1-2 shifts took a little convincing sometimes, and sometimes 3rd or 4th would lockout on the first try. Instead of changing the fluid, I actually decided to change my driving style, and I've been double-clutching every time the car's cold for the past year or so. Breaking the habit of driving normally is a little difficult at first, but after 10k+ miles of doing things this way, it's not so bad. I plan on keeping this car as long as the chassis is safe for public roads, so preserving any consumables (like the non-serviceable synchros) for as long as I can is ideal, and I find double-clutching for 5 minutes a small sacrifice.

So if I'm happy with MTL, why did I choose to go up in viscosity, especially when Red Line recommends their less viscous DCT-F? Well, as I gradually upgrade my car and improve my driving, heat and stress on the driveline is naturally going to increase in turn. Around half a year ago when I took it to an 1/8 mi drag strip, the car only managed 1 max-effort run before it started to grind 2nd. This is the only time it has grinded 2nd in a long time, and I suspect it's due to the gear oil getting too warm and losing its lubricative properties. Of course I wasn't being kind to the synchros at all, but it made me question how much extra wear I could be putting on the transmission while driving aggressively on backroads, which doesn't produce a grind. Considering I already double-clutch from cold, I figured I had more to gain by using more viscous fluid than I had to loose.

My experience with MT-85 hasn't been particularly notable since I changed it 4 days ago, but I'd say it's been positive. In terms of gear lockout, it's roughly the same as before. Sometimes 1st doesn't like to go all the way in from a standstill, and 3rd/4th will talk back a bit before it's all the way to operating temp. But once it's at operating temp, I'm happy with the results of the change. Resistance from the shifter is unchanged in regular driving, and resistance is similar (but better) when you shift it hard. The best example would be downshifting into 1st, since that's the hardest on the gearbox. Before, a downshift into 1st around 15-20 MPH would take half a second of pressure on the shift knob before going into gear, due to the synchros... yknow, synchronizing. With MT-85, you still need to give it time, but you don't need to press as hard, and it's a much smoother feeling. In other words, the synchros produce a bit more friction with the same amount of force applied, so the gear speeds align quicker. This is an indicator that the MTL -> MT-85 switch had its intended effect: allowing the synchros to do their job more quickly with less force. Although the gear oil may be too thick at cold temperatures, I circumvent that issue with my driving style, and I'm reassured by the advantages at operating temperature.

This change definitely isn't for everyone. In fact, I'd say most drivers are better off stepping down in viscosity to Red Line's recommendation of DCT-F. But if you like to indulge in bullying your synchros, especially if you're tuned, I'd recommend the step up to MTL or MT-85.
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