Gear change on 3.0 Sport

[zedonist]

You need to use a Redline D4 ATF, it has excellent adhesion and cold start properties, it is very highly praised in the Z3 community, for those that know. I have some waiting to go in mine, when I do the flywheel mod.

 

[zedonist]

The reason they are being specific on oils is that some gear oils will eat the yellow metals in the bearings, so you need to put the right stuff in, after that it comes down to viscosity at different temperatures, hence the different gear box stickers as different countries due to climate have different cold start temps across the year, so the oil used needs to cover the range, for example in some countries the M44 sticker is orange, in the uk it is yellow.

So you can see there is more to it than just slapping in any old fluid, but the one quoted above meets most requirements, but there are others, amosil, royal purple etc, I have the BMW PDF for fluids which I will send to Gaz for addition to the wiki.

 

[lightning]

You need to use a Redline D4 ATF, it has excellent adhesion and cold start properties, it is very highly praised in the Z3 community, for those that know. I have some waiting to go in mine, when I do the flywheel mod.

Will this be OK for any Z3 gearbox?

 

[zedonist]

If you can let ne know what is on your gear box sticker or give me your engine designation I will let you know

 

[lightning]

My car is a 2002 3.0 Sport and the gearbox has no sticker.

 

[vintage42]

The reason they are being specific on oils is that some gear oils will eat the yellow metals in the bearings...

Lubricants for differentials must resist the shear of spiral cut (hypoid) gears. For decades before synthetics, petroleum oil achieved this by the addition of extreme-pressure resistant sulfur compounds. This oil was called hypoid gear oil, given a rating of GL-5 by the API, and had a distinctive strong smell.

When used in transmissions that contained copper alloys like brass or bronze, the sulfurous additives of GL-5 oil reacted with the copper to make copper sulfate. The yellow metals of synchronizers and bushings were gradually etched and degraded. In the early 1970s, GL-5 was considered a plus in transmissions, but after a few years was blamed for synchro failures. In 1974, after 40,000 miles of GL-5, the 2nd gear synchros in my 1971 2002 were clashing, and the BMW CCA was warning against GL-5. I had all the synchros replaced.

These days, synthetic gear oils achieve the GL-5 shear rating without sulfurous extreme pressure additives, and many synchros are no longer yellow metal. Regardless of that, GL-5 in a gearbox usually overkill, and most specify GL-4. As an exception, the gearbox of Subarus incorporates the front differential, and also uses some plain bushings instead of roller bearings, and requires the strength of GL-5.

 

[zedonist]

My car is a 2002 3.0 Sport and the gearbox has no sticker.

All transmissions from 1998 to 2004 are filled with MTF-LT-1, so as the D4 ATF meets this standard, it should be ok, Gaz should have the PDF now also.

 

[vintage42]

... the D4 ATF meets this standard, it should be ok...

Concur, a Dexron replacement, GL-4 with viscosity 7.5...
http://www.redlineoil.com/product.aspx?pid=51&pcid=9

 

[oldcarman]

Just curious, now my car is somewhere in Canada, does the sticker change colour?? I'm so confused, at least my Guinness stays the same colour as when it leaves Ireland!! JIM

 

[vintage42]

... it comes down to viscosity at different temperatures, hence the different gear box stickers as different countries due to climate have different cold start temps across the year, so the oil used needs to cover the range, for example in some countries the M44 sticker is orange, in the uk it is yellow...

The color varied by year. The early orange tag is for ATF, like Dexron. Later tags are yellow for BMW (Pentosin) MTF-LT 1. The current BMW (Pentosin) fluid is MTF-LT-2. All the fluids are ATF-based with same viscosities.

Just curious, now my car is somewhere in Canada, does the sticker change color??...

Now there's an idea.

 

[zedonist]

Jim, good question raised in jest I think, you would be best placed to check out the temp ranges of all fluids on your zed too see if it will cope with the extreme lows you get. You maybe fine with what is in there, but best to check as there may be additives to be used to help cope, especially cold starts, when the fluids can become like syrup.

 

[vintage42]

... you would be best placed to check out the temp ranges of all fluids on your zed too see if it will cope with the extreme lows you get... there may be additives to be used to help cope, especially cold starts, when the fluids can become like syrup.

For winter, if you have mineral BMW 15W-40, best to change to synthetic Mobil 0W-40. If you have gear oil, best to change to one of the ATFs / MTFs. Those are pretty much standard these days, meet BMW's specs, and are good all year. The days of putting in additives to thicken or thin are over.
That said, I do remember adding STP Oil Treatment or Motor Honey to my oil in the summer And hearing of people who used automatic transmission fluid in manual transmissions in the winter. But that was 40 years ago.

 

[oldcarman]

Jest?? Moi??

 

[lightning]

While Castrol said that the 75w/90 would not harm my transmission, they actually recommended their "Syntrans B 75w" for the Z3.
Which is in keeping with some of the recommendations on here. So l may change to that, just to see if it makes any difference.

 

[vintage42]

... Castrol... actually recommended their "Syntrans B 75w" for the Z3. Which is in keeping with some of the recommendations on here. So l may change to that, just to see if it makes any difference.

Castrol's page says:
"... offering superior low temperature shiftability, especially suitable for BMW vehicles."
http://www.castrol.com/en_gb/united-kingdom/products/cars/manual-transmission-fluids.html

And its viscosity is 7.29, lower than BMW's own 7.7, so it should be very easy-shifting when cold.
http://www.opieoils.co.uk/pdfs/castrol/Castrol-Syntrans-B-75W.pdf

 

[zedonist]

Did they actually have cars 40 years ago? I thought it was a recent technology..........

 

[t-tony]

40 years ago I had my first car, a Morris Mini, reg. no. TVL 9 . I wish I still had that !!

 

[lightning]

My Standard Little Nine was made in 1932.

When l got it, the three speed crash gearbox was a bit noisy.

I checked the gearbox oil level, and there was none in it, not a drop.
I refilled it (with the recommended SAE 140w) and it was quieter after that. Plus it seemed to have survived.

I soon realised why the gearbox was empty, when the clutch started to slip, due to oil leaking out.

I took out the gearbox and the oil seal was just a piece of rope. I replaced it and all was fine after that.

But how long had the gearbox been empty of oil?

 

[zedonist]

I wonder if the term the gear box is a bit ropey, came from using rope seal?

 

[lightning]

Well, the old Standard was actually quite reliable.
The water pump never gave any trouble, as it didn't have one. The radiator was enormous and operated on a thermo-syphon system.

The fuel pump was the size of a coke bottle, and worked on manifold pressure. So when you were on a trailing throttle it didn't pump any fuel from the tank.
To compensate, it had an internal resevoir of about a litre of fuel, which was fed to the carburettor by gravity.

If you parked facing downhill the litre of fuel would leak out of the carburettor overflow (due to petrol creep/syphoning) and be deposited on the floor.

The brakes were cable operated like an old bicycle. They worked better than you'd expect....although on steep hills you couldn't exert enough pressure on the pedal, and had to use the handbrake, which was a lever about eighteen inches long sprouting from the floor. It also operated on all four wheels.

Engine "power" was 23bhp good for about 45mph. On hills it might manage 30mph, unless you had to stop. Then it was not possible to get past 20mph as it took too long to get the gearbox into third gear from second, and the speed dropped off too much.