Red Line MTL vs Royal Purple Synchromax

[kayger12]

Just got done running 16K miles with RP in the Getrag and have now switched over and put a little over 100 miles on her with Red Line MTL in the gearbox and figured I'd start a review thread for comparative purposes. I really went back and forth between these two last time, and was just as up in the air this time over going Red Line or Pentosin.

Please feel free to jump in with your impressions as well. Would love for this thread to turn into a useful resource. I hope this thread eventually serves to help those who are on the fence.

So, without further ado...

Royal Purple: When I switched what I'm assuming was the OEM Pentosin out of the box at about 48K for RP, I was impressed. The RP shifted much smoother when cold and had an overall better feel to me. I've read that this is due to the fact that Synchromax is thinner than the Pentosin (or Red Line for that matter). At that point I pretty much resolved not to go back to Pentosin.

I never had a single complaint about the RP. So why the switch out? Because frankly, even from the start, I had some concerns about the random reports of RP shearing in transmissions that were floating around the net. Every now and again I'd catch a post on BITOG or a BMW site where someone felt that the RP was breaking down rather quickly. Terra from our site had a report of metal shavings from his trans after running RP for around 10-15K, iirc. So while I was encouraged by all of the positive reports about the feel of RP, I always had a little bit of concern. Because of this, my plan was to switch the fluid out at 15K and send it off to Blackstone to get some actual hard data with reference to its performance.

The Blackstone sample is off in the mail (along with a RP MaxGear sample from the diff) and I'm eagerly awaiting the results. Update to follow...
Update: The Blackstone results are in, and it looks like the RP performed quite well. With this in mind, I wouldn't hesitate to go back to RP in the future. We'll see how the Red Line tests after about 30K.



Red Line MTL: Initial impressions-- LOVE the feel of the trans with the MTL in there. It feels noticeably more... precise, I guess is the word I'm going for. I find it just as smooth getting into and through the gears, but I like the feedback I get from the shifter better with the MTL than the RP.

The time for cold weather has passed here in the northeast, so I won't be able to comment on the cold performance for a while.

Again, these are my initial impressions after only about 100 miles.

I'll check back in down the road and update further.

[zhpnsnv]

I've used stock and RL and both seem to do a satisfactory job as far as feel goes. RL has better initial feel but it all evens out over time. I switch every 30k. Did it when I got the car at 30k with RL, then stock at 60, now at 95 I'll prob go back to RL provided that I pick some up before the next service.

I know it's unscientific but I go on how easy it is to get into reverse when cold. I'm definitely overdue right now.

[zhp43867]

Thanks for the input! I'll take it into account when I do my swap and decide between RL and BMW fluid.

[danewilson77]

Sounds great KG. Logic is sound. I loved the RL as well.... But recently switched to Pentosin MTF2, just to switch it up. Initial imprsssion: love it.

HTC Thunderbolt+TT

[kayger12]

Thanks for the input! I'll take it into account when I do my swap and decide between RL and BMW fluid.

Your post about the RP issues is what prompted me to get moving.

I'll owe you a big thank you if my Blackstone reports come back showing abnormal wear.

Sent from my outdated Droid X

[kayger12]

Sounds great KG. Logic is sound. I loved the RL as well.... But recently switched to Pentosin MTF2, just to switch it up. Initial imprsssion: love it.

HTC Thunderbolt+TT

Good deal, DW.

I was really considering Pentosin this time around. Couldn't bring myself to pay $14 for shipping (ecs).

Sent from my outdated Droid X

[johnnyrad]

Great thread Keith. I am somewhat confused on the two. I have RP Syncromax in both my cars and I really like it, they both shift nicely but after I received Mike Miller's maintence schedule and saw he uses RL in his tranny I now have second thoughts. I'm even considering using the RL oil for the engine... Can't wait to see what your Blackstone report comes back with.

[kayger12]

Thanks, Johnny. Felt the same way about RP. Loved the feel-- just couldn't shake the second thoughts.

Should hear back from Blackstone by the end of the week.

[zhp43867]

I'm looking forward to seeing those results!

[brettbimmer]

I haven't heard of anyone dropping a transmission in the street using RL, RP, or OEM, but I have run Red Line for years in my manual E36, and it still shifts really well for a car with 235K miles on the original transmission, including reverse. Hopefully that means that we will be able to keep the ZHPs on the road for many, many years with proper change intervals. I'm in the 30K mile change club too. Cost of the fluid is a lot cheaper then replacing mechanical parts. Blackstone Labs report should be interesting when it comes back. Good thread Keith - Thanks!