Transmission Fluid and Clutch Change

[Dano516]

Hello all,

So i guess it's time for a transmission fluid change as well as a new clutch, as it's been almost 30,000 miles on the fluid and almost 100,000 miles on the clutch. There is a slight rumble for about one second after going from first to neutral at a stop and some times my shifter doesn't let me go all the way into first from neutral and I have to go into reverse and then first.

So, what are the best options as of September 2019 in terms of transmission fluid and clutch? In regards to fluid, in previous threads, someone recommended this:

Ravenol J1C1002 SAE 75W-80 Manual Transmission Fluid - MTF-2 Full Synthetic API GL-4 (1 Liter) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FGXB15O/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_qK.MCb3YQWKN0

but there were no further reviews. My previous owner put in RP Synchromax 75w-90, and I guess it felt fine, but I guess things could always be better, if that Ravenol speaks its truth.

Any response is greatly appreciated!

[Vas]

Redline suggests using D4 ATF fluid in the manual transmission but others use Redline 75w80 MTL. Or another option is Liqui Moly 75w Top Tec5100 MTF.

I would swap fluid first and see if that makes an improvement. A clutch job and the rest of the items that get replaced while you are in there is not a cheap job.

[ZHPizza]

The m3forum guys went down one hell of a rabbit hole trying to find a match to the original BMW MTF and settled on this, so I swapped it into my tranny not too long ago. Seems great so far!

Ravenol J1C1002 SAE 75W-80 Manual Transmission Fluid - MTF-2 Full Synthetic API GL-4 (1 Liter) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FGXB15O/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apap_zBrHJgl5SvzkJ

[san]

I’ve tried both redline ATF and MTL (maybe MT90, can’t remember) and they both seem to be good only for the initial 15-20k miles. I’ll try Ravenol or get bmw fluid from the dealership next time...


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[Dano516]

I would swap fluid first and see if that makes an improvement. A clutch job and the rest of the items that get replaced while you are in there is not a cheap job.

Yeah that’s probably my route there, just seems sense. But a clutch after almost 100k miles also kind of makes sense too.

[John in VA]

Yeah that’s probably my route there, just seems sense. But a clutch after almost 100k miles also kind of makes sense too.

I've had clutches last > 180k miles.