6MT Owners Must-Read FYI

BMW service bulletin- SI B 00 04 08 -Maintenance and General Hints

M3

Reminder for operations needed at the 1200 Mile Service:

Replace the engine oil and oil filter

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

Note: The optional M DCT Drivelogic transmission has a long-term rated oil DCTF-1, which requires no replacement unless specified for a repair.

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

Replace the differential oil

Repeat these maintenance operations at every 3rd Engine Oil Service.

Old news man.

Epacy2 wrote

Old news man.

yup +1, but thanks anyways.

I gotta check. Thanks for posting.

I think I lost my invoice...

They skipped mine at the 1200 mile service. I even specifically asked about it, but they said it's a lifetime fluid and showed me the checklist of what's required, even though I have a 6MT.

There's a service bulletin which they didn't reference which showed I needed to replace the tranny fluid.

C17MooseDriver wrote

They skipped mine at the 1200 mile service. I even specifically asked about it, but they said it's a lifetime fluid and showed me the checklist of what's required, even though I have a 6MT.

There's a service bulletin which they didn't reference which showed I needed to replace the tranny fluid.

Its in the owners manual ! I caught it after the fact on my own and took it right back they apologized and said the DCT cars didn't require it so they didn't think about the 6MT being different.

what happens if you don't change it?

J08M3 wrote

what happens if you don't change it?

KABOOM!!!

J08M3 wrote

what happens if you don't change it?

Black hole.

Sigh - don't think they changed mine and can't find the paper. Pretty sure they only changed the engine and diff. Will have to call and check tomorrow.

rldzhao wrote

Check Your Invoice! Make Sure to Get Your Tranny Fluid Changed During 1200 Mile Run-in Service! It appears that several dealers have missed this.

Very few people saw the original thread, so I thought I shall post here. Original thread: http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=265139


BMW service bulletin- SI B 00 04 08 -Maintenance and General Hints

M3

Reminder for operations needed at the 1200 Mile Service:

Replace the engine oil and oil filter

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

Note: The optional M DCT Drivelogic transmission has a long-term rated oil DCTF-1, which requires no replacement unless specified for a repair.

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

Replace the differential oil

Repeat these maintenance operations at every 3rd Engine Oil Service.

Thank you so very much for this detailed info reminder. I just ordered my M3 about a week ago, and I didn't know about the specific details on the 1200 mile service on the 6 speed manual. Now I'll be sure that they do every single thing that you have mentioned. Thank you sir.

Checked my invoice and it's not there. 10,000+ miles with no trany fluid change... What kind of damage did this cause?

Mine wasnt done. @5000miles and i do have the 1st-2nd grind.

hmmm going to have to check this out later when I get home...

MrHarris wrote

Mine wasnt done. @5000miles and i do have the 1st-2nd grind.

I don't think the grid has to do with the fluid. Mine was changed and I still get it once in awhile

Sure enough, they did not change mine and I have 10,700 miles now. They are going to do it next Tuesday. The SA said he will put a separate line item on the work order indicating that they are changing the fluid now and it was not done as required at the 1200 mile service (last Nov). If I have any problems with the tranny, it won't be my problem.

As to the question of "what damage did this cause?", it's really hard to say. In my STi, the tranny fluid did not get changed until 15k. I can tell you that the fluid looked brand new and there were very minor metal fragments on the magnetic plug. The STi tranny also has an integrated filter, although that filter is not serviced. I would guess that the BMW tranny has sufficient filtering to prevent damage. It is conceivable that the wear on the tranny was increased due to the missed service - after all, BMW wanted it to be changed at 1200 miles for a reason.

Overall, very disappointed that the dealer didn't get this right on one of their premier sports/GT cars.

Guys,

Sorry to hear the transmission was missed at the 1,200 for many of you. I had a similar experience yesterday (see my post) . All came out well though--but I'm sure glad this thread was here to elevate this issue or I'm sure I would have missed it being missed.

I bet most dealers/service depts. want to do the right thing but the protocol/steps (lack of BMW checklist) and low M3 6MT service volume (DCT being more common with no transmission fluid change) don't give the mechanics clear direction and a reminder done in friendly manner might help.

Recommendation: In retrospect if I had it to do over again I'd have printed a copy of the SIB from the OP. I'd have reviewed the copy of the SIB itself with the SA; and asked that she staple a copy to the work order. I would have added a little note along with the SIB saying "you probably know this already, but this seems to be a common issue due to the BMW checklist, just FYI"--don't want to piss off the mechanic.

While this may not be something we "should not have to do" I think it would go a long way to help avoid this issue and resulting hassles.

Just finished dropping my car off for the 1200 mile service. One of the service guys was a real dick about this. Said he had been there for 13 years and never had done that ... I told him to look it up. Just sent them the SB info. Why as owners do we have to tell the dealership what to do? It is like going to the freaking doctor and telling him how to operate on you.

Frustrating doesn't quite cover it does it? In my case they said yes we'll do it (misunderstanding--they meant engine/diff) and then didn't do the transmission. I caught it when picking up the car and man was I pissed off.

But, at least when I pointed it out my SA was open-minded and said she'd research it. I didn't have to send her the SB--she found it. She called first thing the next day and apologized and they fixed the problem asap. Being reasonable, accepting responsibility, acknowledging the mistake, and taking immediate steps to make it right went a long long way with me. End result I left my service experience pretty happy.

I suspect it's a volume thing. Not many 6MTs come through the dept. (my SA told me that the only one they'd seen was mine) and all of the rest were DCTs. And they do this only 1 out of 4 service cycles (very few have hit cycle 4 I'll bet).

However, none of this makes it any less frustrating or by any means excuses an service dept or SA with an attitude! That's totally unacceptable. I sure hope they offer some kind of amends for that--I mean, you did your homework, so should they without pulling some kind of dick move.

AMPowerJ wrote

Just finished dropping my car off for the 1200 mile service. One of the service guys was a real dick about this. Said he had been there for 13 years and never had done that ... I told him to look it up. Just sent them the SB info. Why as owners do we have to tell the dealership what to do? It is like going to the freaking doctor and telling him how to operate on you.

Just got my 1200 mile service done yesterday, and I had to deal with a bit of bullsh!t to get the tranny fluid changed. I made sure they changed the fluid, but then the service manager tried to charge me for it. After a bit of arguing back and forth, they went and searched for the bulletin and adjusted the price to ZERO.

yeah, this is an ongoing damn aggravation. 2 of 3 local dealers deny this service is needed. I have an email in to BMW NA. Still trying to get this sorted with my dealer.