Problem when i changed transmission oil (manual gear) !!!! help plz

[bmw325bahrain]

hi

i have an e36 bmw 325i 1992 manual transmission. when i changed the oil of the gear (manual transmission). the shifting from one gear to another become very hard specially when it's cold. after i drive for 10 to 20 minutes the shifting become easier and softer. i changed the oil three times with different type. i used 85w90. i don't know where is the problem and why this is happening.

what type of oil i should use? i heard about something called ATF!! what is that "ATF"?

help me plz

[SHAHAB323IS]

atf stands for automatic transmission fluid but is used in manual transmissions as well, you'll want to use a good drexon III fluid and make sure you filled it all the way as well. Make sure your car is raised flat and level. If you stick your finger in the fill plug and angle your finger down you should feel fluid. You also don't want to use cheapo fluid. Also different fluids are going to act different in cold weather. As for the ones I've had experience with, redline was adequate in the summer, but became pretty notchy in cold weather. Royal purple and mobil 1 were pretty smooth all year round. Good luck let me know if that doesn't help.

[bmw325bahrain]

thank you shahab

i live in a hot wether country (bahrain) we have 3 months wintter only (tempreture between 8 and 20 C not a real winter ggg). in summer the tempreture is (35-45 C) or more .. is it suitable to use redline ATF D4 in a hot weather??

and what did you mean "but became pretty notchy in cold weather"????!!!!

what type of redline should i use ? 75w90 70w140??? if there is a better type plz mention it??

[SHAHAB323IS]

redline 75w90 will work just fine so will redline atf d4, I'd use whatever is easier for you to get, I meant that i experienced your same problem when I used redline except it was during winter, and it gets much colder here in winter than in bahrain, I know, I used to live in Amman, Jordan =]

[bmw325bahrain]

i've talked to some bmw mechanics in bahrain. they told me to use any automatic transmission fuel like : caltex or any other brand. one of them told me that bmw never used fuel of type 90 or 140 for manual transmission , we only use automatic transmission fuel for these gears.

so, is this correct?
can i use a good quality automatic transmission fuel like caltex??

[SHAHAB323IS]

never heard of caltex so I couldn't tell you. To be honest you can use the same fluid for the manual tranny and differential. If they say it's good quality go for it. I've never used it personally so I can't comment on it.

[bmw325bahrain]

yes, but redline ATF D4 is used for bmw automatic transmission. and also used for manual transmission to give you smoother shifting. so the automatic transmission fluid can be used also for manual.

thank you

[SHAHAB323IS]

Originally Posted by bmw325bahrain

yes, but redline ATF D4 is used for bmw automatic transmission. and also used for manual transmission to give you smoother shifting. so the automatic transmission fluid can be used also for manual.

thank you

yeah it can, that's what I said, however I used redline atf d4 and didn't like it, my favorite was mobil 1, then royal purple, swepco and amsoil are also really good

[bmw325bahrain]

ok suppose i want to use mobil1. should i buy the type used with automatic transmission or another type.

[SHAHAB323IS]

Originally Posted by bmw325bahrain

ok suppose i want to use mobil1. should i buy the type used with automatic transmission or another type.

automatic, drexon III

[Russian318]

synthetic fluids are harder to shift during the cold. using the regular fluid is always the best. by regular i mean the fluid that suppose to go in it.