Air Filter Replacement on a 2004 325Ci - BMW Forum

derfbimmer · 09-29-2006, 05:24 PM

i was just wondering if anyone knew when the air filter replacement was on 04 bimmer,someone told me it was like every 100,000 miles, I always replaced them on my other cars every 12,000 miles, and when a tranny service was due, ive heard on newer cars the trans didnt need fluid changes.

zibby · 09-29-2006, 07:20 PM

I would not go 100 K, even these special "long life" air filters are designed to go as far as need for "inspection II" on your car.Is good to change it every 30 K or 2 years(filters are cheap).Regarding auto transmission, there is not such a thing like "life time fluid".Change it every 40~50 K miles(do not have to do it more often) with good quality ,brand name approved spec. ATF.
IMO ,if car has more than 60 K ,especially on ZF tranny,I would not touch it and chgange it- leave it for a life of transmision.

derfbimmer · 09-29-2006, 08:40 PM

my car has 88,000 miles on it i prob change the fluid.........

zibby · 09-29-2006, 11:50 PM

Will it be first fluid change on your`s car at 88K ? If so, transmission can go in so called "self destruction " mode. A senior engineer from ZF told me that if the fluid was changed at regular intervals (30-50k), it was a good thing to do. He said if you let it get over 60k miles, do NOT change it, just leave the original fluid in until the tranny needs replacement.
I hope this info will help you make a right decision, but choice is always yours...

Best regards.
Z.

derfbimmer · 10-01-2006, 02:44 AM

yeah ive cut down on the driving from about 100 miles day to 14 miles i got the air filter replaced today and im dumping some lucas fuel injector cleaner, the guy who owned it before me didnt do any maintence on it.......I wonder how long the tranny will go before it needs replacing?....i hope around 150,000 will see.... i got this car so i wouldnt have to do motor swaps and stuff like that anymore,still it sure beats driving my crx!

zibby · 10-01-2006, 04:54 PM

Thing about replacing AT fluid at high milage is,once you've passed a certain threshhold changing it is going to loosen up some of the deposits that have formed in the casing, and with so many tiny passages you are going to clog something up and cause damage somewhere.

derfbimmer · 10-02-2006, 01:59 PM

yeah im not going to do trans fluid change,will see wut happens i mean everything shifts fine,so i dont think i have anything worry about.

Hootie · 10-02-2006, 02:52 PM

Just received this word back from a fella at Bavarian Auto:

"Personally I tend to agree with the resident expert on your forum to
some extent. Small particles can easily get dislodged, and seem to
usually find their way into the valve body and cause shifting problems
on neglected high mileage cars. But it's really a roll of the dice. In
the last year we have done 2 filter and fluid changes on late model cars
with automatics. A 740 sport with almost 100k on it, the other a 540
wagon with 80k on it. Neither one had been touched before, and both had
all kinds of nastiness in the pans, and the fluids were black. But both
cars were shifting perfectly before the change. And both of them are
perfectly fine now, several thousand miles later. Usually the scenario
we hear about is this. Someone has a car that isn't shifting quite
right, but still driving reasonably well. They change the transmission
filter and fluid, and then the car gets worse rapidly. Most of the time
we hear about it the transmission no longer works at all within a few
hundred miles. So, basically if you are under 100k and the transmission
is working fine, you have a very good possibility of extending the
transmission life by changing the filter and fluid. If it's over 100k, I
would leave it alone, and start saving for a transmission sometime in
the next 50-60k miles."

I had 98K miles on my auto tranny when I changed it last month. I'm now almost at 100K and have yet to hear/feel any difference in the performance. I might have been one of the lucky ones here, but at least now I can continue with the routine maintenance.

zibby · 10-02-2006, 05:35 PM

Well. if Bavarian Auto says, is safe to change ATF at this milage,go for it !

derfbimmer · 10-05-2006, 06:41 PM

I called my local BMW Dealership to set up an appointment for a tranny service and the service manager told me that he didnt reccomend it.... that fluid was lifetime....he told me jus for the fluid it was like 300 us dollars... well its shifting fine so im just going to leave it as is. Ill put some money away for tranny just in case, i know i drive all my cars to real hard so ill ending up having to do it anyway =).

Hootie · 10-06-2006, 08:36 AM

I was just going to say, that "I don't recommend it" translates from Dealerish into Enlish as "I'd rather you spent 20X that amount on a new transmission in a couple years".

The AT in my 2000 328i holds just under 7 liters of fluid. The fluid costs about $8 a liter. Even the Redline Dex3 fluid is only $9/qt. Again, Dealerish.

derfbimmer · 10-09-2006, 01:52 AM

ill try another dealership see if they say the same thing,that was continetal Motors in oceanside theres a bretch bmw in escondido ill call them tommorow

325isBaby · 10-10-2006, 01:00 PM

Change the Microfilter every oil change and change the air filter every inspection.

441tech · 10-14-2006, 08:33 AM

Trans. fluid is pricey, my local dealer will sell me whatever amount I need if I bring in my own container--for $20.00/qt.

Hootie · 10-16-2006, 08:28 AM

441, you're gettin' hosed. I went to my local dealer, Otto's of West Chester, and they gave me something like 8 quarts of the stuff, in their smaller containers, for about $7/quart. What dealer are you going to, Yark? Try somebody in Michigan, maybe the Ann Arbor dealership.