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Message: <blockquote data-quote="musclehedz" data-source="post: 121918" data-attributes="member: 1033">ATF will never last for a lifetime as 'claimed' so by some. How does one tell if the fluid can last for a lifetime? How do you know? Just because somebody told you so or just because there is a sticker there saying so? Any Tribologist will tell you that no oils can last forever under constant usage and ATF is no exception either. Whether the gearbox is a sealed unit unopenable or not, the fluid will not last 'lifetime'. As someone here mentioned, "Lifetime" means 100,000km in Germany by BMW. Ppl here has grossly misused the term. If BMW engineers who designed the gearbox says its 100,000km and the SA as SC tell you no need to change until the gearbox kaputs, so are you telling me that the SA is much smarter than the BMW engineer who actually designed the gearbox? I don't think so buddy.....ATF serves 3 functions : As a hydraulic oil, lubricate the gears and to remove the heat and dirt/fine particles of metal wears produced. If the gearbox is not flushed or even changed say about 40k km, possibly some sludge will build up in the gearbox causing slow and/or rough responses in gear changes and to some extent slow down the gears which will ultimately give one a feeling of the car being less powerful. In the case of having a lot of sludge buildup, and if it's not flushed properly and by just doing a drop and top, it may or may not cause a sludge bomb as the new ATF will have a high cleaning capability to clean the gearbox therefore possibly destroying the gearbox probably by having too much sludge/contaminants removed all at one go and causing some blockage or seizures.The ATF Fluid Exchanger machine that some shop possesses, like it's name, it's a fluid exchanger. The in/out lines to/from the ATF cooler is intercepted and hooked up to the machine and the machine will pump new fluid in and at the same time draw the old fluid out. The fluids going in/out can be seen on a glass tube indicator on the machine. The old fluid should be black(it must be black else it's not cleaning the gearbox unless it's new fluid) and the new fluid is dark clear red. The fluid will be exchanged until the fluid that is drawn out from the gearbox is the same color as the new fluid or once you're satisfied hence meaning it's cleaned.The gearbox not only contains metal parts but plastic, rubber, etc.. those part's lifespan can be cut short by having an ATF that has already served it's lifetime in the gearbox. I would say 90% of the time the mechanicals in the gearbox will fail would be due to the FLUID. Changing the fluid often offers one 'insurance' for gearbox max health life and lifespan or would u rather pay for a recond gearbox or even a new gearbox that will cost a bomb and not to mention down time which in the first place would not have happened if it was taken good care of. The gearbox is just as important as the pistons or probably more important. You got engine, no gearbox = can't move.I would suggest do a flush at 40,000km - 60,000km. Every 40k-60k km, just do a drop and top and flush it again at every 3-4 drop and tops. Those who are too late, just do a flush first and see what happens. If something bad happens, that that's too bad but do not blame it on the flush, IT'S NOT THE FLUSHING THAT CAUSED THE FAILURE, IT WAS DUE TO GEARBOX MAINTANENCE DILIGENCY. This not only applies to the gearbox but to our rear differentials as well, its also needs maintanence.HEAT IS THE KILLER OF THE ATF OR ANY OTHER OIL INCLUDING ENGINE OIL and in our climate + driving conditions such as jams, 100,000km? Probably not so... yeah, the gearbox will still function with the expired ATF but the question is how long more will the gearbox last? Why cut short the lifespan and except the 'fact' that has been drilled into almost every car owner's head that the gearbox will fail at a certain mileage just because this has been told by 'mechanics' all this while but in actual fact it doesnt if good and diligent gearbox maintanence has been done.If you're changing the ATF, make sure the person who does is knows what he/she is doing. Overfill or underfill or using the WRONG SPEC ATF can cause premature failure and damage to the gearbox. NOT ALL ATF ARE THE SAME, THEY ARE NOT. I believe our cars are speced to use GM DEXRON III spec fluid. Check the manual. You do not need to use original atf from bmw, as long as the ATF is Dexron III speced, it can be used. The mass market of gearboxes uses Dexron unless it's a jap gearbox probably they use a different fluid which contains friction modifiers like mitsu boxes, etc. The different fluid is uses is due to the materials in the gearbox, one fluid may particularly accelerated the wear of a certain material in the gearbox and the other will not so make sure the correct fluid is used else you will get  premature failure.</blockquote>

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