BMW E90 E91 E92 E93 ZF Automatic Transmission Fluid Change 325i 330i 328i 335i

In this article I will show you how to change the transmission fluid in your E90 BMW 3-Series with a ZF GA6HP19Z transmission.  Although fluid is supposed to be life-time it is recommended to change it at 100K miles.  Changing the fluid will help extend the life of the transmission, by 100K miles factory filled oil is usually very dirty.  A ZF 6-speed automatic transmission in a BMW has a filter that is part of the plastic oil pan so basically you are replacing the oil pan.  To do this job you will need to order a transmission pan, 7 liters of proper fluid and a fluid hand pump.  

1.  Make sure the car is perfectly level on the jack stands.  Remove the center plastic underpanel that covers the transmission.

2.  Unscrew the drain plug and drain the fluid.

3.  Unscrew the exhaust bracket and slide it a few inches back so you have access to the transmission pan bolts that are directly above it.

4.  Remove the bracket that supports the underpanel.

5.  Remove all of the transmission pan bolts.  The sequence doesn't matter because you are discarding the pan.

6.  Drop the pan and throw it away.

7.  Install a new pan and torque the bolts in a diagonal sequence starting from the middle of the pan to 10Nm.

8.  Unscrew the fill plug and by using a hand pump fill the transmission with fluid until the fluid starts spilling out.  

9.  Start the car and fill the transmission with more fluid until it starts spilling out again.

10.  Shift the transmission thought the gears while depressing the brake pedal and fill it with more fluid if necessary until the fluid starts to spill out. 

11.  Do not turn off the car.  Stick a thermometer into the fill hole and wait until the transmission fluid reaches at least 30-degrees Celsius. You can also use diagnostic software to read out the fluid temperature.  Once the fluid temperature is between 30 and 50 degrees Celsius, close the fill plug, torque the fill plug to 30Nm and turn off the car.