hope you return 50s kid everyone misses you and you were so close to getting your 100k Plaque! wish u a speedy recovery

I recently purchased a 2002 E46 convertible with 230,000 miles. The previous owner over the years had a lot of work done. The most serious was a replacement head with all new valves done at the local BMW dealer at a cost of over $4,000. However he admitted that the transmission was never serviced. The only clue that there might be something wrong was the car when stopped on level ground wouldn't creep forward and the same in reverse. So after watching our video a couple of times I decided to do the oil change and filter myself. The result is the car now creeps forward and does the same in reverse. The old fluid was dark brown but didn't smell burned and since I was only changing 1/2 the fluid I found the factory original. Thanks for all the work you do for people like me.

Bro how does this guy not have MILLIONS. Of subscribers bro. He deserves so much. The fact he only has 150k makes me mad. He has to have the best bmw videos on the internet for sures .

You did this wrong, your suppose to pour trans fluid down your arm when you remove the pan lol

I have 323 and your videos have shown me how to take care of things with my car that would other wise left me at the mercy of a mechanic. When a woman walks to a shop all they see is dollar signs not anymore.....lol😋

Really like how your video is presented...clear, concise, with good lighting/ audio. Thanks!

I have no mechanical background but this tutorial gave me confidence to try working on my car for the first time in my life. Thank you 50s kid!

Free coffee for you 50's kid if your ever in Calgary. Thanks for your help through out the years

just bought my first ever BMW, a 2002 325i project car, your vids have been super helpful. wish i had you as a neighbor lol

Thank you. You explain clearly on how to pump the fluid in and start the car and keep pumping while it is running. I was a little unclear on the process until I watched this. Thanks. I have a 2009 128i. It has the gm transmission.

I love you i love you i love you, replacing engine in my 330ci, had to watch many of your videos for the process of procedure of many sectors of the m54. first bmw ive owned and have no clue as im a mercedes guy however your videos have made everything streamlined. I cant thank you enough you are a great explainer out there you deserve 1 mill subs! cheers mase from Perth, Australia

Just wanted to say thanks for putting this video together. This has been on the to-do list for the last year. Got sidetracked with a new house that turned into a renovation project. Been watching your videos since I got the 330ci a few years ago as a toy for myself. Little did I know how much work I was going to have to put into my particular vehicle. (Noticing a trend with my purchases lol) Your attention to detail and thoroughness has been a life saver. The Chilton's manual for this car is basically toilet paper. Glad to see you back making videos again, I totally get why you took a break. Cheers from Washington state.

it is so nice to have someone to teach how to do something mechanical work on my car thank you

Loosening up those two valve body bolts was such a awesome tip Thanks mate

Had TC clutch slippage on the snap on ecu reader. So removed using your instructions. Replaced HP 5-19 with a 5-26 from a wrecked Audi. . Seems to be working great with swift take off power. Great Instructions thanks giving me the confidence I would never have.

This video really helped me out when no one else would.

I took this as a challenge. 183,000 mile, 2001 325i ZF Transmission. Zero changes, still running fine.

I am replacing the tranny in my 98 z3 so far your video is the best I have seen... I bought the online manual with 4,036 pages and it covers so many other cars that aren't even bmws that its almost impossible to understand what your looking at thank I think I have enough knowledge we ledge now to finish the job today

A word of caution to those with the GM transmission: I've read a few unfortunate instances of people loosening the valve body to drain the torque converter, unknowingly damaging components and then having a nonfunctioning transmission. Definitely know what you're doing if you decide to do it, because there are parts that can get displaced and lead to trouble. I don't know if the ZF transmission is safer to do this on, but just my $0.02. Happy wrenching :)

Another excellent video! I'd read the forum posts, etc; but there's nothing like seeing it done. I just hope my just-bought 200kMi E46 (who likes to slip a bit when cold) will benefit from fresh juice - perhaps its first in 13 years.

Holy shit, that wrench + allen key trick was simple, yet brilliant. Shut up and take my like!

Thank you 50sKid, i appreciate the videos you do, i was hoping you covered this particular project as i am about to do the same and wanted to see how you filled the transmission. Thank you sir.

my transmission light came on today. the little exclamation mark inside a round cog next to the gear letter(automatic). i feel the car kicking into different gears as i reach high way speeds and low speeds around town. i hope its just an oil change fix that's needed. it looks complicated but I'm grateful that you do videos like this. not all heros wear capes :)

I have the GM transmission so the filter is different and doesn’t have a screw to hold it in. Video was informative, none the less.

This might be basic info but I was never told it and paid the price. DONT TURN THE CAR OFF UNTIL THE FILL PLUG IS BACK ON! Great guide but a little warning might have saved the gallon of ATF from painting my driveway while I panicked to get the fill plug back on 😂 oh well, it's raining now and it needs more fluid then I have so tomorrow is attempt two.

Timely video. I plan on doing this very soon. Thanks again!

This helped out a lot. I gotta change the fluid and filter in my car. Thank you. :)

On my 2003 330i with 55,000 miles on the car took four drain and refills before the color became normal color. Then I dropped the pan and changed the filter. "ZF fluid and filter". I found on ZF'S website gave me all the specs and video. Transmission should have a green or black plate by the fill hole with the transmission code and type. My car has a 5HP-19 transmission Cheap insurance if you ask me.

Regardless of what comes out of your transmission with the fluid, it will ALWAYS be better to do new fluid vs keep old in. Regardless if there is metal flakes or not. Keeping the old particles in will cause more damage than new fluid will.

Hello 50's kid can you do video on how to change the drive shaft and Prop shaft coupling, centre bearing please. I can feel vibration from my car when I am driving to and from work plus my car feel's like it is holding back when I want to go a bit quicker. The wheels do not need balancing, so I am thinking these parts need replacing. Keep doing what you are doing your videos are helping me to maintain my BMW 👍

Very good video. Love the tip about holding the gasket in place with RTV. Thanks

Thanks Jason, I will be doing this to my 330ci and this explained it fully. Thanks again.

This video is the reason why I just subbed today!

Thank you, for all the money I saved and now I’m sure that the trans oil is in there with new filter and All.! Shit like Brand new, Thank you again.....!

Changed the oil today as yiu said, it worked perfectly :). I will change the filter also next time. thank you :)

Thanks man. I appreciate your labor. Keep up the good friendly work. Atabioy!

Another great Video, with this I had a ZF 5 speed in my 2001 E46 Euro Spec 330Ci, and I had to use a 14mm Socket to get off the fill n drain plug. I used Comma gear oil also and my 1st gear is still a bit sicky but thanks for your help

Great vids. I don't own this vehicle but always good general info provided in your vids. Not an easy transmission to drain and refill, relative to a Honda anyway.

Maui is watching! Great clear and very informative in a brotherly way. Mahalo

On e46 form 99-05 I believe used either the german zf transmission which was used on sedans and the GM transmission on the wagons but always check before filling it !!!

I just want to chime in with a little detail. I recently rebuilt my ZF 5HP18 in my E34 after getting encouragement from the Kid. This one needs two people for refilling but I had no help around. Because I had a new torque converter, I had absolutely no old oil in the system. The repair manual sates how much fluid is needed for the given transmission. I decided to "cold fill" it from the top, through the vent opening. There's a little plastic cap that I could remove by hand - I was lucky to have skinny hands, some might not have enough room to reach up there. I pumped in the right amount, started it up, went through the gears a few times and that was it. Now the car has other issues still but I would say the transmission is running fine.

Thank God for 50s kid

Golden tips my man, just did a first time in 300k km oil / filter change on my 320i , your tips really helped. And for the next one.. get a T50 with girth , was a huge ass fight to get the filler cap out , And do not cheap out and also get a good T27 bit , as a T25 will mame and murder the bolts before you get them out.

This guy explains very well NO CAP

it's not a lie, the term "lifetime" is NOT understood, lifetime does not mean forever, nor does it mean for the LIFE of the car, it means lifetime maintenance, that is ALL cars are considered out of warranted and out of life at 100,000km most NEW cars or people buying cars get rid of a car BEFORE 100k, that is 4 years (consider 25k a year) BMW orignal g'tee expires after 4 years...

I would really like to see a video on changing the transmission cooler lines. One of mine is leaking and I think I am just going to change the fluid through the line since I have to remove it anyway

You sir are a rock star, thank you for these videos.

A suggestion - To change all of the fluid - instead of the tedious home based drain/refill procedure you describe, just take it to the shop and have them use their complete drain/refill tool and then you could just do the filter at home later?

Refer to this vid time and time again. Thanks man!

You are literally amazing you know that.

Lifetime transmission fluid is funny sounding but the whole tranmission is actually sealed in that of being done tranmission is actually up upside down so all of it has fluid. interesting way to refilll this is to get fluid cirulate'ing and small electric pump an intercooler can be used and spliced in that of how to get all tranmission oil in, pump is required. don't forget you will need another Resivior to help catch excess. Addvantage is Transmission doesn't mess itself up as fluid keeps it from damageing itself., but at the same time it do's slip when getting on gas a little bit. Far as BMW dealership looking saying what the did you do interesting part it's actually more better but if it takes 8 1 pint bottle's your going to need about 12 to 14 pint's give or take length and how big hose your use'ing. once you get it so that it pumping nice, example pumping so whole transmission is getting correct amount of oil, say it's 15 psi to 25 psi, will say 25 psi, then will lower it to about 23 psi or 22 psi. If transmission seems odd or just wrong or noise then place it back up too 25 or 24 so transmission doesn't slip as much and fluid isn't constantly circulate'ing but circulateing enough to keep fluid getting to were it needs to go.

I have a 2003 325i and my trans pan is flat, I am trying to determine what fluid to use. I checked my drivers door for transmission info didn’t see it. Your videos have helped me with everything I’ve done so far I was hoping you could help me figure out the right fluid. Thanks for the knowledge man

HELP !!! - my e46 330i automatic Transmission fluid keeps leaking between the gasket(large leak). I have replaced it twice now following your video tutorial. Both times I used an aftermarket rubber gasket. once all the screws are tighten it seems to squeeze the rubber gasket out in some areas and that’s where the leak is coming from. When I took it back out the first time I can tell the rubber gasket is stretched out. I see in the video that the gasket you are using is not made of rubber. I am wondering if I should just go ahead and order a factory gasket $38. Any tips or advice would be appreciated. Thank you

Thanks for the video! I'm getting ready to do the job on my car soon. 👍🏼

this is a very good video. and I wanted to see if you could make a video and how to properly jack up the car. living both wheels off the ground and putting jack stands underneath

Thank you so much , it surely isn't difficult at all but unfortunately my Mechanic Quoted Me 600 AUD for an oil change, filter , rings and gasket.

Just did my tranny. Its the GM. You need a closed end 17mm to get the fill bolt off. A socked won't fit and an open end rounds the bolt. Great video, as always.

Purchase a creator c310 scanner use it to reset the transmission adaptations only cost $55 on amazon

Hi can you do a video on how to replace transmission oil cooler line you don't have to take apart the lines just show us what to do with a video and just explain the steps I have a 2000 323i that needs new cooler lines

Congratulations on 100k subs you deserve it

I love your videos, always very helpful. Thank you for making videos.

why am i watching this i have a manual. this is super informative and interesting tho lol

Dude you’re awesome, love you videos.

I have 04 325i ZSP (same color looks just like yours) I had transmission problem for years that comes up during morning/or starting when cold. Basically I noticed that transmission jumps to high gear and goes into limp mode. So I just puts in manual mode and shift manually until engine temperature/transmission oil temp goes up. Then transmission shifts fine...its been like this ever since I got car used since 2013...I put about 30k miles with numerous long distance road trip. I would of changed fluid long time ago since I suspect that fluid haven't been changed but I decided to drive until it totally breaks down. I suspect either low fluid or something got messed with computer..

50’s kid! Your videos are very precise and detailed! However, you never mentioned in this video of it throws a code and it needs to be reprogramed? Was that the case in your video?? And any link for where you ordered your Auto ZF trans fluid at?

It's wise to go through all your gears with engine running before topping the fluid. Also check the temperature when topping and with engine running and gear in P position.

Hey 50skid thanks for the video. I have a 2005 BMW 325xi with 92000 miles. my automatic transmission has been really jerky, so I performed a transmission oil change and it helped alot. I still feel a little jerk when shifting in the lower gears. And it's most noticeable when shifting from park to reverse and to drive. The codes that the reader are picking up are p0228, p0227, p0149, and p0146. The transmission light is on as well and it does not let me go into manual mode. If you can help to explain the codes that would be great! Thank you!

Your work and knowledge is realy great! Thank u sir.

Thanks for the extremely well presented clip! 100000000000x likes ;)

2020 and still watching

Thank you for making this video. Really helpful.

Followed your instructions to the letter and didn’t get transmission oil down my arm! Can’t understand why the drain has an internal stub keeping oil in the sump.

Can you show how to replace rear trailing arm bushings, differential fluid and wiring for the fog lights? I've got no clue how. :/

good job

Born in Hilo? no wonder you've got the island vibe!

Thanks man, you’re amazing!

50skid can this be used on my 02 330ci?

Gonna try it soon was thinking o need BMW fluid thanks for the info I do have a trans code p0720 I think it's a speed sensor I'm pretty sure

Africa is watching you man. u hv my high 50

haha, i am so lucky i didnt realize how many problems e46 transmissions have. Mine literally has 305 thousand miles on it and it shifts almost perfectly even when revs are up to 6000. Im just trying to get it to break now so i can replace it and it just wont break!! Althought when rpms hit redline i can definately smell burning hell coming from it.

I wonder to see all the cables apparently swimming in oil. Is that normal? Never saw any electric parts swim in any sort of fluid.

Awesome stuff as always. Love how you broke down when you need and dont/should do a full flush, i always wondered about that.

50s Kid. I have an e46 too and I have been replacing a lot of parts because I love my car and I don’t have any issues with the transmission but the car has almost 200k miles and I am afraid of changing the transmission oil. My cousin worked at bmw for 8 years and he was a master mechanic and he doesn’t recommend me to change it. I have seen and hear that it is recommend it to replace it. Please advise me if you recommend me to change it. My trans works perfectly fine but I feel that an oil change will help to extend longevity of the car

I watch you and Bavarian auto on everything I do but on this video you say not to get tranny to warm were as Bar Varian auto said 110 to 120 degrees so now I’m confused. Your take on this?

Thanks for the video, is that the same fluid as the Pentosin ATF1 fluid, as farsas the specs?

Im thankful for this useful video my friend. I'm planning to do that to my 330ci too, and Im asking that how much fluid I totally need when I remove all fluid inside of the transmission.

today i replaced my fluid and filter and I only found 4 of those magnets in it.... and they were not stuck onto the filter also :(

excellent video like always bro the first video I watched from you was the common repairs.my disa valve broke and didn't know how to take it off but thanks to your video it was a piece of cake thank you.

Brilliant video. Thank you.

Is it 2 gallons if you semi drain the torque converter like you mentioned or just the main part? I've got 7 litres and I'm doing it in the morning lol.

Peaple don't touch the valve body with out proper knowledge

Hey everyone, I'm having a rather spontaneous issue with my ZF 5hp19 2003 325i, where the transmission has began slipping, shuddering, and shift flare, resulting in a cog of death. I had a very similar issue to this last winter when I went thru a massive water puddle, and water got into the transmission lines and caused the transmission to short and the TCM could not read the tranny sensors. With a dry out and application of dielectric grease and a TCM reset, issue was resolved. I went and looked at the electrical connections again, and of course I found them quite saturated with oil, looked to be engine based. Tranny and seal seemed very dry, I also just fixed a large oil leak from my oil filter cap o ring, resolved with oil change and new o ring. Anyways, I cleaned all my electrical connections with alcohol to remove all oil and reloaded connections with dielectric grease, then reset TCM with INPA, but issue still remains unlike last time! It feels very electrical based with how shuddery it is and also the fact that it happened nearly outta no where, previously transmission shifts flawlessly through all gears, only things I ever noticed were occasional bumps into reverse and an occasional click from under the car when dropping into first gear at speed only in manual mode. Other than that, flawless operation. I have now read tonight I might be looking at a torque converter seal failure, I'm less and less confident it's electric after I cleaned everything and problem persisted, but my harness is old (192k mileage old). My plan is to drop the pan tomorrow ideally and see what fluid/filter looks like, maybe I have a clog in the filter and trans cannot build up proper pressure to shift well. How fast it came about is just what stunts me, most trans failures that are mechanical happen over time and you notice it getting worse and worse, not the case here though. Anyone have any ideas?

Thank you for yours videos

Excellent video !

Any recommendations on what to do when the fill cap is rounded out?

Same deal for 2000 328Ci ? Mine has 136k miles. I just got it mid October '21, not sure if fluid has ever been changed.

Thank you for your videos

Appreciated, thanks boss.

Thanks mate for this video. Just a quick one my 2005 e46 318 throws the dreaded exclamation mark inside a cog...and the starts kicking when changing gears at take off and when I am stopping at a traffic light. Does that mean I should change the transmission oil or its a bigger problem? Much appreciated....Zimbabwe is watching.

great video. looking forward to your fix for the noise. mines making a humming noise. not sure what it is.