Quote:
Originally Posted by Dukat
Thanks for the advice Lotus.
I usually keep my cars around 100,000 miles, which is typically 5 years. Up until now I've owned Japanese cars (Nissan/Acura/Lexus) and I've never needed to change transfer case fluids. Sold the Acura at 135,000 miles with no issues.
Good (but disappointing) to know I need have all these fluids changed at 50,000 miles now. I plan to keep this car at least 100,000 miles so I do want to avoid any issues.
Anyone know how accessible the fuel filter is? It was a 2 minute job on my Sentra but impossible in my other cars as they moved it into the gas tank.
If I upgraded to the 6 year, 100,000 mile coverage, would service such as new spark plugs, brake fluid, drive line fluids, etc be part of the scheduled service or are those extra charges?
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I'm sure there are plenty of X5's with well more than 100K on them with the original transfer case and transmission fluid (probably most of them). Cars are driven differently and complex mechanical assemblies are put together with different assembly tolerances. However, there have been enough BMW out of warrantee transfer case failures that a class action suit has been discussed.
Apparently, there is premature chain wear that seems to be related to lube failure. Every vehicle is different, and it's possible that BMW has learned from the rash of transfer case failures and improved parts or changed to a different lubricant. Unfortunately, once the worn chain begins to slip, changing the TC fluid will do no good at all.
Just try a Google search for; "BMW Transfer case failures"
Regarding Japanese cars; Honda originally recommended a long (I believe 60K mile) interval for changing the transmission fluid in the CVT Honda FIT. After having a ton of failures and a recall they now are recommending changing it much sooner (I believe every year regardless of mileage). Manufactures want their vehicles to appear to require minimum maintenance, at least during the warrantee period. Lubricants are better, but operating conditions are tougher. Thinner lubricants are used to reduce viscosity drag (lowers mileage) and engines and driveline assemblies are operated at higher loads and much higher temperatures than only a few years ago. But, fluid change intervals are often doubled or rated "for the life of the vehicle"
Makes a lot of sense, doesn't it?