[David.m]

Originally Posted by F87source

Interesting. If it was done in germany then it was the correct fluid.

Either way we won't have a choice if they phase out MSP/A here, it is what it is. It won't be the end of the world, but it will not be what bmw specifies to use.

I got some MSP/A part #83222365988 from dealer here in Sydney a couple days ago, asked about supply and he said no issue they have pallets (I assume at BMW AU).

[warrenw]

Originally Posted by chris719

You run Motul for the diff? I thought this was a bad idea and this diff can only safely use MSP/A or SAF-XJ? I know it says it cross references for SAF-XJ, but I’m always paranoid with the amount of failures on these diffs.

There's a lot of diff failures?? That's news to me. I've been running Motul since my 1200 mile break in service, have changed it twice, and I'm at 35k miles.

I use Motul 75W140 for diff. And then ppl around here use PENTOSIN FFL-4 for DCT.

[F87source]

Originally Posted by David.m

I got some MSP/A part #83222365988 from dealer here in Sydney a couple days ago, asked about supply and he said no issue they have pallets (I assume at BMW AU).

That's good to hear! My dealer still had some too, but if it is phased out I think it'll just be Canada so we will end up using the same stuff the US has instead of getting special shipments from Germany (I think we did this because we needed the multi lingual bottles and the German ones had all the languages on it).

Originally Posted by warrenw

There's a lot of diff failures?? That's news to me. I've been running Motul since my 1200 mile break in service, have changed it twice, and I'm at 35k miles.

I use Motul 75W140 for diff. And then ppl around here use PENTOSIN FFL-4 for DCT.

Yes there have been alot of diff failures pre recall, post recall has gotten alot better but there have been a few. So I don't want to personally risk aftermarket fluids.


Iirc pentosin ffl3 is the factory fill for the manual.

[Daytona_550]

Originally Posted by vrooooom

60 N.m or 44 ft.lbs for the drain & fill bolt right?

Can someone confirm the correct torque value for the diff drain plugs? I am seeing conflicting info with 65NM and 45NM specified?

Edit: my question is for US spec 2020 M2C.

[David.m]

Originally Posted by Daytona_550

Can someone confirm the correct torque value for the diff drain plugs? I am seeing conflicting info with 65NM and 45NM specified?

Edit: my question is for US spec 2020 M2C.

45Nm (sourced from TIS before it was pulled down). Both the diff fill & drain plugs are spec'd as single use (I assume because they have rubber gasket)

[LLB-M2]

Hi,
i changed my oil (gearbox and Diff) today.
Diff oil was 5years old and 50tkm, smells like sh*t.

I geht 800ml Out of the Diff (outside was fully dry). Filled Up 1 litre of Rowe 75W140LS.

Was this enough oil? Some write 1litre is enough, outers till it flows out of the Infill hole???

[Track/S]

Originally Posted by LLB-M2

Hi,
i changed my oil (gearbox and Diff) today.
Diff oil was 5years old and 50tkm, smells like sh*t.

I geht 800ml Out of the Diff (outside was fully dry). Filled Up 1 litre of Rowe 75W140LS.

Was this enough oil? Some write 1litre is enough, outers till it flows out of the Infill hole???

if my memory serves me correctly with 1.2 liters it already to come out of the infill hole.

[vrooooom]

when the Diff Oil starts coming out of the fill hole (on a level car) then it's enough. For my car LCI, it's about a liter (a little less than).

[F87source]

Originally Posted by Prodrive_X

if my memory serves me correctly with 1.2 liters it already to come out of the infill hole.

Transmission is 1.3L, diff is 1L.

[jefe2000]

I can vouch for lack of availability of the MSP/A gear oil. The BMW app notified me of the need to change the diff fluid (see attached image). So I picked up a couple liters of gear oil from East Bay BMW here in CA yesterday morning. The BMW parts dept guy said his system indicated that the SAF-XJ fluid has superseded the MSP/A fluid, at least in this region. I'll drain and refill the diff next weekend when I do an oil change (gotta love the QuickJack for jobs like this!).

Hmmm, this makes me wonder if the BMW app will tell me when to swap out the gear oil in the 6MT?

[F87source]

Originally Posted by jefe2000

I can vouch for lack of availability of the MSP/A gear oil. The BMW app notified me of the need to change the diff fluid (see attached image). So I picked up a couple liters of gear oil from East Bay BMW here in CA yesterday morning. The BMW parts dept guy said his system indicated that the SAF-XJ fluid has superseded the MSP/A fluid, at least in this region. I'll drain and refill the diff next weekend when I do an oil change (gotta love the QuickJack for jobs like this!).

Hmmm, this makes me wonder if the BMW app will tell me when to swap out the gear oil in the 6MT?

The US never got msp/a, so not being able to get it is unfortunately to be expected. Then after covid made the global supply chain collapse then Canada stopped getting MSP/A too. I think the only reason Canada even got MSP/A is because we have laws requiring things be printed in both English and French, and the msp/a bottles from Germany are labeled in multiple languages. So we got the German bottles as it was already labeled properly. After covid I think we just got the us made saf-xj and relabled it with french as well.

No I don't believe saf-xj superceded msp/a, only in markets where msp/a is unavailable is it like that. But on BMWs etk it still says msp/a is the oil to use. I think Australia and all of Europe still has access to msp/a.


Unfortunately bmw says the 6mt is a life time fill (total BS) so you will not get a reminder to change the fluid. So I would advise you do it with the diff.

[Westersund]

Originally Posted by LLB-M2

Hi,
i changed my oil (gearbox and Diff) today.
Diff oil was 5years old and 50tkm, smells like sh*t.

I geht 800ml Out of the Diff (outside was fully dry). Filled Up 1 litre of Rowe 75W140LS.

Was this enough oil? Some write 1litre is enough, outers till it flows out of the Infill hole???

Diff oils always smell like shit because they contain sulphur.

I will change my diff and gearbox oil before next weeks trip to the Nürburgring. I will use Motul Gear Competition 75W-140 with LSD additives for the diff and Motul DCTF for the gearbox (MTF-LT 5 compatible). My car is at 43000 Km (about 27000 miles) and have never had the fuilds changed.

[vrooooom]

That gear oil is going to be B-L-A-C-K!

[E90convert]

Originally Posted by Westersund

Diff oils always smell like shit because they contain sulphur.

I will change my diff and gearbox oil before next weeks trip to the Nürburgring. I will use Motul Gear Competition 75W-140 with LSD additives for the diff and Motul DCTF for the gearbox (MTF-LT 5 compatible). My car is at 43000 Km (about 27000 miles) and have never had the fuilds changed.

Why not just use OE spec fluids? The non-OE oils may result in different transmission (particularly if it’s an DCT) and differential characteristics because the friction and traction coefficients may change.

[Westersund]

Originally Posted by vrooooom

That gear oil is going to be B-L-A-C-K!

Black? Sure was. Almost hurt my soul draining the rear axle when I saw the excellent state the gear oil was in. (And before some smart ass comments, I had already loosened the fill plug)




The Motul Gear Competition is kind of funky colored.

[Westersund]

Originally Posted by E90convert

Why not just use OE spec fluids? The non-OE oils may result in different transmission (particularly if it’s an DCT) and differential characteristics because the friction and traction coefficients may change.

The Motul oil meets and exceeds the BMW specifications. I'm not paying twice or three times as much at the BMW dealer when I can get an equally good or even better oil for far less money. My car is a manual, if you want to try Motul in your DCT you need Motul DCTF "High Torque".

[Track/S]

Originally Posted by Westersund

Black? Sure was. Almost hurt my soul draining the rear axle when I saw the excellent state the gear oil was in. (And before some smart ass comments, I had already loosened the fill plug)

Mine has 35,000 km, and I changed the diff oil 4 times, the 4 times it came out dark, you should have taken a photo when you removed the plug, not at the end when all the crap had come out.

[vrooooom]

yeah that looks nice & clean. Good for you....but HOW?!! 43,000 kms of use and it's still clean. Has anyone gotten something close to this kind of expereince?

I have changed mine twice now (once a year)....the first one was bad. I don't think the original owner touched that. I got it w/ 2000 kms. the 2nd year it was alright but still kinda gray-ish. Next year I'll change it again and see.


Is that Motul Gear Comp a better gear oil than the MSP/A?

[chris719]

Originally Posted by vrooooom

Is that Motul Gear Comp a better gear oil than the MSP/A?

There's no datasheet for MSP/A that I can find, so it's pretty much impossible to determine unless someone can figure out if there's a retail equivalent from Shell etc. or whoever makes MSP/A. I doubt there is much difference either way.

[vrooooom]

cool colour for that Motul Gear Comp though.

[Westersund]

Originally Posted by Track/S

Mine has 35,000 km, and I changed the diff oil 4 times, the 4 times it came out dark, you should have taken a photo when you removed the plug, not at the end when all the crap had come out.

I didn't know I had to proove myself to some random guy on the internet so I didn't record the draining process. You really think the oil isn't blended in the rear axle and the color would be uniform? I don't know how you use your car, my car is mostly a daily driver (I drive it hard sometimes) but it sees track time on the Nürburgring but not on conventional tracks.

[Westersund]

Originally Posted by vrooooom

yeah that looks nice & clean. Good for you....but HOW?!! 43,000 kms of use and it's still clean. Has anyone gotten something close to this kind of expereince?

I have changed mine twice now (once a year)....the first one was bad. I don't think the original owner touched that. I got it w/ 2000 kms. the 2nd year it was alright but still kinda gray-ish. Next year I'll change it again and see.


Is that Motul Gear Comp a better gear oil than the MSP/A?

I can't explain how it could be that clean. I bought the car at 23000 Km and now it's at 43000 Km. I highly doubt the 2 previous owners ever changed the fluid and there's no record of it. I will change the gearbox oil today and see how that looks.

The Motul Gear Comp is 100% synthetic as it is ester based and the Castrol (that BMW use) is AFAIK mineral based and modified to be "fully synthetic". Don't get me wrong, I use the Castrol as well (Not BMW branded though) and it works excellent. I've used Liqui Moly 75W-140 LS in my E46 M3 race car that want's the same kind of oil as the M2 and it works great. But comparing the Motul to the Castrol, they have the same viscosity at 100C but the Motul has lower viscosity at 20C which makes it a better at cold starts.