YoungCR said:

Hows the shifter play? Its probably due for a rebuild as well. The E60 545i shifter is a OEM short shift upgrade, my brother's E34 has that along with delrin bushings. 

Shifter bushings have been replaced and it had a dinan short throw. So it's good. Definitely the trans dyncros

Rekpoint said:

1 and R is a clunk for @DSMDane For 1st and R he has to hold the lever in and release the clutch slowly. Its weird. 

Hows the shifter play? Its probably due for a rebuild as well. The E60 545i shifter is a OEM short shift upgrade, my brother's E34 has that along with delrin bushings.

YoungCR said:

I'm having the same issues in the 540i now, 1-2 is a crunch and trouble getting into 1st. No idea what fluid is in there now or how old so it's time to change.

1 and R is a clunk for @DSMDane For 1st and R he has to hold the lever in and release the clutch slowly. Its weird.

straight6pwr said:

Synchromax MTF

here i am quoting myself on the issues it caused:

I switched to Redline D4 ATF and all the issues went away.

I'm having the same issues in the 540i now, 1-2 is a crunch and trouble getting into 1st. No idea what fluid is in there now or how old so it's time to change.

Jdesign said:

what weight?

Synchromax MTF

here i am quoting myself on the issues it caused:

straight6pwr said:

 the symptoms i'm having that i think are from the RP: 1) sometimes randomly after stopping at light, its hard to get it back into first  2)the syncros (i think) make noise all the time, it sounds like a mini forumla 1 car inside in there, even though the syncros work fine.  3) when its cold, its like shifting in molasses.  4)i can't shift fast. if i throw it from 1st to 2nd as fast as i can, it crunches a little. not like gear grinding, i can just feel it in my hand. 

I switched to Redline D4 ATF and all the issues went away.

straight6pwr said:

+1. royal purple and my zf310 did not match well. it felt like shifting through peanut butter - particularly worse in cold weather. 

what weight?

I'm stoked to see a nice looking 540 on here! Congrats on the purchase!

wasnt m3 said:

Snap and I have both had bad experiences with previous owners using royal purple. Redline solved problems for both of us.

+1. royal purple and my zf310 did not match well. it felt like shifting through peanut butter - particularly worse in cold weather.

wasnt m3 said:

Snap and I have both had bad experiences with previous owners using royal purple. Redline solved problems for both of us.

Well suck me sideways lol

The internets suggest:

Royal Purple Synchromax  or BMW MTF-1

Red Line Synthetic MT90 is a mystery,  It seems like some guys are hesitant others suggest it. There were some supra guys were running this in R154's and V161's and discovered that it was causing an internal component to swell and fail. I would personally run RP.

straight6pwr said:

sweet car! welcome.

more reliable in that 1) it breaks less or more reliable in 2) overall maintenance cost? a BMW 5 series is #1.  a replacement 6 speed is about $1000 for the 540

I figured id update this thread because @DSMDane Doesn't know how to keep ontop of things. 

Last week Thursday we picked up a replacement transmission for 600ish dollars with 80k on it. I think we are going to swap it over the winter.

Any E39 guys have a suggestion on what type of fluid we should put in it? Alot of these 420gs have a sticker that says ATF only. But the one we bought says MTF.

Ive heard alot of people with the 420g use Royal Purple Syncromax and swear by it.

Anybody care to weigh in? 

Rekpoint said:

I found a dealer receipt for all the dinan stuff thats on the car. It was all installed at 300-600 miles. I thought that was pretty rad. It was like 3 grand I think.

We have all the receipts for the car and the guy easily spent at least the cars value in maintenance. 

That's cool.  A well maintained e39 is always nice!

REKIII said:

I've been primarily involved in the e39 M5 world, but there are a lot of guys that will literally ejaculate all over a Dinan badged car.  To them Dinan is the epitome of automobile evolution and technology.  They actually become angry when they realize they can't buy Dinan tires or gas for their cars.  It's really weird and irritating.  What I've experienced is that Dinan stuff is good, but wildly overpriced and only first because they get first had touches on new BMW stuff through BMW factory......so of course it will be first.  They charge a premium for that.

So, if you come out to your car and there is white crusty stuff on the rear end, you know what it is. 

I found a dealer receipt for all the dinan stuff thats on the car. It was all installed at 300-600 miles. I thought that was pretty rad. It was like 3 grand I think.

We have all the receipts for the car and the guy easily spent at least the cars value in maintenance.

Rekpoint said:

I'm curious why you say that. I'm a huge fan of dinan. But I'm also not an e39 guy. Unless this guy crashes it and I buy it

I've been primarily involved in the e39 M5 world, but there are a lot of guys that will literally ejaculate all over a Dinan badged car.  To them Dinan is the epitome of automobile evolution and technology.  They actually become angry when they realize they can't buy Dinan tires or gas for their cars.  It's really weird and irritating.  What I've experienced is that Dinan stuff is good, but wildly overpriced and only first because they get first had touches on new BMW stuff through BMW factory......so of course it will be first.  They charge a premium for that.

So, if you come out to your car and there is white crusty stuff on the rear end, you know what it is.

DSMDane said:

I have purchased a e39.

I figured I need something a little more reliable

more reliable in that 1) it breaks less or more reliable in 2) overall maintenance cost? a BMW 5 series is #1.  a replacement 6 speed is about $1000 for the 540

REKIII said:

Very nice!  Be careful flaunting that Dinan stuff though.  e39 guys are weird about it.

Why does the one guy in the first pic hate BMW's so much?  Maybe he's a really good guy otherwise, but it might be detrimental to the friendship if you hang around that hatred.

I'm curious why you say that. I'm a huge fan of dinan. But I'm also not an e39 guy. Unless this guy crashes it and I buy it

Great car! hope it treats you well. 

and Welcome to the Thunderdome

Why does the one guy in the first pic hate BMW's so much?  Maybe he's a really good guy otherwise, but it might be detrimental to the friendship if you hang around that hatred.