[BB_cuda]

Fair warning. E53 X5 comes with a steel pan and uses same filter that X5M and B7 Alpina. I have looked on rockauto and they sell a steel pan with separate filter (in a kit) that looks like same filter I used. The steel pan I mentioned at outset holds 1 liter less fluid. Further, you have to careful to not overfill it. Klaus from thectsc.com warned me to not use that lower capacity pan vs the plastic OE pan. I’m not saying what you guys just found is same but you need to compare with my input in mind.

[gaz_ball]

Originally Posted by 335dlci

The filter is part of the plastic pan with the lr part.

Apologies - I got the wrong part number. There is an upgrade kit DA2142 which has metal pan & separate filter.

[BB_cuda]

Originally Posted by BB_cuda

Fair warning. E53 X5 comes with a steel pan and uses same filter that X5M and B7 Alpina. I have looked on rockauto and they sell a steel pan with separate filter (in a kit) that looks like same filter I used. The steel pan I mentioned at outset holds 1 liter less fluid. Further, you have to careful to not overfill it. Klaus from thectsc.com warned me to not use that lower capacity pan vs the plastic OE pan. I’m not saying what you guys just found is same but you need to compare with my input in mind.

The filling method for the E53 pan is not same as we do where you fill until the oil dribbles out f the fill hole. The Steel pan has a raised portion at rear of pan. I recall that you fill until it dribbles out of that hole. Otherwise, if you revert to using the normal "side of trans" fill hole and get level to dribble point on it, you will have overfilled. Klaus cautions this will mess up the transmission. I have a pdf from him/thectcs.com some where that i will unearth. I hope pdfs can attach here.

[robnitro]

He's not saying that on the e70 you can't fill using the side hole right?
Because if those instructions apply to the e70 using that pan, it doesn't make sense. The trans fill hole means the level that the trans can take up to whether you have a super deep or a shallow pan.

[BB_cuda]

Originally Posted by robnitro

He's not saying that on the e70 you can't fill using the side hole right?
Because if those instructions apply to the e70 using that pan, it doesn't make sense. The trans fill hole means the level that the trans can take up to whether you have a super deep or a shallow pan.

Klaus was saying to not use the fill hole as the indicator of when pan is full enough (getting the dribbling from same place). He was saying the top off procedure was to let oit dribble out the "raised hole" in the pan. I know this seems wierd. If you use fill hole method, you will over fill by ~ 1 liter he says.Presume this would be same case on the E90 trans too. To be transparent, I had asked Klaus in context of the E90. Klaus was very strong in discouraging me to use the E53 pan on my E90 trans.

Guys, do what you want. I only wanted to share the advice i was given. He also told me that using the aluminum pan would amount to no difference in trans performance. I just like the looks of the pan and conceed i likely spent more on the mod than i will save in future trans fluid changes.

[robnitro]

I still don't see how it overfills that way. It sounds hokey...

The e53 used a 6hp trans too? I thought it was a different model. What's the fill instructions for the 6hp model that has that pan?

[335stoner]

i would have to see this pan??? i will agree that i do not see how it will overfill with the factory fill plug. like mentioned the hole sets the level for the pickup. it doesn't matter if you have a 5 gallon bucket for a trans pan as long as the level is not over the fill hole the trans will operate as it should. adding an extra L would be no different than running an oil sump on an old school beetle. that is an extra 1.5Q of oil and as long as the dipstick is at full you are good.

I'm not changing from the factory pan because i don't see a true advantage of the metal to plastic unless you are a bagger and the extra protection would be nice.

[BB_cuda]

Originally Posted by 335stoner

i would have to see this pan??? i will agree that i do not see how it will overfill with the factory fill plug. like mentioned the hole sets the level for the pickup. it doesn't matter if you have a 5 gallon bucket for a trans pan as long as the level is not over the fill hole the trans will operate as it should. adding an extra L would be no different than running an oil sump on an old school beetle. that is an extra 1.5Q of oil and as long as the dipstick is at full you are good.

I'm not changing from the factory pan because i don't see a true advantage of the metal to plastic unless you are a bagger and the extra protection would be nice.

I dug in very old email and found dialogue with Klaus from thectsc.com from 2013. Stoner, send me a pm with your email address and I will forward the email to you. Within the email, he gave me 4 links to filter and fluid tech instructions. 2 of the 4 pertain to the metal pan we speak of that goes onto the E53 X5. Please note in the 6x fluid level instructions, the instructions are referring to a fill screw IN THE PAN. See the pdfs attached with emphasis on the fluid level one. tThe email explains a little further beyond the attached pdfs.

[robnitro]

Interesting. I wonder if that level of the filler leak tube on that metal pan is at the level of our filler plug hole. On the previous models they might have had a different setup. Every mechanic I talked to say level is relative to the trans housing, irrespective of pan depth.
If having less or more fluid would effect safe fill level, anyone who fits an aftermarket cooler would have to adjust their levels and we don't see that happen with auto transmissions in general (not just zf).

The only thing which might affect level is if the filter pickup was higher, in that case you want more fluid to prevent it from starving, but that's not the case here....

[Nadir Point]

Originally Posted by robnitro

The only thing which might affect level is if the filter pickup....

Not necessarily. I suspect fluid expansion was (ostensibly) the reason for leveling it warm. I've never seen inside one of these beyond the pan, but if there is a clearance issue small enough (port/passage location or something like that) to be affected by heat expansion, a bigger sump would definitely affect that in a bad way.

[Ken Oath]

The information from CTSC has changed from the PDF to what is now provided on their website with the addition of:

"4) The transmission has two filler plugs, use the one indicated in the drawing below so you don't have to remove the driveshaft."

https://www.thectsc.com/bmw-6hp26x-t...-steel-oil-pan

[Asonchadwick]

This directions are all weird

[BB_cuda]

Originally Posted by Asonchadwick

This directions are all weird

Per poster’s link directly above you, do B first and then A. Yeah, why didn’t they write it in opposite order? I’m clear with what to do. I’m also clear I wouldn’t use this funky pan with fill plug in it.

[335stoner]

Originally Posted by BB_cuda

I dug in very old email and found dialogue with Klaus from thectsc.com from 2013. Stoner, send me a pm with your email address and I will forward the email to you. Within the email, he gave me 4 links to filter and fluid tech instructions. 2 of the 4 pertain to the metal pan we speak of that goes onto the E53 X5. Please note in the 6x fluid level instructions, the instructions are referring to a fill screw IN THE PAN. See the pdfs attached with emphasis on the fluid level one. tThe email explains a little further beyond the attached pdfs.

get ready for a long winded post

thanks for the email i read it, but i still don't get his reasoning behind over filling the trans???? he doesn't explain his theory, so I'm still scratching my head.. He states that the pan holds 1L less than our current pan and it will be overfilled if you use the factory fill port. Here is my thoughts on why it still doesn't matter what the pan capacity is and why it cant be overfilled and why the fill port on the new pan is wrong to use.

the stock trans fill hole is in the side of the transmissions above the seal line of the stock trans pan. if you were to put a plate across the bottom of the transmission seal surface you could fill the transmission and that is were the fluid level needs to be for the trans to operate (this cant be done because of the valve body, but this is my thoughts). you would probably be lucky to get 1L in the trans at this point, but the level need to be that high to properly operate and no matter what you do you cant overfill the transmission because the extra fluid will come out the hole.

if you now go below the seal line on the stock trans pan you have your extra 5-6L of fluid sitting in the sump of the pan. your pickup tube is has the required fluid below it and the rest of the trans the required fluid above it (set by the fill hole) and you cant over fill it because it will come out the fill hole. at this point you have "6-7L" of fluid in your trans (total capacity is more, but we are not talking about that)

This new pan in question hold 1L less than the stock trans pan and we are still taking about the fluid level in the pan not in the transmission. Now with the same theory with filling the trans with the absolute minimum of 1L above the seal surface you have below the seal line is 4-5L of extra fluid in the pan.

if you use the factory fill method you can only physically fit the proper amount of fluid based on what the transmission pan sump can hold. overfilling isn't possible because of the fill hole. With that being said if you were to use this pan holding 1L less and you use the factory fill hole you can only fit 5-6L in the trans then anything extra will come out the fill hole.

Now this extra fill port on this metal pan is only there because without it you have to remove the driveshaft to access the actual fill port on the side of the transmission this pan is supposed to be installed on. Now with that being said if the driveshaft was removed from this car you still have the same fill port that our transmission has. in theory you can remove this fill plug in the transmission pan and remove the fill port on the side of the transmission and you will achieve the same amount of fluid because the fill plug is at the same height as the fill port.

here is the real question regarding this fill port on the metal pan.. is this "new" fill port in the metal pan at the same height as the factory port on the our transmission? this new fill port in the pan has the ability to overfill or under fill the transmission, if it is not at the same height as the transmission fill port.

if someone were to use this pan i would say with 100% confidence you need to use the factory fill plug on the transmission for the proper fill level and not the fill port on the metal pan.

[BB_cuda]

Stoner, I follow your logic. Only way to know for sure would be to do measurements on the E53 pan. If I follow your reasoning, than pan fill port is way above the pan’s flange plane. There was an E53 with this trans/trans pan at salvage yard on Red Bluff. I forgot yards’s name but it will come to me. They wouldn’t sell pan without transmission though. I’ll edit in name when i think of it.
EDIT:Atlas auto salvage on Red Bluff in Pasadena. It was a long time ago so that E53 may be long gone (5+ years).

[Asonchadwick]

This is really simple guys, the fill port on the bottom of a metal pan has a tube that should be at the same hight at the side fill port in the trans. If that's true then it makes sense and will work to check level. If the tube in the pan is lower than the side fill port in the trans then it won't work to check the level via the bottom fill port. This Idea to check level through the bottom of the pan is very common on dsg transmissions. My vw has it and others. Same principle just going through bottom of pan instead of side of case.

[335stoner]

correct! my dsg had the same thing..

since the pan is made for a different style trans i would say remove any confusion and just use the factory fill port and forget about the fill on the pan. depending on the tube height you have the ability to overfill or under fill the trans.

[robnitro]

What e53 engine models did this pan come on? I was looking at some 6hp e53 kits but the shape of the pan seems different...

[BB_cuda]

Originally Posted by robnitro

What e53 engine models did this pan come on? I was looking at some 6hp e53 kits but the shape of the pan seems different...

4.4L engine

[BB_cuda]

Originally Posted by Asonchadwick

This is really simple guys, the fill port on the bottom of a metal pan has a tube that should be at the same hight at the side fill port in the trans. If that's true then it makes sense and will work to check level. If the tube in the pan is lower than the side fill port in the trans then it won't work to check the level via the bottom fill port. This Idea to check level through the bottom of the pan is very common on dsg transmissions. My vw has it and others. Same principle just going through bottom of pan instead of side of case.

You TDI boys taught me something. thanks

[Asonchadwick]

Well got my pan installed, I really like it. Before I could touch the plastic pan with my hand, hot yes but now this aluminum is super hot! No longer insulating the fluid from the air.

[Spyro235]

Originally Posted by Asonchadwick

Well got my pan installed, I really like it. Before I could touch the plastic pan with my hand, hot yes but now this aluminum is super hot! No longer insulating the fluid from the air.

So, what were you looking for out of going to a metal pan? More protection? Better temps via the pan being a slightly better radiator? Did you track your temps before/ after?