• Welcome, Guest! We hope you enjoy the excellent technical knowledge, event information and discussions that the BMW MOA forum provides. Some forum content will be hidden from you if you remain logged out. If you want to view all content, please click the 'Log in' button above and enter your BMW MOA username and password.

    If you are not an MOA member, why not take the time to join the club, so you can enjoy posting on the forum, the BMW Owners News magazine, and all of the discounts and benefits the BMW MOA offers?

2010 1200 RT - Trans Oil

105258

Old Rider - OK Mechanic
I live in Canada and I'm trying to source real BMW transmission. My dealer doesn not carry any BMW Lubricants, and cannot find a part number for this oil. They use Maximum 75-90 in the shop but when I'm in hot AZ in the winter I like to use the proper weight oil. I have been using a full synthetic GL-5 Pensoil oil from a local parts supplier, but would like to use the real deal.

Anyone know the BMW part number ?
 
I'm not sure about your "BMW REAL DEAL". BMW Doesnt make oil. Castrol/BMW marketing with a printed label is all that makes it a BMW oil. Buy a good Mobil 1 75w90 or even the pennzoil. The BMW marketed oil is twice the price and nothing special.

My two cents worth. I know we all like a good oil thread ; )
 
07512293972- Synthetic Gear Oil SAF-XO $19.88

This the info on my receipt

That is the oil spec'd for the rear drive. It may well work fine in the transmission, but BMW packages two different viscosity oils for the transmission. They have a 75W-90 and a 75W-140, both synthetics, both red in color. I use the 75W-140. You need just a bit less than a liter to do a transmission oil change (did mine yesterday actually..)
 
I live in Canada and I'm trying to source real BMW transmission. My dealer doesn not carry any BMW Lubricants, and cannot find a part number for this oil. They use Maximum 75-90 in the shop but when I'm in hot AZ in the winter I like to use the proper weight oil. I have been using a full synthetic GL-5 Pensoil oil from a local parts supplier, but would like to use the real deal.

Anyone know the BMW part number ?

Arizona isn't hot in the winter, not enough to make a difference compared to Manitoba. Now, come here in the summer and that's a different story. I use Mobil 1.
 
No need for me to use BMW oil, but what do they call for viscosity in the transmission?
75W90
or
75W140?

I use Valvoline or Mobil 1.
I change the rear drive every tire change 6,000 to 7,000 miles) and the transmission about 1/2 that often.
This is in a 12 R1200R


Thanks for the info
David
 
75w-90

No need for me to use BMW oil, but what do they call for viscosity in the transmission?
75W90
or
75W140?

I went to purchase all things necessary for the first 6k maintenance and picked up 75w-140 for the trans. The parts guys appeared to be perplexed with why I was buying two different weights, 75w-90 for the FD. I returned home and performed even more thorough research and a few days later called the master tech at my dealer and he indicated the 75w-90 is good for both the trans and FD. His comment and my further research indicated that the 75w-140 appeared to be the old specification for the transmission.

I hope this helps.

Aloha.
 
Thank you, I used 75W90 in both. I would put 75w140 in a crawler or large truck. :D

David
The "140" only comes into play when the transmission oil gets quite hot - like when you're sitting in stop/go traffic on a summer day with the catalytic converter sitting right under the transmission working like a small blast furnace. Under those conditions - the oil will MAINTAIN it's viscosity better than oil with a "90" hot rating. Note that the oil will never be thicker (more viscous) than the base rating - which is the same in both cases. It will simply be less thin. This helps smooth the shifting when the oil really starts thinning out (and not slowing the gears down enough.)

I prefer the additional protection that can be had with the 74W-140. In this case - IMHO - there is only an upside to using it (which is why BMW sells it.)
 
Trans Oil

Thanks for all your assistance. It appears that the part number is a US no and there is no Canadian number. G figure. In any case I prefer to use the 75w140 oil as I belive it is better protection an I believe it shifts better when thing get hot.

So in the end I will continue to use the Pensoil oil until I get south this winter and I will pick up a few quarts of BMW oild from the San Diego dealer.

Thanks again for all your help.
 
Don's info re viscosity is on target.

The 75W-140 is more popular in hot southern climates though not universally so- its certainly not a requirement. It has a couple noticeable differences. First, it provides more mechanical drag at typical temps than the 75W-90 so the rear wheel spins a bit faster in neutral due to fluid drag especially when the bike is cool. Second, and for the same reason, some notice that the tranny shifts a bit easy- a slowly spinning dog engagement setup goes in a bit more smoothly (note that the R tranny and most bike trannies operate fundamentally differently than car synchro systems for manual boxes and are in fact closer to how a cage racing manual tranny works) if you noramally shift slowly with the clutch.

Also, FWIW, few to none of the typical BMW FD failures are lube related, especially on hexheads. The problems are bearings, especially bearing quality, size and fit, and seals- not gears and gear teeth. And the key bearing that fails most often runs outside the FD gear lube. It has been upsized a couple mm to 32 mm from its original 30 mm size in the earliest hexheads

I use the BMW NA lube 75W-140 in my hexhead tranny- was dealer suggested. The key spec other than viscosity is GL-5 that is for heavy gear face loads.
 
Back
Top