stenger

So I bought this e36 BMW 328i off a guy at work. I knew the transmission was likely junk, so got it at a price I couldn't pass up. That being said, I got it home, ran some codes on it, and then dropped the transmission pan last night. This car uses the 4L30E. A GM Transmission that when built was supposed to be "lifetime", so fluid/filter changes weren't exactly made to be done with ease.

Here is a simple picture as a reminder to you Automatic Transmission owners to keep up on your maintenance and increase the life of your car. If not for you, but for the next person down the road. And maybe a few owners after that:



See all that metal there? Yeah, that's important parts of the clutch packs inside the auto transmission. Some metal in the fluid is normal. This much, IS NOT! This is the top side of the filter. On the 4L30E the filter is mated against the valve body pretty tightly, so for this much metal to be on the top side, is not good. I was hoping to just do a fluid flush and filter change and have the car driving, but now that I discovered this, the important parts of the transmission are shot. Good news is, it's motive to v8 5spd swap it, and instead of flipping it for profit, having a project race car. Saving the tC's daily driver status.