BMW transmission fluid levels charts

These charts are helpful for knowing what fluid goes into which automatic transmission and the amount of fluid. You should be able to click on the photo to enlarge it.

Manual Fluid. Sorry, I haven't seen a chart for the manual transmissions. I do know early transmissions use 90 wt gear oil. around 1986 or 1987 they started to use ATF. There is a green sticker on the tranmission that says ATF. In 1996 manual trnamsmissions went to BMW Lifetime oil. These transmissions have a yellow sticker that says life time oil.

Automatic Fluid. I have not found a substitute for BMW Lifetime Automatic transmission fluid. I do know if you do not use lifetime fluid and try ATF it will ruin the transmissions that use lifetime fluid.Most automatics after 1992 do not have a dipstick to check the fluid level. As with manuals, there is a fill plug and a drain plug on most transmissions. Full is when the fluid runs out the fill hole. I believe some of the transmissions must be filled when at op temp and running. Pelican Parts has some info on filling early auto tranmissions.