Sealed for life transmission oil are there any alternatives?

[AlfaSpider]

I have a E46 330d with the manual gearbox, I service the car myself and would like to change the gearbox/diff oil the car having covered 130k. Obviously the oil is near impossible to get hold of but has anyone used an alternative? I'm struggling even to find out what viscosity it should be. Any ideas would be great.

[phelix]

Use Redline MTL - works a treat in my E46 328i.

[AlfaSpider]

Looking at the Redline website it says for post 1993 cars use the D4ATF even though its an auto transmission fluid..

[phelix]

Have a look at some of the google search results

[Pastie Bloater]

The dealer will sell you the correct gearbox oil by the litre if you have a suitable container.

The diff oil is below, this is the OEM fill:

http://www.opieoils.co.uk/p-737-castrol-saf-xo-75w...

[phelix]

Go with the Redline MTL - I've been using it all my manual BMW boxes for over 20 years - it is the best product for the task. BMW has gone to ATF for the minuscule reduction in drag from a lighter weight oil but the box shifts better with MTL.

[Neil.D]

The oil for manual boxes (was for my M5) is an automatic transmission fluid called castrol LT2.
it may have been superseded now with LT3.

A friednly parts department will sell you 2 litres if you take in an empty bottle.

[AlfaSpider]

There seem to be a lot of conflicting opinions to what is the best oil for gearbox and diff. Looking on a few forums fuchs or castrol might be the closest match a 75w-80 for the gearbox and a 75w-90 for the diff, does this sound about right? Even thought the fuchs website says I have a LSD in a 330d and require limited slip 75W-140!