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Subject: Finally writeup for E32 5HP30 VB rebuild and filter change(Big) Author: jeffc as JeffC 93 740iL : member since January, 2006 : 572 posts Posted on: 2007-05-12 23:33:45

Shogun and DavidC,
Here is the writeup.

For my peace of mind, I did this after reading up on how to fix my problems with a trans that whines and leaks and here's my contribution back to the community.
I have lots of help from the info gather from the bimmer boards, so the credit goes to everyone else (Kirk, Shogun, David, Gerald and many more) before me.


Tools/equipment
- Torx 27 bit
- 13mm socket
- 14mm wrench
- 14 mm hex key (cut) or 5/8 coupling nut
- 17mm hex key or ¾ coupling nut with 17mm socket
- Impact screwdriver (optional)
- electric screwdriver (optional)
- Torque wrench
- Oil pump
- O-ring removal tool or smart pick (optional)
- Plastic pan that is as long and wide as the trans oil pan

Parts in Canadian dollars
- 1xZF Valve body kit Pn: 5HP30VBK $200 – Local ZF Distributor
- Oil filter and Oil pan gasket $40
- 22xStainless steel M6x25 bolts, and washers $10 – your neighbor hardware store
- 12xLitres of QuakerState Multi vehicle Transmission Oil $72
- 2 cans of Brake cleaner $10
Optional
- 2xwire harness O rings $14
- 4xValvebody riser O-rings $?

Steps
- Drain oil
- Remove oil pan
- Disconnect wiring harness and speed sensor
- Remove filter
- Remove VB
- Replace VB parts
- Replace O rings
- Install VB
- Install filter
- Install Oil pan
- Fill with engine off and fill with engine on
- Testdrive for whine
- Check for leaks
- Fill when trans is around 20C

Torque
Oil drain screw - 50 NM
Fill screw - 100NM
Oil pan – 71 in/lbs
Rear speed sensor - 71 in/lbs
VB to trans screws – 71 in/lbs
Housing screws 53 in/lbs
Oil filter 53 in/lbs

To start, get you vehicle high enough to get underneath it and out easily. My excuse to get a lift. If possible, make the front a bit lower than the rear so that the trans oil can drain better.


I've done some prework and replaced all the rusting torx screws with stainless steel hex ones. I had 4 that was stripped as I tried to remove them by hand. I had to use my impact screwdriver to remove them. Glad I had the lift as it gave me enough room to swing the hammer.




To remove the oil, using the drain plug, use the 5/8 coupling nut. Hex keys will not fit as there is not enough room between the exhaust and the plug unless you cut them.


This is the color of the trans oil. Capucinno, anyone?


Here's a shot of the new and old oil


Once the dripping stopped, clean and re-install the oil drain plug with the washer. Mine had a bit of iron filing in it.


Leave two screws (one front, one rear) on the oil pan hand tight. This is where the electric screwdriver come in handy. Remove all the others.

Lay a couple of sheet of newspaper on the floor for the oil pan and the plastic pan on the floor below the oil pan to catch the drips. While holding the oil pan up with one hand, remove the last two screws. A buddy is also helpful here. Since there is some oil left in the pan, holding the oil pan level, and lower it onto the newspaper.



Mmmmm Cleaned pan


The oil carrier just sits on top of the magnet in 3 holes. Take care not to dislodge it when you install the oil pan.


Here is what the magnet looks like with a lot of fine iron stuff on it.

Look at what it looks like in the previous pic


And here is one cleaned.


Now loosen the oil filter screws. Lower in the rear so that the oil in it drains. Mine is branded by Zeller – the departmental store. Never knew they stock trans filters.



This is what an original FILTRAN filter and O ring looks like from the 750. This has no whine.



Once the dripping stops. Remove it.


Loosen all 12 bigger flat screws that hold the VB up, enough so that
they do not come off but out enough to lower the VB to have most of the oil in it and the torque converter to drain.



While waiting for it to drip, it is a good time to remove the wire
harness and rear speed sensor (13mm socket).

Spin connector anti clockwise. It will push out and back



Remove the metal clip and push it into the trans


Inside view


Note the notch that you will need to align to a bump on the trans housing when you reinstall it.


Remove the rear speed sensor screw and clip




Another view with the sensor removed


Note how the shift valve on the VB is connected by the slot to the shift lever which connects to the shift up in the cabin. You’ll need to re-align it in the same slot when you install it later.


Remove all the flat screws and lower the VB into the plastic tray. It is heavy and will have a lot of oil dripping from it. A buddy to hold it up, at this point will be ideal.


The tray is going to make things easier and cleaner than newspaper or plastic sheets.


Trans without VB


There’s probably 300 ml of oil left in the VB at this point in time. It is also a good time to identify your VB version. Mine is 312. You’ll need this to figure out which paper gasket to use or just eyeball the old to figure it out.




Now is a good time to change out the harness o rings


Remove the screws holding the speed sensor on the VB.



Remove all the screws in housing 1 to free it from the VB. Be forewarned that when opening the lids for the springs, they are under a good bit of pressure. Remove all springs and valves, clean it with the brake cleaner, replace with new parts and close it up. I use a clamp to help me compress the springs.





The middle spring and valves are held by a key that you push out. There is another key lower down, but I found that you do not need to remove it as there was nothing to change there.


Housing 1 with everything removed


Clamping it to help reinstall



Now do the same for housing 2


I loosen all the screws first, then use an electric screwdriver to make the job easier. I have mixed some pics from the work I did later with my 750 as I forgot to shoot some pictures. The 750 has lighter risers and different coloured solenoids (some green) and the flat screws are silver instead of black.


Housing 2 bottom


Housing 2 top with with all internal parts


Housing 2 showing the heights of the springs and valves



Housing 3 is held by the screws on housing 2.


This is where one of the checkball goes in housing 3. the other is in the channel plate.


Now for the channel plate.



I had loosened the screws to the 2 bars first then perched it on the
edge of the tray and removed the screws from below. This prevented the checkball and orifices from falling out and allowed me to take pictures of where all of them should be. This is the same technique I used to re- install it.


Flipping the metal and paper gasket over


Note where everything is but the check ball is missing (upper right oval channel) as it has gone through the metal gasket to housing 3. Luckily I caught this in time by opening up the VB, as the worn out checkball was in housing 3 but has not done any damage yet


I took some measurements of the checkballs. The one in the channel plate is the most worn. Strangely enough I did the same to my 2001 750iL with 140,000km which has almost no wear(1/64) on the balls. I think the material is also different-brown(new) vs green(old)


Here’s a shot of the new and old channel plate filter


The orifices are attached to the paper gasket through usage and oil
pressure. Good to note where they were before removing them.


Incredible how much grime get collected in the channels.


Here’s the new gasket


All the new parts are in place


Here’s where the checkball is supposed to be


New gasket in place


Metal gasket in place. screw in the metal bars using the same technique to remove and make sure that the checkballs and orifices did not fall out.


flip it over and insert the new filter



Reinstall H2 and H3 time.
Place housing 2 with the channels facing up, align screw holes with the channel plate, then slide housing 3 with the metal gasket over it.

Remember housing 3 has a check ball that can fall out. I balanced all 3 at the edge of my tray and screwed them together with a couple of screws, then turned them over to finish the job.


Before adding Housing 1, make sure that the shift valve is in it first and in the slot as show below

This is the notch and slot I am talking about


This is what ut should look like.


Here's a shot of the new grey and old black shift valve


Last VB step, screw in all the screws and torque them up including the speed sensor.


Now is your last chance to align the shift lever to the vb shift valve.

Failing to do this means you will have to do this again. The trans will lock the shift gate and disable the transmission.


Make sure your hands/gloves are very clean as any dirt will definitely plug up the small orifices and the channel plate filter.
Have a buddy hold up the VB, align the shift, seat the risers, and screw in two screws. Then the last 10 screws.
Check the torque of the round housing screws (51 in/lb), vb to trans flat screws (71 in/lb. Then you seat the riser of the filter into the VB, buddy hold it up while you put the last 2 screws in (51 in/lb)


Nice and clean pan ready to go back.


Once the first screw was in, I left it quite loose so that I can ensure that the other screws went through the holes in the gasket.


If you can, use a pressure fluid pump as it saved me a ton of grief. I bought a few of the other pumps from auto parts store but they were quite lame.
First you pump approximately 5 litres of oil into the trans until it starts to drain out. Then start the car, turn on the AC and another 5 litres should go in before it starts pouring out again. You are now about 0.6-1 litre from a full fill depending on the temperature.


I used this to pump the last 1 liter a morning, two days later. I drove the car for a couple of days and found that there was no whine even though I was low a litre.
In my trial and error of testing various filters,o-rings and seating of VB risers, I came to the same conclusion with everyone, the filter is the whining culprit.
So, if you have a whine, the filter is definitely no good. I found that the filter material on the bad ones were much thicker than the Filtran ones perhaps giving the trans a harder time in sucking up the initial load of oil it needs. I've also found that there are some aftermarket filters that do not whine. But it is definitely a pain to redo the filter. I was getting good at it after my 5th tests.


Parts in the kit
Most of the changes(springs and valves) were for Housing 1 which I religiously changed them all. I found that almost all if not all the stuff in H2 and 3 are the same. the other apparently change were the color of the orifices and the checkball.






Docs that came with it





Hope this helps someone else feel confident enough to tackle the job.


JeffC
1993 740iL
2001 750iL
1991 Eagle Talon AWD
Looking for an inexpensive 850Ci, CSi or Alpina to restore.
Markham, Canada

• Finally writeup for E32 5HP30 VB rebuild and filter change(Big) (pic) - JeffC 93 740iL 2007-05-12 23:33:45 (12963 views)
  • Re: Finally writeup for E32 5HP30 VB rebuild and filter change(Big) - realtygary 2007-05-19 01:13:53 (573 views)
  • Thank you. Glad you approve. (nt) - JeffC 93 740iL 2007-05-13 23:24:18 (400 views)
  • Re: Finally writeup for E32 5HP30 VB rebuild and filter change(Big) - 1988BMW750iL 2007-05-13 18:08:14 (683 views)
    • Rocky, yours is a 4HP24 EH (url) - shogun 2007-05-13 21:51:44 (646 views)
      • I am sure that it is different. but similar ar the same time - JeffC 93 740iL 2007-05-13 23:02:01 (385 views)
        • Thank you Shogun for pointing out the difference! - 1988BMW750iL 2007-05-14 13:51:53 (358 views)
  • Thats a thorough write-up. Congrats and well done! (nt) - amuso 2007-05-13 03:52:18 (358 views)
  • Excellent write-up. Thanks for sharing! (nt) - Johan750 2007-05-13 02:48:17 (362 views)
  • HOLY CRAP!!! - plbowler 2007-05-13 00:08:33 (526 views)
    • NO SHIT! - eldragon 2007-05-13 00:37:31 (407 views)