BMW 3 Series E90 ZF 6HP gearbox oil change — Milton Keynes
Most automatic E90, E91, E92 and E93 3 Series have a ZF six-speed — the 6HP19, 21, 26 or 28 depending on engine and year. We renew the pan and filter, exchange the fluid, check the connector sleeve and reset the adaptations with BMW ISTA.
From £390, priced to your car. Get a price first — send the registration and we confirm the gearbox.
Which BMW 3 Series E90 cars have the ZF 6HP
Gearbox versions are as published by the car maker, ZF and the sources below. We confirm your car's exact gearbox from its VIN before ordering parts.
What to know about the 6HP in a BMW 3 Series E90
- Not every automatic E90 is a ZF: Wikipedia lists a GM six-speed among the 3 Series automatics as well. We check the gearbox from your VIN before ordering anything.[1]
- ZF publishes its own service information for the 6HP's mechatronic guide sleeve — the plug where the wiring enters the gearbox, and the leak we see most on these cars.[3]
- ZF calls its automatics maintenance-free in normal use, but recommends an oil and filter change after 50,000 to 75,000 miles because the oil wears — and it ages faster with towing, high speeds or hard driving. Most of these cars are older than that on their first fill.[3, 4]
What the service includes
- Road test with live data before we start and again before handover
- New sump pan and filter (together where the filter is built into the pan), ordered by your car's VIN
- The fluid specified for your gearbox, by part number
- Check of the connector sleeve where the wiring enters the gearbox — the common 6HP leak — quoted before any repair
- Dynamic fluid exchange — torque converter and cooler, not just the pan
- Level set at the temperature the gearbox calls for, adaptations reset, leak check, and the work recorded against your car
Each step is explained on our ZF 6HP gearbox service page.
ZF 6HP or ZF 8HP? The eight-speed ZF 8HP replaced it in later cars — for the BMW models with the 8HP, see BMW 3 Series, BMW 5 Series and BMW X5. We confirm which one your car has from its VIN.
The Rootes Standard
What you get on every job
Not extras, and not only on the big jobs. This is how every car is looked after at Rootes Motors, from an oil service to a gearbox.
Fixed price in writing before we start
You get a fixed price in writing before any work begins. If we find anything else, we send you photos and a link to approve or decline it — nothing extra is done without your yes.
12-month warranty on parts we supply
12-month warranty on parts we supply (wear items and consumables excluded), and every job is road-tested and checked before handover.
Covers on, clean overalls, every car
A seat cover, steering-wheel cover and floor mat go into every car before we touch it, and we work in clean overalls — never in a customer's car in dirty clothes.
A warm, dry waiting room with coffee
On a while-you-wait job you sit in a warm, dry waiting room with a coffee — not stood outside in the cold and rain.
Paperless, with every job on record
Booking is paperless. Every job is recorded against your car, and we email you the documents confirming the work completed.
Automatic service and MOT reminders
Every registered customer gets automatic service and MOT reminders by email, so a due date never slips past.
MOT arranged on our street
We arrange your MOT at the DVSA-approved test centre on our street, take the car there and back, and fix anything that fails.
Questions we get asked
Does my E90 330d have the 6HP or the 8HP?
An E90, E91, E92 or E93 has the ZF six-speed. The eight-speed 8HP arrived with the next 3 Series, the F30, in 2012. Send us your registration and we confirm the exact version before quoting.
There is oil around the gearbox plug on my E90. Is it serious?
It is common and usually a cheap fix — the connector sleeve seals harden with age. It matters because the level drops slowly and a 6HP run low on fluid can damage itself. We renew the sleeve and set the level properly.
BMW says the oil is for life. Should I still change it?
Yes. ZF recommends an oil and filter change after 50,000 to 75,000 miles. Most E90s are well past that on their first fill, so with an unknown history we recommend doing it now.
How much is a ZF 6HP gearbox service on a BMW 3 Series E90?
From £390, priced to your car. The price moves with which 6HP version it has, the pan and filter part and how much has to come off to reach it. Give us your registration and we confirm a fixed price in writing before we start.
Where these facts come from
- 1.Wikipedia, “BMW 3 Series (E90)” (read 21 Oct 2026)E90–E93 automatics: six-speed ZF 6HP, and a six-speed GM automatic also listed
- 2.Wikipedia, “ZF 6HP transmission” — variants and applications table (read 21 Oct 2026)Which 6HP variant is listed for each model and year (cross-checked against ZF's kit sheet and the model articles on this page)
- 3.ZF Aftermarket, service information 50145 “Oil change kit for ZF 5HP/6HP automatic transmission” (03.2023)ZF's own kit table: BMW on the 6HP19, 21, 26, 28 and 32 families, Jaguar on the 6HP26 and 6HP28, Land Rover on the 6HP26 X and 6HP28 X; ZF's note that the oil ages faster with high speeds, towing and sporty driving; and its separate service information on the 6HP mechatronic guide sleeve
- 4.Professional Motor Mechanic, “Can ‘lifetime fill’ automatic transmissions benefit from oil/filter replacement?” (2014)ZF recommends oil and filter changes after 50,000 to 75,000 miles on its five-, six- and eight-speed gearboxes; worn oil shows as judder, noises and worse gear changes
Other cars with the ZF 6HP
The same service, written up for other models we see.
- Jaguar