2008 BMW R1200GS Final Drive Fluid

Changed my rear drive fluid at 11.4K miles for the first time. 230 ml came out. I put 200 ml back in. Job took about 20 minutes.

It looks like anywhere from 180ml to 220ml will work for a FD. Guess I'll try about 200ml in my 2009 12GS and we'll see what happens!

The container the dealer sold me was 207ml. I put most of that in and called it good.

Feel better about the color of my FD fluid, looked 'kinda dark but actually does not look much different than the OP's. Sharing for others that might happen upon the thread. It actually looks much more translucent when held up and seen from the top.

I took it out for a ride to warm it up and the fluid flowed very easily. Was debating whether to drain cold but decided to go warm.

While changing any fluid (keeping it fresh) is always a good idea, it won't have much effect on the infamous FD failures. These failures usually involve the Grooved Ball Bearing - which is a sealed bearing and not lubed by the FD fluid.
I just joined the 4% club when mine failed at 40kmi.

I serviced the FD on my '08 R12GS yesterday with some help from this thread thanks very much. I didn't previously know about the top/bottom fill/drain plugs.

From a n00b's perspective I'd emphasize the following:
- Put bike in gear to remove wheel, then back into neutral until remounting wheel.
- Make sure sensor is fully detached and safely stowed with caliper if dropping drive to access splines.
- If you haven't seen spline condition before, I'd suggest taking a look. Mine were completely dry i.e. no sign of any grease. Drain plug o-ring was torn as well and bike had been dealer serviced until now. Also, one of the manuals recommended lubing the boot with silicone grease.
- Brake caliper bolt torque is 24 Nm. I had to hunt around a little for this value.

Just my $0.02 worth. Thanks again for the post.

As a follow on, I'd be curious to know if there's any good reason not to use this oil rather than the more expensive Castrol / BMW offerings:

http://www.mobiloil.com/USA-English/MotorOil/Other_Products/Mobil_1_Fully_Synthetic_Gear_Lube_75W-90LS.aspx

This stuff seems to run at ~$10 quart, whereas the BMW C-SAF-XO and Castrol SAF-XO sell for approx 25 and 45 bux respectively. Note, my local Canuck dealer only sells the Ca$trol.

I use this oil both in FD and transmission. Not sure if 12k change interval is necessary. The oil always comes out looking new.

Mobil 1 75W90 is good stuff, it's GL5 rated and used by many BMW owners.

I just changed the FD oil in my GSW at 2600 miles and went with Mobil 1, I used it in my 05 for its entire life and 109K miles and no drive or tranny issues although I agree with a previous post stating that the gear oil may not be much of a factor.

I change the FD and gearbox in my 08 every two years or 10,000km, whichever comes first. BMW recommended SAF XO for my model, the product can be purchased from the local BMW dealer or Supercheap Auto. Only takes one litre for both the gearbox and FD. I always leave 200 mL for the FD. I use the filler plug but true its also good to clean the induction speed sensor so why not put the oil in there.

I just use a 100 mL syring with a 6mm x 4mm clear extension tube for the FD. They say not to touch this oil with your fingers, so I use the one syring and keep it in a zip lock bag for next time. It gets rinsed with a couple of squirts first into the gearbox then used for 200mL into the FD.


Cheers

Roba.

200 ml is too much, should be 180 ml.

2009 here. Misread the original how to and filled to 220...whoops, looks like I will be doing this again this week.

What are you all using to lubricate the rubber gaiter? Will the Moly 60 work fine? Do we need to do anything to the speed sensor, other than wipe it down and clean the o-ring?

Use Staburags NBU 30 PTM grease on the front mating surface of the rubber gaitor, Moly 60 is better than nothing but not nearly as resistant to water.

Clean the speed sensor and install a new o-ring with a drop of clean gear lube on it.

Use Staburags NBU 30 PTM grease on the front mating surface of the rubber gaitor, Moly 60 is better than nothing but not nearly as resistant to water.
The Staburags stuff is hard to find so you may try another brand of water-proof grease that isn't harmful to rubber like Bel-Ray waterproof grease.

Clean the speed sensor and install a new o-ring with a drop of clean gear lube on it, make sure to only use clean oil.

The grease for the mating surface is just to keep the outside elements out right?

I'll pick up a new o-ring for the speed sensor and drain plug this week.

Found the Staburags on eBay!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/BMW-K100-K7...Parts_Accessories&hash=item3f3dcffc19&vxp=mtr

Does anybody flush the gear cases with ATF before filling with fresh GL-5?

I do.