Power Steering Fluid Recommendations

[AWE46M3]

Hey Group - chipping away at some proactive maintenance items for my M3 and addressing the Power Steering system at the end of this month. New lines, reservoir tank..etc.

I've done some research on Power Steering fluid and wanted to see what others are running. I've seen a mix of people using the factory option of CHF 11s. Those that track their cars or want an OEM+ option seem to be running synthetic ATF's - Mobile 1 Synthetic & DEXRON-VI are the two I noted from my research.

If you were refreshing your power steering system, what power steering fluid would you be running and why?

Thanks in advance for your input 🤝

[Slideways]

Any good brand ATF for the E46. Power steering fluid was switched to CHF-11S for the E90 and other newer models.

Castrol Dextron 4 is good and can be bought in a pack of 6.

[Maxhouse97]

Mobil 1 ATF

[bmwfnatic]

The long answer would be; the original spec for ATF in the ZF steering system is ZF TE-ML 09.
Very little oils claim to be compatible with that spec, even less are officially approved for it, probably because it's so antiquated and obscure.

The short answer is; just buy some name brand ATF.

[PSUEng]

I recently put in LiquiMoly Top Tec 1200 when I replaced all my hoses.

[AWE46M3]

Any good brand ATF for the E46. Power steering fluid was switched to CHF-11S for the E90 and other newer models.

Castrol Dextron 4 is good and can be bought in a pack of 6.

Thanks for your feedback. I thought 4 had been discontinued and replaced by 6? Do you recall how many quarts one needs to fill the system? Does the system have to be flushed with extra ATF the first time you use ATF to clear all the old stuff out? Trying to figure out how much I need to buy 😄

[AWE46M3]

I recently put in LiquiMoly Top Tec 1200 when I replaced all my hoses.

Awesome - thanks for the recommendation!

The long answer would be; the original spec for ATF in the ZF steering system is ZF TE-ML 09.
Very little oils claim to be compatible with that spec, even less are officially approved for it, probably because it's so antiquated and obscure.

The short answer is; just buy some name brand ATF.

Thanks for the context. Appreciate the BMW trivia

Mobil 1 ATF

That’s on the list of options - saw Obioban runs that in a thread when I was researching.

[Slideways]

Thanks for your feedback. I thought 4 had been discontinued and replaced by 6? Do you recall how many quarts one needs to fill the system? Does the system have to be flushed with extra ATF the first time you use ATF to clear all the old stuff out? Trying to figure out how much I need to buy 😄

The system should have ATF in it from the factory unless someone switched it to CHF-11S. If you were to switch to CHF-11S, then the system should be flushed twice. Regular ATF is just drain, refill and bleed air out.

It could be Castrol did update it to 6. The 6 bottles of IV have lasted a while and the system takes between one to two quarts IIRC.

[PSUEng]

It could be Castrol did update it to 6. The 6 bottles of IV have lasted a while and the system takes between one to two quarts IIRC.

When I did all of my hoses and reservoir, I used just under 1L of ATF.

[elbert]

Trying to figure out how much I need to buy 😄

The steering system is inevitably going to leak, so you might as well buy a couple quarts.

[bigjae46]

I use Redline D4ATF. I vac out the reservoir and refill every oil change. Keeps the fluid relatively fresh. I think draining the system adds an element of risk of cavitating the pump when refilling.

[Maxhouse97]

Yep I just put in M1 before my track weekend … it passed the test.

[Slideways]

I use Redline D4ATF. I vac out the reservoir and refill every oil change. Keeps the fluid relatively fresh. I think draining the system adds an element of risk of cavitating the pump when refilling.

This. Cavitation can mostly be avoided if the front wheels are off the ground when bleeding the power steering system.

[bigjae46]

This. Cavitation can mostly be avoided if the front wheels are off the ground when bleeding the power steering system.

Didn't know that, I'll have to give it a try. As long as I fill slowly on the E46 I usually don't have an issue. Its my E90 M3 that's a PIA. Its got a mile of hoses crammed in near the front of the oil pan. Why BMW? Why?

[Slideways]

Didn't know that, I'll have to give it a try. As long as I fill slowly on the E46 I usually don't have an issue. Its my E90 M3 that's a PIA. Its got a mile of hoses crammed in near the front of the oil pan. Why BMW? Why?

One or two online videos show DIYers trying to bleed the system while fighting friction and weight of the front tires on the ground. You can hear the power steering pump struggling. With the front end off the ground, the E46 system will be bled right off startup after one or two full turns of the steering wheel.