Please excuse the slight deviation but it’s understandable that there’s a degree of confusion over the suitability of Dexron fluid in the ’02-’05 diesel Range Rover transmission. It is, after all, a GM Hydra-Matic transmission and Dexron is a registered trademark of General Motors and was specified by them for use in their Hydra-Matic transmissions.
For me the story gets even more complicated if we consider the ‘identical’ powertrain in the 2000-2003 BMW X5 i.e. M57 engine coupled to GM 5L40-E transmission :
The GM 5L40-E transmission has two BMW designations – one is the A5S360R (360Nm capacity) and the other is the higher rated A5S390R (390Nm capacity). These two transmissions use different fluids. The 360 uses Texaco ETL-7045E (BMW p/n 83 22 0 026 922) - i.e. the same fluid specified by LR for the Range Rover - and the 390 uses Texaco ETL-8072B (BMW p/n 83 22 0 024 359).
The BMW M57 engine in the early diesel Range Rover produces 390Nm maximum torque so you would expect it to have the uprated gearbox like the X5 does. However Land Rover specify ETL-7045E fluid – the one for the 360Nm transmission.
Just to add further to the confusion, on earlier BMW cars fitted with the same 5L40-E box the fluid specified was Dexron-III.
Apparently the ETL-8072B fluid for the 390 has now been superseded by Dexron-VI and Dexron-VI is designed to be backward compatible with earlier transmission hardware.
Confuses the heck out of me . I guess, having said all that, that it’s still wise to stick with the ETL-7045E fluid specified by Land Rover.
