I just dropped off our 2012 hardtop for standard service, and went over to the parts counter to ask about tranny fluid.

The Parts technician brought out a 1 liter bottle of JWS 3309 ... said this is what this model's (Aisin-Warner) tranny is specced for. The liter containers are relatively new ... prior to this the dealership had only 10-15 gal drums of the fluid, making it extremely difficult for DIYers to obtain the fluid from a dealership.

The MINI price for JWS 3309 is $24/liter ... however Mobil ATF 3309 can be easily found for $6/qt.

I've also heard suggestions that Toyota Type IV (also very, cheap, < $6/qt at the dealership) is 3309 spec. There is an Aisin JWS3309 ATF available also for $6/qt, and it is also described as Type-IV.

Can others please confirm this info? And maybe add other compatible spec fluids to the list?

Our car has 46k on it's "lifetime" transmission ... I would like to do a fluid refresh before it ends its "life" at 70k

Thanks. John

 

Yes, Aisin should work fine. We have Aisin, Genuine and other options for automatic transmission fluid JWS 3309 HERE.

 

Fyi, there is a big bru-ha on the Volvo forums, people claiming that Toyota Type IV is also the same fluid, as is Mobil 3309.

I can believe that if Aisin makes the ATs for Toyota and Volvo as well as Mini (and probably others as well) that the fluids are all the same composition, just repackaged for each brand.

Does anyone have pointers to additional research/discussion on this?

Thanks. John