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To see is to believe! My 2001 was sold with a "bad" gearbox. It was extremely difficult, almost impossible to shift, but the price was so good that I planned on finding a second hand gearbox and swapping it out.
I did the usual checks with cables, linkages, and adjustments and everything was OK. I was stumped and already planned on a replacement so I decided that what the heck, I'll do a fluid change. When I pulled the side fill plug to vent, oil just shot out like it was running from a faucet. Clearly somehow the level was much higher than 11mm below the fill plug. Not sure how it happened but luckily no leaking into the clutch or anywhere else.
Drained and refilled with the correct fluid (also important) 11mm or so from the top of the fill hole as best I could. Shockingly, the gearbox was back to normal immediately and has been just fine for the last 4 years.
Well, that was a long speech. Sorry lol. I would say, and especially with German cars, to follow the factory recommendations. For all the other British, Japanese, and American cars I have owner I never cared or worried about those kinds of things at all.
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