To flush or not to flush? Confused about my Q7's transmission service

[frostRider14]

So I'm in a bit of a dilemma with my 2018 Q7 that just hit 80,000 kilometers and I'm starting to think about getting the transmission serviced before any issues pop up. The thing is, I've been reading so many conflicting opinions online about whether to do a full flush or just a drain and refill, and honestly it's doing my head in. Some people swear that flushing causes more harm than good because it dislodges debris that's been sitting there for years, while others say it's the only way to actually get all the old fluid out properly. I called up the dealership and they quoted me something absolutely insane, so that's out of the question. I've been looking into independent shops around Abu Dhabi and came across Click here for expert gearbox repair in Musaffah, which seems to have pretty decent feedback from what I've seen on some local car groups. I'm leaning towards just getting it done properly rather than messing around with it myself because I know these ZF transmissions can be really sensitive to fluid levels and the correct procedure. Has anyone here actually gone through this with their Q7 or similar model? What did you end up doing and how did it turn out? I'm mainly worried about that whole mechatronic failure thing that seems to plague these gearboxes, so I want to be proactive but also not create problems where there aren't any yet. Would really appreciate some real-world experiences rather than just reading generic advice online that may not even apply to our climate and driving conditions over here.