E60 m5 red cog of death

[hoppo4.2]

So after 6 months of faultless driving. I pulled up to a set of lights the car stalls and the red cog of death.

Won't start won't select any gear.

Had a quick check on the fault codes and it just shows transmission activation.

It dose show that the hydrolic pump is turning on and off and the pressure is all over the shop.

Any ideas before I end up spending a fortune

[mikeN54]

Drastic, but if it's terminal, what about a manual conversion? E90/1/2 335i 'box is what they used on the US manual E60 M5s.

I'd buy one!

[hoppo4.2]

The recovery man has just been and there's loads of green fluid underneath the car. I guessing slave cylinder?

[skeeterm5]

mikeN54 said:

Drastic, but if it's terminal, what about a manual conversion? E90/1/2 335i 'box is what they used on the US manual E60 M5s.

I'd buy one!

If it ends up like the US version then it is pap; the gearbox does not suit the car at all.

OP, hope is as simple as slave/master cylinder or seal. Fingers crossed.

S

[hoppo4.2]

Finally at a friends garage so will find out tomorrow I'm guessing slave or supply pipe because of the fluid loss. If it's not covered the clutch I'm hoping to not have to remove the gearbox.

If it is box out I'll get a few pics for you all while it's in bits and do I bit of a how to guide. If anyone is interested

[cosworth330]

Post up how you get on. As you say hopefully the clutch isn't contaminated and it's a simple job to renew whatever has failed on the hydraulic pressure side. I've had mine coming up 3 years and it's been totally reliable so far. I'm sure your be back up and running shortly.

[chandler99]

Sounds like what happened to mine and that was slave.. Which took out the clutch too..

[Schermerhorn]

When you unlock the car can you hear a whirring noise? If you can't, it's a sign the SMG pump is on its way out or has given up as it isn't priming itself.

[aeropilot]

skeeterm5 said:

mikeN54 said:

Drastic, but if it's terminal, what about a manual conversion? E90/1/2 335i 'box is what they used on the US manual E60 M5s.

I'd buy one!

If it ends up like the US version then it is pap; the gearbox does not suit the car at all.

And I seem to remember reading somewhere that those manual cars had to have the switchable engine power mode disabled as the gearbox couldn't cope with the 500hp mode.....so they were only ever 400hp not 500.........?????

[jcolley]

hoppo4.2 said:

The recovery man has just been and there's loads of green fluid underneath the car. I guessing slave cylinder?

Yep, that's a failed slave cylinder.

They typically fail by either the o-ring or the entire piston retention star washer pops out. Brilliant design by Getrag, the GS7S47BG is the first transmission they ever build with the slave cylinder fasteners accessible only from the inside. As a result, it's one of those items that is strongly recommended for replacement when the clutch is done.

[jcolley]

aeropilot said:

And I seem to remember reading somewhere that those manual cars had to have the switchable engine power mode disabled as the gearbox couldn't cope with the 500hp mode.....so they were only ever 400hp not 500.........?????

Negative. I'm fairly certain they aren't the same as the non-M E9x platform anyway, the GS6-53BZ (US M5 6MT)transmission's closest relative is the GS6-53BZ used I the E9x M3, but even has a difference to that box as there is no oil cooler on the M5 version, thus no holes for it to be plumbed to. The few 6MT conversions that have been done on M5s use the E9x box as it's more widely available.

There are a couple of 6.0L strokers over here with well over 650HP on the 6MT box without problem.

[hoppo4.2]

Yeah the slave has failed on the plus side the clutch is dry.

Got the box out in about 2 hours just got to order the bits and put it all back.

Anyone know if the part is dealer only?

[jcolley]

hoppo4.2 said:

Yeah the slave has failed on the plus side the clutch is dry.

Got the box out in about 2 hours just got to order the bits and put it all back.

Anyone know if the part is dealer only?

As far as I know yes, I have contacted the supplier numerous times with no favorable response from them.

[hoppo4.2]

So got the box and bits back in the car today. Few niggles and problems to contend with but nothing too major.

Get in turn the key and.......

Nothing red cog of death and nothing.

I was kind of expecting this tbh.

On with the diag kit. Clear all the codes. Now there is no way to bleed the system manually and on the kit is was using no function to bleed the system either.

I could activate the pump so I did that a few times and I could force the box to try and select gears.

I'd been trying the gears and the pump for about 10 mins and all I was getting was transmission fail on the dash and no gears.

I was about to give up when it clunked into 7th.

After I cycled through the gears a few times and cleared the codes. It was fine and on a short test has performed fine. If anything it's a bit smoother now I've greased the release bearing.

You could do it on the floor but the bolts in the top of the box are a pain.

[jcolley]

Not sure what diagnostic software is being used, but AutoLogic, INPA, DIS, and ISTA/D all have the proper service functions to bleed both the slave cylinder and upper actuator block as specified in TIS.

The problem is, due to the single hydraulic line to the slave, once the air is released from the back side of the slave piston, it travels up into the upper hydraulic block. There are two separate procedures for bleeding, the first bleeds the slave, the second the upper actuator block for this reason. Given this is a high pressure fluid system with no high point vent, the only way to remove air from the undesired areas is via slow pressurization of a volume followed by high velocity flow pressure release. This is an attempt to force air bubbles into solution and then entrain them in the vent flow to return the air to the reservoir.

I would recommend finding someone with the proper diag software, it can only lead to headaches and/or poor shifting down the road of both portions are not vented. And, from experience, one vent/bleed routing is rarely enough. My SOP is to bleed each portion 3 times.

[hoppo4.2]

I was using a snap on solus pro as it's all.i have access to. It took me a while to bet it working but it is now working fine. I'm going to run it for a few days then recheck the fluid level