SMG2 gear changes slurring

[NickXX]

Hi all,

My neighbour has picked up an absolute bargain of an e46 on the basis that the gear changes are slurring from 2nd to 3rd when under full throttle.

My e46 changes up pretty much instantly, but he says there is a bit of a delay even in S5. He had an e46 M3 SMG earlier this year, so I guess he knows what a healthy box should feel like. He also mentioned that under hard driving, he gets the yellow cog.

Anyone know what this might be a symptom of? Dying pump or just a slipping clutch? Could a software update help? He's mentioned that the car keeps defaulting to S2 (he usually drives it in S5), which seems a bit odd to me.

Many thanks in advance,

Nick

[< FORZA WEST]

Sounds very much like a slipping clutch there.

[NickXX]

Thanks, will let him know. I think he's started the ball rolling on getting a new gearbox fitted :/

[GeorgeVTR]

think its the syncro-mesh on 2nd gear that has gone. I was speaking to one of the technications i work with at BMW and he said its a common fault that the syncro goes on 2nd gear on e46 M3 SMGs, as his has just gone on his 54' plate M3 SMG. Hope that gives you an indication

[< FORZA WEST]

GeorgeVTR said:

think its the syncro-mesh on 2nd gear that has gone. I was speaking to one of the technications i work with at BMW and he said its a common fault that the syncro goes on 2nd gear on e46 M3 SMGs, as his has just gone on his 54' plate M3 SMG. Hope that gives you an indication

That tends to create a crunch during gear change, if it cant get it it will then jump to the next gear...The most common is 4th or 3rd.

With a slipping clutch the gearbox speed is measured if the engine speed to gearbox speed is out of spec the cog light will come on, also to preserve the clutch from further damage and to preserve the gearbox the Mode reverts to slow gear changing.

One big issue with slipping clutches on SMG is it will eat the gearbox as GeorgeVTR has noted, they have weak Syncro's.


It needs to have a diagnostic test, hopefully it is just the clutch.

Edited by < FORZA WEST on Sunday 27th December 21:44

[M3RMS]

If it is the clutch & flywheel it's going to be expensive. They went on mine (I also had the slurring but especially when pulling away in 1st) and it's not cheap to get fixed even from an Indie like Thorney. Not cheap at all. In fact I cut my losses and traded it in instead....

Hope it was a bargain!

ps. Not an 05 plate Silver Grey with Imola bychance is it.....

[KennyT]

M3RMS said:

If it is the clutch & flywheel it's going to be expensive. They went on mine (I also had the slurring but especially when pulling away in 1st) and it's not cheap to get fixed even from an Indie like Thorney. Not cheap at all. In fact I cut my losses and traded it in instead....

Hope it was a bargain!

ps. Not an 05 plate Silver Grey with Imola bychance is it.....

Slightly away from topic but M3RMS I bought your 05 M3 SMG and there was absolutlely no problem at all with the gearbox, clutch or flywheel. The slight judder pulling away in first (once every 20 times you pull away) is as far as I'm aware a trate of all SMG M3's. It's cured for a couple of thousand miles by an SMG reset but returns- even reading about guys who have replaced the clutch and flywheel for around £2k say the 1st gear judder returns.

If the clutch slips when changing gear then chances are the clutch is on its way out, my M3 didn't do this at all. I had the car checked by two BMW dealers and an Independant specialist and they had no concerns with it. Safe to say the car was fine and the BMW garage you had the car serviced at put the fear of death into you, unfortunately you took a stupidly low trade in for a good car.

That's all history now though, but thought I'd best set the record straight!

Kenny

[NickXX]

M3RMS said:

If it is the clutch & flywheel it's going to be expensive. They went on mine (I also had the slurring but especially when pulling away in 1st) and it's not cheap to get fixed even from an Indie like Thorney. Not cheap at all. In fact I cut my losses and traded it in instead....

Hope it was a bargain!

ps. Not an 05 plate Silver Grey with Imola bychance is it.....

Heh, it is a silver grey but black leather, I reckon he's paid £4-4.5k less than it'd be worth with a fully working gearbox so has a nice fund to play with to sort it.

Thanks for the help guys - will look down the clutch route for now.

[M3RMS]

KennyT said:

M3RMS said:

If it is the clutch & flywheel it's going to be expensive. They went on mine (I also had the slurring but especially when pulling away in 1st) and it's not cheap to get fixed even from an Indie like Thorney. Not cheap at all. In fact I cut my losses and traded it in instead....

Hope it was a bargain!

ps. Not an 05 plate Silver Grey with Imola bychance is it.....

Slightly away from topic but M3RMS I bought your 05 M3 SMG and there was absolutlely no problem at all with the gearbox, clutch or flywheel. The slight judder pulling away in first (once every 20 times you pull away) is as far as I'm aware a trate of all SMG M3's. It's cured for a couple of thousand miles by an SMG reset but returns- even reading about guys who have replaced the clutch and flywheel for around £2k say the 1st gear judder returns.

If the clutch slips when changing gear then chances are the clutch is on its way out, my M3 didn't do this at all. I had the car checked by two BMW dealers and an Independant specialist and they had no
concerns with it. Safe to say the car was fine and the BMW garage you had the car serviced at put the fear of death into you, unfortunately you took a stupidly low trade in for a good car.

That's all history now though, but thought I'd best set the record straight!

Kenny

Hello mate - are you the guy who emailed me on mtorque back in Feb?

Seriously, I would guess the clutch was sorted before you bought it then as the slipping was pronounced in 1st, 2nd & 3rd (and take into account i'd already had the SMG reset & the latest software put on). Honestly, it was a mess and getting worse & worse - it was a world away from how it should run & how it used to run. It wasn't a judder, it was a full on slur and horrible clanky, unsophisticated change.

Anyway, anyway.... I'm happy your happy - as other than that, the car was in great shape. Especially given I'd just put a new set of PS2's on the back and had the Inspection 2 service done!! And it sounds like it's running fine now too, which is great news.

How much did you pay for it in the end? You managed to put many miles on it? I always loved that car, still one of the all-time greats in my book. Best colour combo & a superb spec, I can't believe I only kept it for 12 months......

Get a few pics up mate, it would be good to see the old girl again.

Cheers
RS

Ps. The clutch wasn't factored into the trade-in price as I didn't tell em ..... That was the going rate back in Feb, when the market was on it's knees. Good time to buy, bad time to sell - but if you think that was stupidly low, I should tell you how much i paid for it's replacement.....