E46 M3 SMG gearbox problems
E46 M3 SMG gearbox problems
Author
Discussion

j3tox

Original Poster:

31 posts

205 months

Tuesday 29th December 2009
quotequote all
My friend is trying to sell me his M3 cab, it is an 04 and has nearly 70k, the smg has recently started playing up.

When changing up from 2nd to 3rd there is a delay and it loses power, also it misses gears and goes from 2nd to 5th sometimes. As far as i am aware these are both intermittant faults.

The car has been into a local bmw specialists who plugged the car in. The fault code is 32 (050) selection angle cannot be engaged. The dealer said he could remap the smg software which usually fixes the problem but sometimes can mess the cars ecu up.

If anyone can spread any light on this it would be much appreciated.

Cheers jack

LJTS

331 posts

206 months

Tuesday 29th December 2009
quotequote all
I had exactly the same problem as described

Replaced the compression spring in the gearbox which solved the problem

Common problem on early E46 M3 SMG Gearboxes

LJTS

331 posts

206 months

Tuesday 29th December 2009
quotequote all
Item 6 in link below:

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=BR92...

Spring cost £2

LJTS

331 posts

206 months

Tuesday 29th December 2009
quotequote all

j3tox

Original Poster:

31 posts

205 months

Wednesday 30th December 2009
quotequote all
after reading through all these links, it looks like it may just be a compression spring and maybe a couple of sensors. The BMW specialist near me is closed till 4th Jan so ill just have to wait and see how much they will cost to be fitted. Fingers crossed

LJTS

331 posts

206 months

Wednesday 30th December 2009
quotequote all
j3tox said:
after reading through all these links, it looks like it may just be a compression spring and maybe a couple of sensors. The BMW specialist near me is closed till 4th Jan so ill just have to wait and see how much they will cost to be fitted. Fingers crossed
To replace the compression spring you have to lower the engine & gearbox

It took me 2 days on the driveway

A garage could probably do it in less than a day with a lift etc

It's a bit of a pain just to replace a £2 broken spring frown

Let us know how you get on!