Help. My SMG failed. Or did it?

46smg, what were your symptoms?

Ok guys, update:

We have checked all of the following and everything is working as it should.

- Ignition switch
- Starter
- EWS
- Battery
- Key
- Battery cables
- Hydraulic fluid level

Does anyone think that my symptoms are SMG related? Could it be the actuator or the pump itself? Remember, that once the car does turn on the car works perfectly, no missed gears or noise, delay, etc.
I really don't want to order thousands$ in SMG parts and have the problem remain. But I am practically out of options.

46smg, what were your symptoms?

Honestly, I didn't have any symptoms. My car drove normal, didn't miss any gears, I could hear the pump working when I unlocked the doors, I replaced the salmon relay once. But, the smg light was appearing often. I didn't want to risk it, so I gave in and took it to the dealership. I gave them $3000 and they gave me a new pump. Yes...Ouch! But the light has not come on since, and my car has been running fine. I hope it's not your pump. Sorry I couldn't help more. Good Luck

Originally Posted by das9125

46smg, what were your symptoms?

Ok guys, update:

We have checked all of the following and everything is working as it should.

- Ignition switch
- Starter
- EWS
- Battery
- Key
- Battery cables
- Hydraulic fluid level

Does anyone think that my symptoms are SMG related? Could it be the actuator or the pump itself? Remember, that once the car does turn on the car works perfectly, no missed gears or noise, delay, etc.
I really don't want to order thousands$ in SMG parts and have the problem remain. But I am practically out of options.

Once your car starts acting up again - Probably a long shot, but once you start your car, of course its in 0/neutral, OK now toggle the DSC button, let it go on, wait 30 seconds then press the button again. Try shifting when its on then off, both ways after toggling it.

Have you unhooked your power to your battery for 30 minutes then plug it back in?

Originally Posted by M3driv3r

Smg pump? They overheat and that's why they fail, it's hit and miss, I have a 140k mile car with the original pump, track and daily, I've also seen low mile cars go! Maybe you got a bad pump, they have a recall check your local dealer to see if any chance of coverage good luck! Lots of ???? But I still love my smg!!

There's a recall for our cars?

Originally Posted by lsbmatt

Once your car starts acting up again - Probably a long shot, but once you start your car, of course its in 0/neutral, OK now toggle the DSC button, let it go on, wait 30 seconds then press the button again. Try shifting when its on then off, both ways after toggling it.

Have you unhooked your power to your battery for 30 minutes then plug it back in?

Will try this Matt. Let you know.

My love for the M3 is seriously struck

Guys

We are still at it, cannot find the fault. We are now using the electrical diagrams on the bentley manual to identify the signals and possibly try to identify the problem.

Last night the car really did not want to start for a while. We could start it from a direct cable to the starter but that's it.

Below are some of the screens from the computer connected to the car.
Software is in spanish, so I can translate anything you do not understand.
We ran a purge of air for the hydraulic system, like a 30 min process that finished correctly. No luck

Also attached is a video of what the car does when I try to turn it on.

Very specifically, when the car does not want to turn on, if I send the shifter into gear, it will sound like it is engaging gear, but the dash will still show N.



In this video I open the switch and try to crank. No go. Then move the shifter into 1st and that's when N blinks, will not show 1 on the dash. Back to N. Close the switch, try again. All the time, the dash shows N.




And some pics of my car. Only 28k miles.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9231767...7632542261046/

das9125,

Were you able to find the problem? I am having the exact same problem with my wife's 2005 M3.

Mike

Hello das , did you find the problem please share the solution bc I have similar problem too

Have you tried looking in to the clutch actuator or the gear position sensor

Originally Posted by $ilent ///M

Have you tried looking in to the clutch actuator or the gear position sensor

I have not looked into either of those. Will these sensors fail when hot? I think the problem is something heat related. I can start and shut off the car and restart it over and over as long as it's not warmed up yet. If I go for a short trip and the car is able to warm up I cannot restart it after shutting it off. Once the car sits for 40 min to an hour it will start. Sometimes the SMG light will come on after it starts. Once the car sits for several hours or overnight the SMG light will go out.

Mike

You can see the SMG gear light is on. So there most be something wrong on the transmission side. Bad pump, bad accumulator, low pressure, bad gear actuator bad gear position sensor or broken electrical wire! Can you shift it into 1st gear and get a solid 1 ?

Originally Posted by kiwami

You can see the SMG gear light is on. So there most be something wrong on the transmission side. Bad pump, bad accumulator, low pressure, bad gear actuator bad gear position sensor or broken electrical wire! Can you shift it into 1st gear and get a solid 1 ?

When the car actually does start after about 45 min and the SMG light is on everything works perfectly fine. I can shift into all the gears without any issues. If the car sits for several hours or overnight the SMG light goes out and everything works great until you shut the car off for a few minutes and try to to restart it. When the car won't start I cannot get a solid 1 if I put it in gear, it remains in N.

Sure seems to me that something gets hot and fails not allowing me to start it. Once it cools off everything is fine.

Mike

Originally Posted by Mike@speedkraft

When the car actually does start after about 45 min and the SMG light is on everything works perfectly fine. I can shift into all the gears without any issues. If the car sits for several hours or overnight the SMG light goes out and everything works great until you shut the car off for a few minutes and try to to restart it. When the car won't start I cannot get a solid 1 if I put it in gear, it remains in N.

Sure seems to me that something gets hot and fails not allowing me to start it. Once it cools off everything is fine.

Mike

After turning it off & trying to restart it do you hear the pump turn on?

And when the SMG gear light is on. Which error code do you get?

Have you tried the temp sensor resistor fix yet

Originally Posted by kiwami

After turning it off & trying to restart it do you hear the pump turn on?

And when the SMG gear light is on. Which error code do you get?

Yes, the pump turns on.

I just ordered a scan tool so I can read the codes.