E46 M3 w/ SMG, yay or nay?

[E30 Wagen]

Looking at a 2002 M3 with a SMG. I'd prefer a regular stick shift but the automatic mode sounds nice for stop and go traffic. Do these transmissions have any problems that could be expensive to fix?

[e30trooper]

keep an eye on the smg pump. besides that id go for it since its a hell of alot cheaper than a 6speed car

[Silverdogz]

Its SMG II is supposed to be all right but I would rather have a manual b/c BMW will charge a horrendous amount of $$$ to fix and SMG II system, especially if launch control is used often.

[mrcheezle19]

Smg looks to be about 3-4k for the dealer to fix. If its been replaced already you've probably got 60-80 k miles till it goes out again.

[StereoInstaller1]

There is a dude on here that converted an SMG transmission to full manual.

I saw this car at the annual R3V party at James' house, the shifter was awesome.

[JinormusJ]

^^^^^
I'd want to see a build thread on that

[flyboyx]

yes they do have problems and they are apparently very common issues. mostly it has to do with shifting. one of my tenants had an smg car. one day he went to start it and drive off and it was stuck in 3rd gear. seems like when he took it to the dealer, they told him it was around 3.6k to fix. his car had only about 45k miles

[LivingLegend06]

From what I have heard the automatic mode is not smooth at all, you are going to want to use the paddles to shift it yourself. It is best driven flat out and a standard 6spd would probably be easier to live with in stop and go traffic.

The transmission can be converted to a manual 6spd pretty cheaply if the SMG pump gives you problems, I'll see if I can find the build thread on M3forums.

[campbellj25]

I'd hold out for a manual. Those early smg's shift soooo slow even turned up in mode 6 with the dsc turned off. Ive replaced quite a few smg pumps in the past also so they are troublesome.

[E30 Wagen]

Hmm. Sounds like I better just walk away from this one...

edit: However, what's a good asking price for one? Say about B condition overall.

[TimKninja]

I would never own an SMG car . Not worth it. Find a 6 speed car and be happy.

[Wh33lhop]

There is a dude on here that converted an SMG transmission to full manual.

I saw this car at the annual R3V party at James' house, the shifter was awesome.

Adam's S54 car?

The only difference between the SMG and manual transmission is the return springs for the shifter. All that's required for the conversion of the transmission itself is retrofitting those. Obviously if you want to convert an entire SMG car to manual you need to find pedals, shift linkage, shifter, etc.

[totheredline]

SMG pumps are a common failure point on SMG cars, and the pump itself is expensive as FKKKK!
Its WAYYYYY cheaper to do a 6 speed manual swap if the pump goes bad.

[StereoInstaller1]

Adam's S54 car?

The only difference between the SMG and manual transmission is the return springs for the shifter. All that's required for the conversion of the transmission itself is retrofitting those. Obviously if you want to convert an entire SMG car to manual you need to find pedals, shift linkage, shifter, etc.

Yeah, Adams car...did you feel his shifter?

[Wh33lhop]

Yeah, Adams car...did you feel his shifter?

I felt it reeaaall good. He just cut up a shift carrier and welded it to the sheetmetal beneath the shifter for a makeshift DTM style deal.