SMG E46 M3 Purchase questions..

[Navin]

Hi guys..

I'm interested in buying an E46 M3..

I would prefer an SMG 2004/5/6 model but they hard to come buy..

The 2003's are common tho..

Anything i should look out for between these models..

Apparently the SMG is troublesome..

Any feedback would be appreciated..

Thanks in advance..

Navin

 

[Jason1]

was looking for smg as well, found a decent 2004 checked its service history and the smg had been replaced 3 times at 75k each time. landed up buying a manual and it is such a dream.
Manual is smoother, quicked off the line and its an ///M so it should be manual althouth that smg box is supposed to be astonishing around the track.

Good luck

 

[Coisman]

imp:
True...
those SMG's give allot of problems.
My friend owned one as well, did the SMG twice while under motorplan, then sold it.
3 months after that the new owner contacted him...you guessed it...SMG
but this time no motorplan, so +/- R75k later...
NOT a viable option for me.
imp:

 

[M3_devil]

scary:dropjaw:

 

[M3_FTW]

I recently sold my 2004 M3 SMG which i owned for 4 years.

Did over 200 000 km's and never a days issue with the SMG. I preferred SMG to the manual but they can give trouble. Just depends on the car i suppose.

 

[ANiMOSiTY]

This has been covered before - do a search and you'll find some good arguments that are both pro-SMG and against SMG.

It's actually *not* less reliable than a manual.
It's a normal manual gearbox, with some extra solenoids and hydraulics to do the cog-swapping for you.

The main reason they tend to fail more than the manuals, is because of the harshness of gearchanges.
If the previous owner drove in S5 or S6 mode all day, every day.. it puts strain on drivetrain components.
If S1 was used all the time.. it'll probably be in better condition than the equivalent manual, since the SMG system cannot mis-shift or abuse the clutch like a human does.

 

[333wez]

I had a 2003 m3 smg, sold it wit 83000km last year.
never had a hassle wit the SMG!!!

 

[BrandonJK]

I owned a 2005 E46 SMG convertible, not a day's trouble, I covered 40 000 km's.

BK

 

[Rishi]

This is really scary, i bought an SMG about 3 months ago. Reading all of this makes me wana sell the car.

 

[moranor@axis]

why SMG cant you move your foot and hand at the same time?

 

[MikeR]

avoid SMG - in fact avoid any type of Auto.....costly to repair out of warentee and dont let any BMW dealer tell you otherwise.

 

[faheemo]

^^ Soo True , most brands of cars manual is a better option when out of warantee.

 

[e23]

I agree with Animosity

I've owned my ///M e46 SMG for 1.5years now. Thus far I've only replaced the SMG "Pink Salmon Relay" ..+- R120. It took me 5mins to do

What we need to remember is that the CSL runs the same SMG gearbox. So the question is - would you avoid a CSL cauz it's SMG based??? HELL NO!!!

Once u get used to driving SMG, u won't drive a manual in a hurry. Depending on how u set up SMG, it's a breeze to drive. S1 in traffic is a real boon & as animosity said - if the car was driven in S5/S6 it will be quite rough/abused. 90% of the time I drive in S1 but I always use the "manual mode" & set is to S4 - there's nothing that makes u more :excited: than double shifting the SMG

The flip side is that u gotta get used to inclines/hills/rolling back & how to manage ur hand brake/pedals. I often rolled onto other okes on inclines but u learn to manage the throttle as u drive the car. The "kick in the butt" that SMG does sometimes shakes people up. It can be quite aggressive but very few cars kick u like that :shocked:

I guess I am biased but it's just my 2c