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      10-10-2010, 04:12 AM   #1
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I want to cry!! (SMG problem)

so 2 weeks ago while driving on the highway my Z4 made a beep and shifted to N even though the car's SMG was set on D. I shifted car back to N and back to D but nothing. I parked the car on the side, shut if off and turned it back on, the car was able to shift to D again. I then drove maybe 10 meters when the same thign happened again, car shifted to N. Turned off and on car and everything worked fine and that was last time it happened.

Last week I took car to dealership for full service. Today I went back and it turns out my car needs around $4000 worth of parts replaced (parts not including labor). Check the list below


Prices are in Kuwaiti Dinar. 1KD = $3.4

So i was like thats alot, $4000 and add to that maybe 1500-2000$ labor... that whole car isn't worth much more than that. Anyway while flipping through the diagnostic reports I noticed a few pages where the system had mentioned there was a fault in the SMG hydraulic pump and it needed to be replaced. So I asked the dealer employee about it and he made a phonecall and told me that they had forgot to add that to the list of parts. Whats the cost? KD1,300 which is around $4,500!! Thats for the one part and not including labor which is around $700.

So I decided to just leave, figured I would fix the problems when they broke down since I wasn't willing to spend $10,000 to fix stuff that seems to be working fine.

I leave the dealer and I'm heading to my office when I get stuck in traffic. From idle I press the gas and the car shivered and vibrated. That hadn't happened before but I figured I might have had the gear in 3 or something. A few moments later same thing happened and this time car shifted to N again. I shut off car, turned it back on and kept the SMG on manual and drove it back to the office. In manual I didn't run into any problem but I did feel the RPM's where acting or sounding a bit weird when shifting.

Now I need to take the car back to the dealer but don't think they might know what the issue is. I feel with them they just replace everything since its the easiest thing to do.... any advice?
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      10-10-2010, 12:49 PM   #2
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More info please:
  • How many miles on the car?
  • Has all preventative and normal maintenance by been completed per schedule?
  • Do you have an option other than the dealer?
  • Do you have the skills to check on some of the supposedly worn items yourself or have a buddy who does?
The laundry list of repairs seems suspicious itself (as in a lot of made up stuff), the fact the main issue to be repaired wasn't listed adds to my suspicion, and then the "Brake Shoe" really made me question things.

Brake shoes are used on drum brakes--these cars have 4 wheel disk brakes. So that's a huge red flag right there. "Fault in the SMG pump?" As in it's damaged, the fluid was low (maybe an easy fix), there's a leak, or what? "Blower Unit"? I'm guessing that's the circulation fan for the A/C and ventilation--is that actually broken?

I'd get a second opinion if I could.
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      10-10-2010, 01:07 PM   #3
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Garage List
Well these cars do have brake shoes in the rears. It is how the Parking brake functions. It is a drum brake. But that list looks pretty lengthy. Are there any independant BMW shops around you ?
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      10-10-2010, 01:55 PM   #4
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Hey guys here are some answers:

- 74,500 miles
- All maintenance has been at dealership
- I can go to local garages but don't trust any
- I can put IKEA furniture together and have wired my Wranglers sound system but have no mechanical expertise

Now I asked dealer about Blower Unit since I was hoping it would be related to my AC since I actually was having issues with it but didn't bring it up now since summer is over anyway. He told me blower unit below air into the engine or something. I figured it was part of the air intake.

I don't have much options honestly, its either dealer or crappy garages down the street. No matter what I ask him he has vague answers which sucks. I think I should just email BMW Middle East and see if they can do anything about this.
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      10-10-2010, 02:05 PM   #5
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You won't find many indy shops that know how to fix SMG's. That said, why not start from updating the transmission software and/or replacing the SMG module?
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      10-10-2010, 02:05 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Secretariat View Post
Well these cars do have brake shoes in the rears. It is how the Parking brake functions. It is a drum brake. But that list looks pretty lengthy. Are there any independant BMW shops around you ?
Yep. Forgot about that one!

Quote:
Originally Posted by usurp View Post
Hey guys here are some answers:

- 74,500 miles
- All maintenance has been at dealership
- I can go to local garages but don't trust any
- I can put IKEA furniture together and have wired my Wranglers sound system but have no mechanical expertise

Now I asked dealer about Blower Unit since I was hoping it would be related to my AC since I actually was having issues with it but didn't bring it up now since summer is over anyway. He told me blower unit below air into the engine or something. I figured it was part of the air intake.

I don't have much options honestly, its either dealer or crappy garages down the street. No matter what I ask him he has vague answers which sucks. I think I should just email BMW Middle East and see if they can do anything about this.
I think you may have to go in through the engine compartment to replace the A/C blower. You could use Realoem.com to check the location. If the A/C blower was indeed faulty, then I'm ever so slightly less suspicious, as they're not making that one up.

I ran a few Google searches and SMG pump failure (going from D to N) seems to be a fairly common problem in SMG cars. It's not cheap to fix either. I'd do a bit more research on that, and look at what the average clutch life is for an SMG (75K doesn't seem great, but it's not bad either).

I'd search around a bit and see what other things could cause the symptoms you're describing. At this point, it could be the pump, the electronics, fluid, a short...this list goes on. But you're not the first I'm sure, and I'm sure there's a discussion out there that will give you more info if you search.

Last edited by Finnegan; 10-10-2010 at 02:25 PM..
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      10-10-2010, 02:11 PM   #7
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I told the guy listen, before taking the transmission apart can you check the electronics? The reason I figured it might be electronics is because on the way to my office the car was acting completely different from when i was on the way to the dealer 2 hours later.

First of all so far the issue with my gear has occured when I have had the car on Auto and i was driving in traffic. In manual the car seems to work fine.

Second thing when I drove back to the dealer I had it in Auto, Manual, Sport mode etc.. tried everything and drove aggressively and slowly trying to replicate the issue but nothing, car was working perfectly.
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      10-18-2010, 02:45 AM   #8
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Just an update. I took the car in to the dealer and got an estimate of $4500 for the hydraulic pump and $700 for labor to fix my gear problem.

I picked up car yesterday paying only $45 for parts and labor.
Turned out it was a faulty relay switch! *PHEW*

The car drives a lot smoother now when starting from a stop. I guess I had this faulty relay switch for awhile since driving the Z4 in traffic would sometimes feel like someone who doesn't know how to drive a manual is driving. Now the take offs are smooth and gear shifting from 1st to 2nd as well.

It kind all makes sense I guess.

Before, getting off a stand still was a bit rough and 1 to 2nd kinda gave a jerky shift during traffic.

Then 2 weeks ago the car started shifting into N for no reason and if I recall correctly it only happened during traffic and gear was either on 1 or 2.

Can't believe such a small cheap part was causing me all these issues.
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      10-18-2010, 05:56 AM   #9
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That's a pretty wild ride from an estimate of $10,000 to paying $45. Hopefully you learned something about the auto repair business from that.

The blower unit they are referring to is probably the secondary air injection pump. Its only purpose is to run for about 45 seconds when the car is started to inject extra air into the exhaust to reduce cold start emissions. It's not worth replacing unless you have vehicle inspection that requires all emission parts to be functioning.
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      11-02-2010, 02:45 AM   #10
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Do you know where the relay switch is located? Just for future reference if anything happens to my SMG I'll try this first.
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      11-02-2010, 03:11 AM   #11
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nope no idea
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      11-02-2010, 03:42 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by usurp View Post
Just an update. I took the car in to the dealer and got an estimate of $4500 for the hydraulic pump and $700 for labor to fix my gear problem.

I picked up car yesterday paying only $45 for parts and labor.
Turned out it was a faulty relay switch! *PHEW*

The car drives a lot smoother now when starting from a stop. I guess I had this faulty relay switch for awhile since driving the Z4 in traffic would sometimes feel like someone who doesn't know how to drive a manual is driving. Now the take offs are smooth and gear shifting from 1st to 2nd as well.

It kind all makes sense I guess.

Before, getting off a stand still was a bit rough and 1 to 2nd kinda gave a jerky shift during traffic.

Then 2 weeks ago the car started shifting into N for no reason and if I recall correctly it only happened during traffic and gear was either on 1 or 2.

Can't believe such a small cheap part was causing me all these issues.
The Pink Salmon Relay Switch failing is quite common with e46 M3 SMGs. There are countless threads about this at M3 Forums from owners who got the same scare as you did, and simply fixing it with a $10 relay.
Glad it worked out OK for you.
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      12-20-2010, 10:02 AM   #13
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Relay Part number

I am having the same problem with my e85 z4 2.5 smg. I almost got the pump replaced with a used one today... but i thought i'd read about similar problems first... I have been looking for this relay for a while. do you guys the part number for the e85 relay.. I have seen countless threads on the m3 relay but I heard the Z4 relay was different. So I'm looking for that part number/ I want to replace the relay before replacing the pump.

I also have another problem besides the one you described: when switching from Reverse to 1st gear quickly without passing through N and waiting I get an error on the transmission light with an F to the left of the sign.. Any ideas. I think it is the same issue.

thanks for your help guys!
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      12-20-2010, 10:08 AM   #14
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Not sure but the system in the Z4 isn't really SMG even though the knob says SMG, its really an SSG transmission.
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      12-20-2010, 12:50 PM   #15
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The relay is in the DME box under the hood in the corner.

Maybe this is the relay.

http://www.penskeparts.com/DiagramsR...iagram=61_1622
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      12-20-2010, 06:13 PM   #16
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Thanks Ron. That site is very helpful.. but how will i know which relay is for the smg. It is not written in the description.

usurp- do you have any idea what the part number was, if they wrote on on the invoice maybe???
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      12-21-2010, 08:49 AM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Finnegan View Post
Yep. Forgot about that one!
Don't worry, you aren't alone.... I go into "dealer suspicion" mode too easy sometimes. lol

Quote:
Originally Posted by usurp View Post
I picked up car yesterday paying only $45 for parts and labor.
Turned out it was a faulty relay switch! *PHEW*
Sweet! Take note to start looking into common problems w/ your car. Being educated in this sense when going into a dealer for service is always a good thing.

Also, just noticed this happened a couple months ago.
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