smg pump leaking

[knowall]

hi i have recently bought an m3 evo smg and found that the smg pump is leaking (mk1 smg) is this common ? and does anyone have any suggestions how to remidy the problem.

[M3John]

knowall said:

hi i have recently bought an m3 evo smg and found that the smg pump is leaking (mk1 smg) is this common ? and does anyone have any suggestions how to remidy the problem.

I know about these mate as i've recently had mine replaced. If it's leaking i'm afraid that it's got to go bact to your local indipendent specialist or local BMW dealer. These are by no means cheep, when i had mine done about a year ago now BMW charged me £1,475 WITHOUT VAT. I've recently been speaking to my local indipendents and i hear prices have gone up !

I tried sorcing one privetly before forking out a small fortune and spoke to a few people from the BMW Car Club and various brakers and the general concencious was just to buy brand new for a few reasons :

- E36 M3 SMG's are thin on the ground and are getting rarer now.
- Brakers usually only offer a 6 month warranty.
- Most of the ones breakers get have front end damage.
- BMW offer a 2 year warranty on any supplyed parts.
- The SMG units are produce by a company call SACHS (famous for various drive train parts ie clutches etc etc). So sourcing one from a SACHS dealer is going to be slim-to-none.
- Which also means that you wont find a indipendent to re-seal it for you i'm afraid....Talk about BMW Manopolizing (sp?) the market!!.

So in a nutshell mate i'd do what i did, go to your local dealers and buy a couple of tins of CHF11S oil and run the car till it's almost giving up and dumping the oil, as this will give you time to save a bit of cash to fork out for the nessaserry repairs. I hate to say this but IT IS GOING TO BE EXPENSIVE. I'd budget on £2,300 from a indipendent specialist.

Just to throw you a curve ball mate, have you thought about converting the car to a `regular` manual? I spoke to www.fabdirect.com when i had my problems and they do a kit/package to convert the drive chain that any indipendents could undertake. I know this may contridict the log book but it's worth considering. The reason why i didn't convert mine is i rather like the SMG and being the type i am, i like things just how they they should be.

Don't know where you are in the country but give Highams Park Motor Co. a call on 0208-523-3443. These are my indipendent who look after my car. These guys really know their stuff and will be able to advise you.

Hope this is of any help to you and i do feel your pain !!

M3John.

Edited by M3John on Wednesday 22 November 21:06

[m3mcqueen]

knowall said:

hi i have recently bought an m3 evo smg and found that the smg pump is leaking (mk1 smg) is this common ? and does anyone have any suggestions how to remidy the problem.

afraid m3john is rather accurate, i had my man investigate this very occurance and he confirmed the extortionate outlay it would cost to rectify this fault luckily a bit of cash on the hip got the job seen off for 1000 rupees and a quick punt down the river. chocks away

[blackspider]

Where abouts is it leaking?

[knowall]

it seems to be leaking from one of the solenoids ....

[blackspider]

I'll check monday but I think the solenoids and or the seals can be bought seperately.
Can you let me know which one-is it one of the yellow ones,front or rear.
They are easy to change held in by 2 screws..by far the worst bit is bleeding.
FIRST the pump must be de energized-They hold 80bar behind these solenoids and will cause injury if they let go at that pressure,so dont undo them leave that for the person who is going to bleed the system.Then once the pump is free of pressure and the solenoid is replaced the system needs bleeding...This is an absolute T#*t to do even when running the BMW bleed routine via GT1.
Whoever does the job make sure they use CHF11S fluid and that the pump isnt allowed to run dry for any length of time-they start to sieze within a few seconds without fliud!

[knowall]

its one of the yellow ones nearest the engine, cheers mate.

[M3John]

knowall said:

its one of the yellow ones nearest the engine, cheers mate.

That's EXACTLY the same place as where mine was leaking from. If Blackspider above really can get the solinoid's and a seal kit then take him up on the offer and find your self a good indipendent specialist to fit them for you. It will probably save you a shed load of money mate. But as said this is a tricky job and the garage that undertakes the work will have to be a good one.


M3J.

[blackspider]

I shall take a peak tomorrwow

[blackspider]

Typical,they no longer do replacement parts for these-its all or nothing unless you need the acumilator,the pump and 1 of the other solenoids.the 2 yellow ones are built to match pump unfortunately.
The later SMG's have all the parts available!
They sell 5 units a month from Bracknell.
I havent been able to locate a second hand unit in the area.
Sorry

[knowall]

hey thanks for trying mate,anyone got any good s/h smg pumps for sale??????

[Egbert Nobacon]

knowall said:

hey thanks for trying mate,anyone got any good s/h smg pumps for sale??????

try www.fabdirect.com

[M3John]

Egbert Nobacon said:

knowall said:

hey thanks for trying mate,anyone got any good s/h smg pumps for sale??????

try www.fabdirect.com

I did try them and they were very helpful with my quest in solving the SMG problem i had but, basicly advised me to purchase one brand new as they couldn't garentee the life span of the part they were about to sell me (IIRC, only offered a 6 month warrentee) and with reguards to my origional post, the e36 M3 SMG's were thin on the ground to start with and are getting thinner. As much as i hate to say it sir, as i've been there myself recently, i think you're have to bite the bullit and either convert the car to a regular manual OR fork out a small fortune on a new SMG unit.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

M3John.

[Polarbert]

M3John said:

Egbert Nobacon said:

knowall said:

hey thanks for trying mate,anyone got any good s/h smg pumps for sale??????

try www.fabdirect.com

I did try them and they were very helpful with my quest in solving the SMG problem i had but, basicly advised me to purchase one brand new as they couldn't garentee the life span of the part they were about to sell me (IIRC, only offered a 6 month warrentee) and with reguards to my origional post, the e36 M3 SMG's were thin on the ground to start with and are getting thinner. As much as i hate to say it sir, as i've been there myself recently, i think you're have to bite the bullit and either convert the car to a regular manual OR fork out a small fortune on a new SMG unit.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

M3John.

Should have gotten a manual eh John?

[M3John]

Polarbert said:

M3John said:

Egbert Nobacon said:

knowall said:

hey thanks for trying mate,anyone got any good s/h smg pumps for sale??????

try www.fabdirect.com

I did try them and they were very helpful with my quest in solving the SMG problem i had but, basicly advised me to purchase one brand new as they couldn't garentee the life span of the part they were about to sell me (IIRC, only offered a 6 month warrentee) and with reguards to my origional post, the e36 M3 SMG's were thin on the ground to start with and are getting thinner. As much as i hate to say it sir, as i've been there myself recently, i think you're have to bite the bullit and either convert the car to a regular manual OR fork out a small fortune on a new SMG unit.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

M3John.

Should have gotten a manual eh John?

Yeah probably should have BUT, the cars a goodun` condition wise and i've still yet to see a better one that gets used as a daily driver !

[Beau]

Just found this. Friend of mine has asked me to trawl "my internet thing" (he's not PC literate) as his E36 M3 SMG will not engage reverse. Munich Legends have said they reckon it's a relay in the pump but that - as mentioned above - you have to replace the whole pump. At a current cost of around £1,800 (think that's inc VAT) and £100.00 labour. Or convert to manual -again as mentioned above.

Does this sound like a pump issue to those on here? Or possibly anything else that is worth checking first before shelling out nearly 2k?

TIA
Beau

[blackspider]

Beau said:

Just found this. Friend of mine has asked me to trawl "my internet thing" (he's not PC literate) as his E36 M3 SMG will not engage reverse. Munich Legends have said they reckon it's a relay in the pump but that - as mentioned above - you have to replace the whole pump. At a current cost of around £1,800 (think that's inc VAT) and £100.00 labour. Or convert to manual -again as mentioned above.

Does this sound like a pump issue to those on here? Or possibly anything else that is worth checking first before shelling out nearly 2k?

TIA
Beau

This may not be a hyd.pump fault there is a hydrolic unit on the rear of the gearbox for selecting the gears-I have had seeveral issues with this where it wont select 6th or on another it wouldnt select 1st.dont think there are any relays inside the pump as its mechanical-both relays are with the fuse.
Its worth having it stuck onto GT1 and check the fault memory

[M3John]

blackspider said:

Beau said:

Just found this. Friend of mine has asked me to trawl "my internet thing" (he's not PC literate) as his E36 M3 SMG will not engage reverse. Munich Legends have said they reckon it's a relay in the pump but that - as mentioned above - you have to replace the whole pump. At a current cost of around £1,800 (think that's inc VAT) and £100.00 labour. Or convert to manual -again as mentioned above.

Does this sound like a pump issue to those on here? Or possibly anything else that is worth checking first before shelling out nearly 2k?

TIA
Beau

.....Its worth having it stuck onto GT1 and check the fault memory

I was just about to suggest this. It'd be an easy check for him to just pop down to his/your local indipendents or main dealer and have them re-set the gearbox values and fault coads in the processor. If this resoulves (sp?) the issue then at least the fault is only logged in the short term memory of the car and this also proves that it's not a mechinacal failure.

[tricky69]

I also have a leaking SMG system and fully understand that i have to get it replaced. However as someone who only gets his bonus quarterly it is going to have to wait for 3 months to get sorted.... I was wondering
(apart from the obvious) what problems it could cause if i simply keep refilling it with oil when needed.. I don't use the car a whole lot, maybe once a week so was hoping i may be able to keep it on the road for the time being

Or is that a really bad idea ???

[blackspider]

tricky69 said:

I also have a leaking SMG system and fully understand that i have to get it replaced. However as someone who only gets his bonus quarterly it is going to have to wait for 3 months to get sorted.... I was wondering
(apart from the obvious) what problems it could cause if i simply keep refilling it with oil when needed.. I don't use the car a whole lot, maybe once a week so was hoping i may be able to keep it on the road for the time being

Or is that a really bad idea ???

If the level drops to low you will soon find out what happens,the pump tends to scream and die....If its a minor leak at the pump,let it go for now.If the leak is not at the hydraulic pump(big unit on offside under bonnet),get it done-this way you will save the unit and aload of money.