SMG box on M5

[Mr Cerbera]

Dear SMG Users,
I have a mate who has an E60 which won't even start due to the box being locked.
Is this a known prob or does he have a "First" ?

Many thanks,

Paul J

[VeeTenM]

who knows could be a number of issues, need a computer on it to check any codes?!

[TheAngryDog]

If the pump has failed it won't start. If the Clutch position sensor has failed it won't start. If the SMG relay has failed if won't start.

It needs to be on a proper code reader to get the proper messages. A generic code reader is no good.

[Mr Cerbera]

Thanks fior your replies Guys.

Sorry my original post was so vague.

I have managed to drag a little more out of my mate and paraphrase here ....

The error Code is 4F40 and it's a 2006 M5 E60.

The car has been with an independent BMW dealer now for several weeks but they are stuck.
He drove the car to the garage with no problem, although the fault had appeared on 2 separate, previous occasions.
After leaving it at the garage overnight, it was locked in gear and not able to start or be moved - On one of the previous occasions it had cleared within a minute.

Our understanding is that there are 3 parts which can cause this problem:-
The electric Motor, the hydraulic Pump and the Accumulator.

The car has already had the electric motor replaced with a new one which didn't fix the problem.

He then had a complete, 2nd-hand gearbox fitted, but still no change (sic !).
He was told that the pump did not produce enough pressure.
Obviously the 2nd hand gearbox could also have the same fault but the odds would be phenomenal, No ?

Apparently, a defective Accumulator can cause the same problem but is it likely that the same code would be displayed with 2 different G-Boxes ?

The original electric Motor's fault was easily diagnosed but is it possible to check the Accumulator or the Pump as easily ?

Or are there are other possibilities that create this code ?

Many thanks for any opinions that any of you may have (including the amusing ones).

PJ

[VeeTenM]

SMG pump according to this guy with the same error

https://www.m5board.com/threads/smg-failure.123103...

[Weekendrebuild]

Can be a fked clutch flywheel. Strip it not a big job to do yourself on a ramp 2 hours

[Penguinracer]

If he's okay with a manual...rather than sinking money into repairing the SMG gubbins he might want to consider
taking it to Darragh Doyle at Everything M3's who can convert it to a manual for around £3.5k.
Same box - just the SMG parts removed & manual parts added.

[TheAngryDog]

Penguinracer said:

If he's okay with a manual...rather than sinking money into repairing the SMG gubbins he might want to consider
taking it to Darragh Doyle at Everything M3's who can convert it to a manual for around £3.5k.
Same box - just the SMG parts removed & manual parts added.

No it isn't, not even close. The SMG in the M5/M6 is completely different to a normal box. You cannot simply make it a stick shift manual, unlike the box in the E46 M3 which IS a conventional manual gearbox with SMG added. The ONLY OEM option is to use the 6 speed from the E9x M3 (or E6x M5/M6 if you get one from the USA) and then have various works done to convert.

There is a company in the UK who do it, I know of 3 cars that he has converted and all run fine. He charges around £3500 to do the conversion.

[Penguinracer]

Apologies for the misinformation - thank you for setting the record straight Angry Dog.

Incidentally - I assume you investigated this option for your M5?

[TheAngryDog]

I hope I didn't come across as condescending, it wasn't my intention.

I have looked at it, but the 6 speed manual is slower than the 7 speed SMG. I'd go DCT when the costs come down if I still have the car.

[Penguinracer]

TAG - you weren't condescending - it was me who should apologise for publishing incorrect information.
What sort of money is required to source a manual 'box for the conversion?