I woke up this morning very early, it was a nice morning in New York City. I went to 69th and central to meet with a friend of mine who wanted to see my new 745i. So i go over to him, to show him my new car, and to see his brand new BMW M3. So i go over to him and i ask him where his M3 was, i wanted to take some pictures of it with my car. He tells me that his M3 has been having some problems. He said that the transmission has been feeling wierd, and it has been at the shop for 2 days.
So i was just wondering, is this a common problem for the M3?? My uncle has a 2001 M3, that he drives daily, and has no problems.

 

Was it an SMG II car?

 

yes, it was a sgm II, paddle shifter.

 

must of been the MSG, he spilled chinese food on the console

 

How many people thought that that whine was a little more than they'd want in a daily driver, but only a little?

 

go to dtmpower.net
You will find about this problem.
and yes, there is a problem with M3 SMG tranny

 

SMG transmissions haven't been the only problem with the E46 M3's. A number of them were manufactured with a defective engine component (crank-related, I think) which caused some catastrophic engine failures. The problem has since been corrected at the factory, but from what I've read on various bimmer forums, BMW NA has not been particularly helpful to some of their affected customers. They've had to struggle to get their motors replaced under warranty. Even worse, other E46 M3 owners whose cars were manufactured with the faulty component and who have yet to experience problems, must wait for the motor to fail before BMW will step in.

So, imagine having spent 55-large for your M3, and waiting for your engine to self-destruct. Imagine having sprung for the $2400 option for a sequential manual gearbox, and not being able to get the friggin' thing out of neutral.

No one will argue that the E46 M3 is a helluva car, but all of this makes a very compelling case for not buying a car in the early years of its production run.

 

I also heard the m3 SMG has launch limits (7 times) What is this? You can't launch your car or something?

 

Okay, just chiming in to help clear the confusion...

first of all, all 2001 models are 6spds in the US, SMGII was not released until november 2001 production, MY2002 cars.

The engine problem deals with the crankshaft bearings and a tolerance change made late in 01. Although mainly centered around 10/01-12/01 builds, there have been a few before and after those build periods.

If you hood is popped open with SMGII, the car will not engage in any gear and will remain in neutral.

Launch control is not limited anywhere in the world, all SMGII cars have it. In Europe (not the US), car trannies are warrantied for 30 launches. The US has no such clause, albeit the SMGII launches at a lower 1800rpm rather than 3500rpm.

cheers
-loki

 

What is that? BMW NA has not been particularly helpful to some of their affected customers.?

The dealers I've been to treat potential customers like trash--I can't imagine the treatment that their captive audience is subjected to....