I'm going to look at an SMG E46 M3 tomorrow 

Kinja'd!!! "AM3R shamefully returns " (am3rshamefullyreturns)
04/02/2015 at 22:23 • Filed to: None

Kinja'd!!!2 Kinja'd!!! 24
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I know, I know, but its local and looks clean. Decent asking price too. I'm pretty familiar with E46 M3's. Anything you guys want me to check out?


DISCUSSION (24)


Kinja'd!!! TheD0k_2many toys 2little time > AM3R shamefully returns
04/02/2015 at 22:31

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IMO the SMG is finicky in that car. Not very fun to drive with that thing.


Kinja'd!!! AM3R shamefully returns > TheD0k_2many toys 2little time
04/02/2015 at 22:43

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I have experience with the SMG, and yes I do also find it finicky. It can be fun though, the only problem is that if I drove it in a fun manner I would lose my license really quickly haha.


Kinja'd!!! asindhidude > AM3R shamefully returns
04/02/2015 at 23:57

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smg is not reliable i heard.


Kinja'd!!! E92M3 > AM3R shamefully returns
04/02/2015 at 23:59

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SMG isn't bad once you learn to drive it smoothly. That takes about a week. I thought something was wrong with mine when I first test drove it. BMW manuals aren't exactly awesome anyway , so you're not missing anything by getting an SMG (other than more parts to fail). DCT is a huge improvement, but SMG is still a great system.


Kinja'd!!! AM3R shamefully returns > E92M3
04/03/2015 at 00:04

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Yep, I don't mind the SMG, although I did have to drive it 9/10 to really enjoy it. I would get the manual mainly for the peace of mind. DCT is far better than SMG but it's lost most of the rawness that I liked about the SMG. Its good albeit a bit boring (DCT E9x's are still very fun).


Kinja'd!!! BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast. > AM3R shamefully returns
04/03/2015 at 00:07

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I am no expert on these...

but DAMN, that is a gorgeous color.


Kinja'd!!! AM3R shamefully returns > BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast.
04/03/2015 at 00:09

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I KNOW! I wish I could find one in it. Here's the one I'm going to look at


Kinja'd!!! AMGtech - now with more recalls! > AM3R shamefully returns
04/03/2015 at 01:52

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A few BMW techs I know have told me that first gen SMG is a time bomb. I've driven a bunch and thought they were fun when they're being driven hard, but were otherwise terrible.


Kinja'd!!! GUYMANDUDE > E92M3
04/03/2015 at 03:06

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I agree. BMW makes the worst manuals. The clutch is probably the weakest part. no feeling at all.


Kinja'd!!! Copperbottoms > AM3R shamefully returns
04/03/2015 at 03:47

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I have a 6MT, and the thing has held up admirably from 30k-70k. No corrective maintenance beyond a window regulator and washer fluid pump. The things are darlings when it comes to reliability, and the interiors hold up well to daily driving.

I would ask about electrical gremlins; mine and others I know do this occasional weird thing where the battery seems disconnected and the car will not start every once in awhile, correlated with one of the windows 'forgetting' to pop down when the door opens after shutting the car off. Always solved by jiggling or reconnecting the positive lead. Car proceeds with no issue after that, but annoying to be sure.

Obviously there's the subframe issue for pre 2003.5 cars. I believe they sorted that in the refresh. Mine is a 2003.0 with no issue this far. Aggressive launches and aftermarket suspension setups can exacerbate the issue, so the forums theorize.


Kinja'd!!! Alex87f > AM3R shamefully returns
04/03/2015 at 05:21

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Nice. A couple of things though:
-Is that condensation in the front left foglamp?
-Pretty sure there's damage on the front left lower part of the bumper, as well as in the center under the lower grille

It's a nice car, but definitely not the kind you want to buy from shady dealers (I'm not saying this one is, but if it is I'd walk away)


Kinja'd!!! Brian Silvestro > AM3R shamefully returns
04/03/2015 at 07:17

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Anything you guys want me to check out?

a manual version


Kinja'd!!! Manuél Ferrari > AMGtech - now with more recalls!
04/06/2015 at 01:27

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this car has SMG II

SMG I was in the E36 M3


Kinja'd!!! Manuél Ferrari > Brian Silvestro
04/06/2015 at 01:27

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oh you!


Kinja'd!!! AMGtech - now with more recalls! > Manuél Ferrari
04/06/2015 at 01:33

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Huh. Learn something everyday. More proof that I'm not a BMWtech.


Kinja'd!!! Manuél Ferrari > AMGtech - now with more recalls!
04/06/2015 at 01:40

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don't feel bad. If you're in the US then you would not have seen SMG I. It was only offered on the Euro E36 M3

SMG is fascinating to me. It's not perfect or cheap to maintain. But it has similar performance to Ferrari's F1 but is cheaper than it to fix.

The one good thing about used SMG cars - the problem points are predictable. The hydraulic pump can fail. And you can get air in the lines. Some other issues can happen as well but all are predictable and can be fixed without tearing apart the transmission itself.

At least you don't have to deal with abused synchros as you do with a manual that was abused by some bro who learned how to drive stick on his E46 M3


Kinja'd!!! AMGtech - now with more recalls! > Manuél Ferrari
04/06/2015 at 02:14

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Ok that makes sense. It must have been the SMG2 that my BMW friends were talking about, I know it was e46. Those problems don't sound too terrible, but I don't think I could deal with the headache for how poorly they shift when you're not driving them hard. It just doesn't balance out for me.


Kinja'd!!! Brian Silvestro > Manuél Ferrari
04/06/2015 at 07:42

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In case you haven't figured it out, I drove that R8


Kinja'd!!! Manuél Ferrari > Brian Silvestro
04/06/2015 at 12:35

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I did not

Ho Lee Fuk

Was it so fast it was scary?


Kinja'd!!! Manuél Ferrari > AMGtech - now with more recalls!
04/06/2015 at 12:41

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Yeah the issues aren't that bad. Or at least they wouldn't be if the average E46 M3 was worth at least $50K. The problem with (what was back then) bleeding edge tech like SMG is that nobody wants to spend money fixing issues when the cars are old, have over 100K miles on them, and are worth less than $20K. The safest thing to do is find a manual car that has a transmission that hasn't been abused and still shifts properly. Hard to do but they are out there. Unfortunately a lot of them have crazy high list prices because the owners know that nobody wants SMG so they add a hefty manual tax to their listing.

The jerky shifting of SMG isn't an issue after a while. It took me a while but I finally mastered driving it slowly. It definitely takes some getting used to. I probably owned the car for at least a couple months before it finally clicked in my head.


Kinja'd!!! Brian Silvestro > Manuél Ferrari
04/06/2015 at 13:24

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fucking insanity

You watched the video right? Everything he said was true.

INSANE


Kinja'd!!! Manuél Ferrari > Brian Silvestro
04/06/2015 at 13:31

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no i forgot to watch

can do on lunch break


Kinja'd!!! AMGtech - now with more recalls! > Manuél Ferrari
04/06/2015 at 15:47

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I know exactly what you mean about the bleeding edge stuff. Even with simple things like brakes on performance cars, not yet even talking about carbon, some pads and rotor sets can cost $2-3k per axle. Or just an oil change on a dry sump car might run $500. It would be nice if parts costs depreciated with the vehicle.


Kinja'd!!! Manuél Ferrari > AMGtech - now with more recalls!
04/06/2015 at 16:17

Kinja'd!!!1

Haha that would be so great! Too bad parts costs don't go down and they usually go up once the car gets older.