M3_Power

That's pretty high actually (once again shows JG don't know what they are going on about) .... 80 is when it throws a fit ... normally should hover around 40 to 50. If it's constantly at 75ish then I think that explains why it is not charging. I would change this first and see - as it's easy to get to and reasonably cheap part. I tend to agree ... although you are talking $3500 vs about $600 ... The shitty bit is you can't buy the pump without the accumulator, so if the pump goes you are stuck with an extra accumulator that no one wants to buy. Personally I would buy new, send the old one to be rewound and flick off on ebay as a rebuilt unit. Or hold onto it till somebody comes up with a rebuilt kit (which I am sure they will eventually). I did say unlikely ... haha!! Kayne is correct ... I recommend a reset every month actually - which is what I do with mine. You'll be amazed how different it drives with each reset. That's why I said it was strange that JG didn't try to re-teach the gear selection function with the diagnostic tool (ISIS is the new one but more fiddly, GT1 is the old system). Option 1 is a waste of time and money in my opinion - nothing that a proper diagnostic can't pick up. If there's a CAN issue it'll show up. I would - change the temp sensor first, do a gear selection re-adaptation and see if it solves it. At the same time test accumulator and fluid temperature on a live reading and test schedule on a diagnostic machine with someone that knows what they are doing. If it still doesn't work - lower box and remove selector unit to see if it is worn. While the box is lowered you should be able to get to the indent spring - I would check that ... If above two shows no signs or wear or damage I would then buy a new pump from the States and replace, sell the SMG pump if it tests okay as a second hand unit with a faulty accumulator - you should get at least US$500 for it ...

The only place I know of that has a working Hoffman machine is in Hamilton (they are apparently over $80K to buy) - the one that was in Auckland is broken now. I have heard a rumor there's a guy with one in a big truck that goes around prestige vehicle places to mount tyres (still trying to find out who he is) - he apparently has a pretty trick machine. I am lead to believe although have not confirmed that Michelin in Newmarket might have something very similar that can mount without damage. Otherwise ask where the GTR guys are getting their 20 inch runflats mounted.

How much are you getting quoted for the SMG pump? Some rough overseas pricings with GST and shipping: ecstuning NZ$3400 Schmiedmann NZ$3450 I can personally get them for cheaper through some of my contacts overseas. Don't over complicate the SMG system, it isn't actually that complex. It's basically just an electric pump with a pressure accumulator, bunch of hydraulic lines pushing fluids around and a few sensors telling the ECU what's going on. The failure fashion tends to have a rough ranking in the following: 1. Infamous Salmon relay 2. hood switch 3. gear selection sensor 4. indent spring 5. temperature sensor (this has been known to cause accumulator like failures - because what it is basically doing is telling the SMG ecu that the pump fluid is overheating so it stops charging even when it isn't) - there's now really good resistor mods online that you can do to trick the system into never seeing an overheat. 6. SMG accumulator 7. SMG pump (there are businesses now overseas that do rewinds of these pumps) A few have attempted a self rewind DIY and failed, as apparently the brushes are quite special so to speak. 8. hydraulic lines. There's an accumulator test and pump test in the GT1 - those should be the first port of call to see if the tests pass or fail before you spend the money to replace the pump.

Highly doubt it is ecu related. Sounds like Jeff Grey doesn't know what they are doing. I would re adapt the gearbox shift pattern also after a clutch change. It sounds like the accumulator is out - but if you know how to use the diagnostic system it'll show this straight away as you can get live readings on accumulator pressure. The accumulator itself is a lot cheaper than the full pump so i would just change that. Also given the pump is capable of manually charging the full pressure it points to the accumulator being the culprit. There is one other possibility and this will be harder to trace - but there is the remote possibility that someone has accidentally bent the hydraulic lines when changing the clutch. I would still check or change the indent compression spring regardless as that has been known to cause all sorts of gear dropping issues. You'll also want to read the smg temp to see when it is dropping out of gear to confirm it's not the sensor that's cause fault.

The pump fault is easy to pick up on the diagnostics menu - you can physically see pressure build up and pressure drop and then recharge. If it's not recharging it's usualy a relay issue (bonnet switch ect) .. Dropping out of gears can be a couple of things - gear position sensor, temp sensor and my money on your issue - Compression spring. You'll need to lower the gearbox to get to it - but my money is on the one next to the gear position sensor being broken. Have they tried to re-teach the gear selection in the car? The process where it shifts through all the gears to learn the travel distance and rotation? If not then they need to try that first and see if it still drops out of gear. Usually if it's a pump issue you'll get multiple gear selection issues, not just one gear. What are the fault codes?

Congrats on the new purchase!!!

Lovely Ray .... !!! I wondered who bought this car !!! I am thinking this would be rather fitting for that engine bay : )

Word of warning on mounting tyres on the CSL rims ... the inner beading catch on the CSL rims is basically like a Runflat rim - i.e. it is bloody high - so if you put steel belted tyres on expect your average tyre shop to scratch the crap out of the rims. Find a good shop that can mount runflat tyres (preferrably a shop with a Hoffman machine or better). There's a reason that BMW spec'd the CSL rims with the Michelin Sport Cup tyres as it's Kevlar belt construction and goes on easy (but doesn't come off easy mind you - I actually think they are designed to be cut off the rim LOL given how difficult they are to take off). But yes expect damage to the rims with your average local tyre shops even with the best skilled tyre fitters!! Good news is I have the actual paint for these rims - a big 1 litre tin ... LOL

Nope ... Just gonna be turned into a coffee table now

If it makes you feel any better I once rounded an allen key M3 screw and had to replace it, only to find that you can't actually buy the damn screw on its own and the only option was to buy the whole f**king mechanism for a nice $390+GST ....

Wow!! Appreciate all the replies gents! You have all been more than helpful!! Sounds like they are a reputable company. I even called a couple of Panel beaters just to confirm and they said the assessors Vero uses is the same as Prestigio and they are good to deal with. I've always said that an insurance cover is only as good as the claim process - so panel beaters are always the first ones I check with and then policy holder experiences. Thanks Dietmar, I've been emailing and talking to Kirsten on the phone and she's been most helpful, so I'll just continue to deal with her on this cover I think given that she's got all the ins and outs about it already - but good to know a forum member on here works at the said Company

Appreciate the reply Darren ... sounds like they could be the way to go then. Anyone else with experience? Positive or negative.

http://www.classiccover.co.nz/ Anyone experience with the above company? Their policies are underwritten by Vero.

Why does it have to be Saturday? Can't the owner drop the car off at your nominated shop during a weekday and have the shop call you with their findings? Personally I'd be surprised if the seller isn't willing to help out in this respect .... especially if the shop is a BMW specialist or an authorised dealership.

OMG sooo much awesomeness in that!! You should package and sell these!!! Going to facebook this!!

Matt, I didn't want to name names ... but how ironic that's who I am with and have been for a long period. Bit bemused at the moment and a little pissed actually. Sending them this link right now to see what they have to say for themselves.

Won't make slightest difference who you are insured with. Agreed value cover (the good ones) require 3 valuations to determine an average realistic NZ market value. Pretty hard to get a good indication when the last CSL sold in NZ was $50k - worse still if you go market value. I've been with my Insurer for over 13 years now and even they can't help despite sympathising with my predicament.

Much much less according to the Insurance Companies (think $50K) The Turner's Auction M3 CSL have destroyed the CSL value in NZ - mine's coming up for insurance renewal and I am struggling to get anywhere near fair market value for mine for an agreed value cover - banging my head against the wall to be more precise actually. Maybe I'll just strip the car and be done with it!! MAD!! But nice UK import from the photos. Haven't seen this in person but have seen it up on trademe twice now. In my opinion it'll be the more expensive of the two colours in the future given the rarity.

Believe it or not E90 parts are the cheapest out of the lot. The E90 was made with economy in mind I think and the parts are surprisingly cheap when compared to older cars. It is by far the cheapest to maintain in my opinion.

Hmmm maybe ... but I'd rather give the guys on here an opportunity first rather than try to import their own. Bare in mind this is a bare wheel only, so the price reflects this. Hi Paul, personally I wouldn't recommend it given that you can buy a non SMG version of this steering wheel. You'll be left with great big holes on the back of the steering wheel for where the SMG paddles would normally go (about a 50cents piece size on each side). I suppose you could always make up plates to fill the wholes and have it painted the same colour - but just won't be as tidy.

Right ... I am getting you to order all my stuff from Schmiedmann from now on ... they obviously like you better as a customer : P

Surplus to requirement - used steering wheel in reasonable condition. Those that saw my car at the Greenlane get together will have seen the condition of this steering wheel. Please note this is just the bare steering wheel - It does NOT include any wirings, cover trims, Airbag, switches, paddles, screws, SMG paddles. You'll need to swap all of these over from your existing steering wheel. I bought this used a while back and have used it in my car for a short while as a driving steering wheel. $350 firm. SMG version - so has the SMG cutout in the back for the paddles. Latest Photo of it in the car (taken 18/7/13)

Actually NEVER lift off the throttle no matter what mode you are in. The drive logic, DME and SMG controller all work in synch and lifting the throttle during up or downshifts tells the DME that you are either about to brake or slow down, so the DME interrupts the shifts midway - hence the slurring that many experience as a result. I personally prefer S3 out of all the modes. Never really use anything other than s3 and s4 personally - the rest are harsh in my opinion - s6 is just brutal in my opinion. There are two modes to launch control- one's called a burnout mode and the other the 'race start' - you engage the different modes by the speed you engage the accelerator pedal. Fast and hard down and it goes into burn out - slow and steady and it engages race start. There's also a hill assist mode - basically holds the clutch on a hill for about 0.5 of a second to stop the car rolling backwards. The only thing that the SMG can't do is a clutch kick - which the new 991 GT3 have managed to solve with pulling back both + and - paddles ... Personally I don't miss this function. I am telling you it can skip a gear or as many as you like. It doesn't engage the gear half way and then reverse back and select the second or third gear selection - that's not how the system works. Perhaps the actual SMG technical manual from BMW will finally convince you of this. The system only engages the gear selected on the final command (i.e. the last push of the paddle). I've circled the important bit in red for you. (I know how the technical manual reads by the way - but you need to read the whole thing to understand that it is a two step process when it selects a gear - i.e. it shifts into neutral first - as there are two sensors that tell the selector how far to reach and how many degrees to turn - what the second paragaraph is saying is it interrupts the shift at the neutral stage)

I am lead to believe it was for an E34 M5 ... not sure what it was however, I didn't bother enquiring further.

Not sure what you are trying to prove there ... but I'll play. Of course it's going to be slow in today's standards. But back in 2003, considering the Ferrari 360 F1 shift was 150ms and the 430 at 100ms ... the SMG2 was well advanced in this department. 80ms shifts were the quickest 'reliable' shifts yet still allowing for mechanical sympathy to the standard H pattern gearbox. In SMG3 (the E60 M5) BMW made it even quicker at 60ms (but they were only able to achieve this by repositioning the gears inside the gearbox so it was a non standard H pattern) Still nothing compared to today's double clutch system that shifts in less than 20ms. Whilst again nothing will ever compare to the F1 advance seamless shift systems where the next gear is engaged even before the driver completes pulling the paddle fully. (And you are somewhat right to say 80ms is slow ... given that when compared to the F1 seamless shifts, the regulations actually dictates an upshift can only have a maximum interruption of 80ms - this is to stop teams exhaust blowing during upshifts) And I'll let you guess which system the F1 seamless shift system is closest to - double clutch or SMG (I know they are apples and oranges, but at the end of the day the basic principles are the same for one system). Now please post up a video of you doing a 80ms (0.08s) shift for us to see thanks : )