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SMG Pump Relay replacement Do it Yourself!

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114K views 65 replies 35 participants last post by  Kolapol  
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
EDITED by flacoramos 1/20/20:
The SMG hydraulic pump motor relay is a black relay along the back side of the ECU box.
The SMG gear oil cooler pump relay is green, also along the back edge of the ECU box.
The salmon relay has NOTHING to do with the SMG in the E6x cars. Only the E46 M3s use a salmon relay (people mistakenly carried that over to the E6x cars). Yes even BMW parts diagram is wrong, it was never updated. This post has been edited to correctly show the SMG relays.


Ok, so I decided to do a quick DIY to replace the SMG Relays. There are two of them.

Here are the Part numbers for both relays:
SMG hydraulic pump motor black relay : 61366901469 ($10.94)
SMG oil cooler pump green relay: 61368373700

You can get them from bmwdirectparts.com, GetBMWParts.com and most dealers stock them.


You will need:
#5 Allen Wrench or Driver
Torx 20 Screwdriver
13MM Driver or Socket/Ratchet (a 13mm wrench will not work, its too tight around the plastic nuts)

1. Open Your hood and locate the passenger side cabin air filter


2. Undo the Plastic 13mm nut by turning it 90 degrees CCW and pull the cabin air filter up and out of the way


3. Remove the drip/water tray to the left near the fender


4. Undo the Torx bolt right below where the cabin filter is:


5. Turn the 3 13mm nuts in the passenger tray 90 degrees counterclockwise



6. Remove the rubber moulding and set it out of the way, The tray is made out of two pieces, unlock the two pieces by sliding the piece in the center of the tray to the right, and undo the 13mm plastic nut underneath 90 degrees counterclockwise


7. Remove the tray and place it out of the way, on the left side you will have a Electronics cover. Remove the 5 #5 Allen head screws, and turn the locking tab in the back of the cover and slide it to the left to unlock. Pull up and expose!


8. Locate relays along the back edge of the ECU compartment. There is only one black one, and one green one. Use Pliers to pull up on the top, paying attention to the position of the relay and replace with the new relays.

edited by flacoramos: Only black and green relays along back of ECU box are SMG related. The salmon relay is NOT for the SMG in the E6X cars.







Note large 40A red/orange fuse left of the black relay and 15A blue fuse to the right of the green relay. The 40A is the main fuse for all of the SMG system (ECU, both relays & pumps, hyd block, etc.). The 15A blue fuse is dedicated to the hydraulic pump (i.e. powers the black relay).

Image



Follow instructions backwards to put everything back in place and then you no longer have to worry about a relay leaving you stranded!
 
#3 ·
thanks for writeup. Added to DIY master.

Any chance you can upload the pics directly to this site (rather than linking from postimage), so they are not lost if that site goes down.
 
#4 ·
Preventative maintenance. I did have the red cog randomly flash a couple of times but from pulling codes its because os 5101 "SMG too sensitive" according to a bulletin.

Yes, I can post them on this server, but how do you want that done? Just upload via attachments? or do you guys have a uploader specific to this?
 
#5 ·
Upload via attachments.
 
#11 · (Edited)
For 10.00 why not? There have been many posts where the relay burned up and car had to be flatbedded. I just replaced the glow plug relay on my diesel because it starts to drop voltage across the relay (2V) contacts over time. The contacts get burned with use. Whats that doing to the harder to replace smg motor? You might get 100k out of it. To me, cheap PM insurance.

Found a pic:
 

Attachments

#12 ·
This is way to cheap and easy to ignore.....it's a simple step that may save you a headache.
 
#15 ·
I replied on your other thread, I completely forgot to mention the relay there yesterday.

But, if the relay is failing, it can happen several ways:
- Poor coil strength: not pulling contact tightly together, high resistance
- oxidization on contacts: high resistance
- arc-pitting on contacts: high resistance

Any of the above causes for high resistance over the contacts will cause more voltage to be dropped across them and less voltage available to the SMG pump motor. This can cause less motor torque and lower pressure output causing the pump to take too long to pressurize the accumulator or not even fully reaching the pressure setpoint to turn it off.
 
#16 ·
I am replacing mine today just for fun. I have 87000 miles and I figure for as cheap as the relay is I would just replace it as preventative maintenance.
 
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#19 ·
SMG relay is the black one closest to the firewall. When you pull it out note the orientation of the relay tabs so you can align the new one the same way. It's hard to see down there. The salmon colored one is the transmission oil cooler pump relay.
Thanks for the advice.

Also, why change the tranny oil relay? Is that known to go bad aswell?

Or just changing it for the heck of it since your in there?
 
#24 ·
#27 ·
Thanks so much for this DIY. I ordered my parts from ECS and got this done in about an hour. I really took my time. I was too forceful on the 3 13mm plastic nuts and I ended up destroying one of them. I'd recommend using a socket driver and not wrench. But most importantly is to only turn 90 degrees. My car has about 50k now and no issues, but just did this simple thing as preventive maintenance. I went ahead and changed out the cabin filters too while I was under the hood.
-michael
 
#34 ·
So I just installed both. The numbers on the relays themselves were different, so now I am panic mode. I believe I only had 1 salmon relay and replaced it, googling I am seeing pics of 2 salmon relays...

I ordered through bmwmini store and the part number they list for the relay is 12631742690. On realoem it shows the salmon colored one with part number as "secondary air pump" relay. It also shows a another salmon one with part number 61368366646 and lists that one as the SMG relay. ?

My relay had 0705 12A printed on it, the new one had 1621 12A printed on it.

Scared to turn on my car to hear a pop and the smell of a fried relay.

(The salmon one that I replaced looks to be in the same location as the OPs in this thread)

(2008 M5)
 
#36 · (Edited)
I did order the part number listed in the beginning of the thread....but am little worried to start the car.

Probably end up opening everything back up and double checking that there isn't another salmon colored relay.

I should have taken a wider photo, but I was just looking to capture the numbers on the relay.

Image


Here is the one that I removed:

Image