[sunghyun7]

nah the clutch solenoid was ok. it was the o-ring for the solenoid sitting on top of the hydraulic block. i say do them everytime we do clutch.

 

[dbenkert]

These guys right?

 

[flacoramos]

These guys right?

Correct. Honestly tho if trans is out everyone should go through the whole thing. Pretty sure you've seen/heard/read the smg 'while in there to-do list' in the DIY sticky.

 

[23732]

I would too love an ZF8, but the oil pump on them is limited to 8000rpm and I personally would like to keep all the revs I can, so for me it will be a DCT. A newer, wetclutch box should solve most of the 'problems' the SMG has.

On a sidenote, I have both an SMG3 car and a 6HP car. Although the 6HP is anything but sporty in an OEM configuration, with software like xHP on it, it is IMO much better than the SMG.

 

[tangle]

Why? We have the 6hp on my wife's diesel X5, and while I've flashed the TCU to a stage 2 to firm up shifts and remove torque limiting due to the increased power output but I wouldn't trade the SMG for that transmission for any reason whatsoever. It does a fine job in that application but is primitive in comparison to internet's "SMG III is trash" party-line...

SMG > ZF any day of the week, 10 times on Sunday, no question. Driven two ZF equipped cars and they are very stale pieces of equipment and perform inconsistently, should never be allowed on a performance car. Would be a tragedy to see one mated to an S85.

 

[richardngriffin]

just fyi, my story is as follows:
1. smg stranded me under a bridge during rush hour. towed to my house
2. everything pointed to the hydraulic motor, so I changed hydraulic motor in my garage.
3. didn't work. I got busy and gave it to a shop to figure it out.
4. I found the highest rated shop in town based on forum & facebook reviews. the shop owner (over 50yo, works mostly on bmw's in his entire professional life) loved my car and said he can fix it.
5. after diagnosis, he says hydraulic motor needs to be replaced.. i said i already did that, but he said he's going to get brand new motor from the dealership. i said ok.
6. didn't fix it. now he said the accumulator needs to be replaced. i said ok.
7. didn't fix it. next step is new hydraulic block for $7k+ labor. i said no thanks and towed it back.
8. i looked into doing 8spd auto or dct swap. couldn't find anyone that can program me the TCU for e60 m5
9. flaco texted me picture of broken o-ring another member found on his smg.
10. i took down the transmission... hey guess what, broken o-ring. replaced and went on 1000+mile road trip without hiccup. now it's back to being my daily driver. TEN CENT O-RING literally almost totaled the e60 m5.

moral of the story is... this car is complicated and for most shops, they lack the expertise and experience to actually fix it. spending "thousands" rebuilding anything on this car is probably misguided.

Hi, I am in exactly the same situation. Which is the o-ring you refer to?
(9. flaco texted me picture of broken o-ring another member found on his smg.)

Hydraulic Pump Seal's, have already been done.
Solenoid Valve Seal Kit?

Thanks,
Richard

 

[sunghyun7]

yes the solenoid o-rings. from all the pictures i saw, it's the rear facing solenoid o-rings. my front facing solenoid o-rings looked good. rear ones were shot with one broken. technically you can change them out with transmission still in the car (one guy already has done that on this forum). i wouldn't have attempted it personally, but since now we know it's possible (and it's been the rear solenoid o-rings that's broken), you can try it. worst case, the transmission isn't too hard to take down with 2 people. took about couple hours doing it the first time.

no need to get the kit. just buy it from the o-ring store or amazon. there's a post made by flaco that lists out o-ring dimensions. they are accurate. just get those in viton. you'll be fine. mine has been flawless.