sorry to hear dat clavenk, hope u'll figure out how to fix yours soon. from the reading, the way most smg owners are saying, it is as if one will encounter this irritating 'juddering' problem at one point or another, yes? the only consolation is that we can actually minimize if not eliminate the problem by regular resetting of the smg adaptation value, clutch slip point, clutch curve etc using GT1. plus, recalibration of the biting point of the hydraulic clutch by going neutral at 60-70kmph, with possible downside of clutch wear accelaration? worst case the clutch plate, slave, flywheel (gotta find out wat the hell is that) etc would have to be replaced (anybody have an idea how much it would cost, and how many km the new ones would last, roughly?). i have not had the first hand experience with any smg issue (yet), so i am a bit anxious to find out if i would encounter the problem later on (bet i would), and how big of a dent it will cause to my bank acct (every 1 half year replace the actuator? = rm4g? gosh).
honestly what really drives me to acquire the car is the hp and torque of a 330i, why e46 rather than the later model.. is the feel (think e90 is just too quiet), plus i want a bit of an extra bite with the smg tranny. in short, basically satisfying my urge to experience daily driving a couple notch below ///m, with a reasonably bearable maintenance (lower than maintaining an ///m, well, i can't afford one anyway). still the big question lingering in my mind is, in the long term, will i regret it? are smg issues too big of an inconvenience to handle? i know the answer is relative to an individual, i.e. depends on how you value the satisfaction as compared to the maintenance/part replacement u have to put up with. but as a new owner, as much as possible, i wish to learn more about the issues so that i can prepare myself and moolah to fix them. thus, preventive measures/maintenance would be very very valuable info indeed, hate to be stranded by the roadside with home minister yapping away 'i toldcha'. B33mEr and sachseelan who have used your smg for past couple years, you mind sharing roughly the average cost per annum of replacing parts for your smg? mine is a 2002 made, reg in 2007 with odometer of abt 65,000 km (just to give an idea where mine stands in terms of years and km done). from my reading, i think the expansion tank, bearing, mounting, bush, arms will be up for change pretty soon. based on what i gathered, i think i can put up with the normal wear and tear of an e46, but i'm a bit bothered by the additional part replacement specific to smg and whether it'll be too much for me to bear.
somehow, got this tingling feeling that B33mEr is at the brink of giving up tolerating the smg issues thus the push to find out more about converting his to manual tranny, no? (dats why i ask if he is giving up on his smg earlier).
really need that TT session with yall, and obtain some valuable pointers. can't wait to get back to kl for good in a week time (i'm currently in the middle east) and hope to settle the transfer as soon as I'm back, then we can tcock abt smg. meantime, any info and feedback is greatly appreciated, thanks.
