SMG recalibration info
 

Just thought I'd share with you guys some handy info on the SMG box that's been developing over on the cutters site.

A lot of the cars there (including mine) suffered from a few SMG issues. Clutch slur, slow gar changes, juddering in first gear and rough changes is a good list!

The first solution was a change of gearbox fluid, which only really helped with the rough changes.

There was another solution: to do a paddle reset by holding both paddles in neutral at 40mph, but this doesn't do much either except reset the values that the SMG learns over time.

Anyway, with my car continuing to frustrate me at track days and round town, I decided to do some heavy research into the SMG.

As you probably know, the clutch pedal hydraulic arm is controlled by a computer that knows a certain biting point. The biting point of course changes over time and the computer adjusts for the clutch/flywheel wear.

But.. Most of the time, the computer gets it wrong and hence you get the symptoms.

Also when you drive the car hard, the actual wear is quicker than the computer's prediction.

So what's the solution? A full 3-point SMG reset at the Stealers will do it. This includes bleeding and repressurising the gearbox and clutch actuators via a computer, and also measuring all gears and the clutch biting point.

The Stealers will probably charge you up to £150 to do this (usually an hours rate and 'parts'), and that's without diagnosis. Of course if your car is in warranty then they will probably do it for free.

But I wanted this feature at home. So I researched more into the cable and software needed, and most are too expensive or not 100% reliable. So I ended up making my own cable an used software of a specific version (which took my ages to find) to do the resets.

On the plus side, the software (INPA) is the same code reader the factory uses!

Of course if you continue to drive hard, the symptoms can come back, so I've overcome this by doing the 3rd reset weekly.

Anyway, this has come in handy on the cutters forum, so I thought you'd like the info too. If you want more info, PM me, and I can also do a group buy if people are interested? Obviously I will be donating to the forum if I do a group buy! :)

Cheers, and hope that info was useful!

David
(M3Laith)

How much is the cable and software ? :whistle:

Whoops I forgot that! £50 for everything including instructions and recorded delivery :)

Not to be rude or anything, but the pirated software is free to download if you know where to look and the cable is a standard OBDII KKL cable that's like 5 pounds to get from ebay.

INPA whilst a good tool to use it is not as complete as the GT1 plateform (which is almost idiot proof). GT1 is also free to download if you know where to look, making it work is a whole different story however.

With the SMG reset, you also have to do it in the correct sequence to get a proper result, otherwise it will make it worse (I know because I've tried).

The beauty of GT1 is it will guide you through the steps on SMG reset and which one to operate first (I've actually posted this on m3forums in another thread). Actually I am trying to find time to do another DIY so I can show all the screen shots.

Those that are looking to start building their own GT1 or INPA machine should look at bimmerforums.org - which houses all the information on there (under the diagnostic forum - I've contributed on that forum if you search for my forum name).

And for the record, the guys over on bmwecu.org are the ones that first "cracked" the GT1 and got it working on standard laptops. Mentions should be made to Ken Fister as the guy that provided all this to the BMW Enthusiasts.

Good info, thanks Tom. Your GT1 step by steps are really useful for members.:thumbs:

Slightly unfortunate name but I guess thanks also to Mr. Fister.;)

:hahaha:Made me laugh on this dull and wet morning

NZ-M3, you're absolutely right! Don't worry I get this response all the time, so I know you're not being rude. :)

I've done a different modification to the cable that means you can use it in different usb ports and on different computers without having to install the chipset modifier program. It's a bit of handywork with an SMD solder, but it's worth it for it to be a sturdy cable.

My package is just a simple and easy way to get both code reading and SMG resets to your home. It comes with a very straightforward set of instructions that I've written myself, and comes with the links to all the right software so you don't need to spend weeks trying to find them on the big spider web! :) It covers the costs of the soldering bits, ruined cables (you'll be surprised if you have a go yourself at SMD soldering), packaging, cables, recorded delivery and hours spent into the night and burnt fingers lol. The leftovers go to saving up for my CSL or just beer...

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With regards to INPA vs GT1, I've tried both, and TBH, I prefer to use INPA. Not only is it blindingly fast as it's native to Windows, but it also guides you which to do first (the resets are in order 1,2 and 3), and it is simple to install. INPA has a much more comprehensive code reading tool as it provides more than just the error code (i.e. information about the car when the error occurred), and it gives it in a text format that's easy to copy and record for history.

When it comes to the ECU coding, NCS expert is a much more powerful tool. The only reason why GT1 is the more famous choice is because it was made for dealers, hence why a lot of people have heard of it and are thus more inclined to using it.

INPA and NCS was made for the factory, and is the concentrated version of GT1.

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Anyhoo, discussion aside, I'll still offer to do a group buy if you guys want some, if not don't worry, but the information that both me and NZ-M3 gave will still be useful! :) If anyone's been installing the software and has issues you can always PM me if you're stuck too, so I'm not just selling my services ;)

Does the software just do fault reads / clutch reset or can you tweak other settings?

My only other concern with buying this is that my car is under warranty and it this is something I don't want to unintentionally validate.

Best

Jonathan

You can tweak other settings with NCS expert. We've started a how-to thread over at the cutters, and there's lots of info on bimmerforums. You can do little things like make the car bleep when you lock it etc..

It shouldn't cause issues with your warranty, but as a precaution, you should always back up your ecu file. :)

I'm a geek by trade and armed with a proper ODBII interface plus just about every version of DIS/GT1/INPA/SSS ever made I managed to transform my perfect 20k mile clutch actuation into slippage hell. I was playing around and I chose 'reset clutch curves' in INPA and in two seconds it was fucked.

I spent nearly six months trying to sort it, including flashing the latest ECU update and learning some russian but it never recovered. I did another 20k miles afterward and it didn't improve. So use with care.

In the end the conclusion was that the clutch or flywheel was slightly warped so when the GT1 measured the distance it was measuring a 'high' point, it always released the clutch too early. There can be a massive difference doing this hot and cold, first thing in the morning or last thing at night, on an uphill or slight slope; really I reset using the full GT1 process about 50 times in all situations to try and correct it and it is amazing the different results it would produce, none right though :hahaha: