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How to repair your SSG clutch slave using BMW parts

34K views 37 replies 14 participants last post by  wandido 
#1 ·
I have been suffering with a worsening leak from the hydraulics on my SSG gearbox for a while. This is what I did to remedy the problem; the car is a UK spec SSG 330i Sport.
Firstly, check that it is the clutch slave that is leaking, it will most likely be running into the inside of the bell housing and out of the the drain hole at the bottom, it will also probably be moist around the three multi plugs on the left hand side of the gearbox; you will notice that the fluid that is leaking is lime green and smells sweet. Once you have established that it is this that is leaking I'll tell you what you need to do.
Go to your nearest BMW dealership or BMW independant and order a seal repair kit for a manual clutch slave (they do not do a kit for the SSG) this will be a special order from Germany and will take 7-10 days as it is made to order, you will also need 1litre of CHF11s fluid. The kit consists of a new cap, new rubber gaitor and new piston complete with piston seal.
Start the job by disconnecting you battery, then you will need a ramp as you will be under the car for a considerable amount of time; from under the car strip the frame holding the hydraulics and pump on the left hand side, two hydraulic pipes, the gearbox saddle and lastly the reservoir; most of the bolts are T27 and T45 torx head and are fiddly to get to but achievable. You may need to remove two 18mm bolts from prop shaft coupling to get to reservoir bolts The pump is hard wired in, so don't try to unplug it just prop it up on the something safely.
You will then be able to remove the clutch slave very easily.
When you remove the slave, take off the clutch position sensor via 2 4mm allen head bolts - you do not want to damage this!
Then put it in a vice and remove the black cap by peeling it out, then pull out the rubber gaitor and you can then pull out the piston rod, then remove the spring circlip with circlip pliers; there will then be a washer and voila! your piston with seal, there is also a spring behind the piston.
Now you will notice that the piston you have removed and the piston in the kit are different, the seal however is exactly the same, take your old one off (it will probably break apart as it will have become brittle) carefully with something blunt remove the new seal and put it on your piston TAKE NOTE OF THE ORIENTATION OF THE SEAL. Lubricate the seal and push the pitson back in, there will be some resistance but it will go. Refit all the parts and press the new cap in - use a long 18mm socket or something similar and vice.
Refit all your parts reverse of removal, and refill your reservoir.
cycle your ignition a couple of times to prime the pump, this will partly bleed the hydraulics, fill the reservoir again to the top mark, you can start the car and you will probably get no warning lights but this is all you can do, you will then need a BMW tech guy with diagnostic gear to run the bleed procedure, this cannot be done manually as the ECU needs to learn clutch position, slip, gear position etc. DON'T BE TEMPTED TO DRIVE THE CAR UNTIL THIS IS DONE.
This realistically takes 2 hours and the battery on your car must be FULLY charged or the ECU will not perform.
I took a chance at the kit fitting, but in the end it paid off.
Any reasonable mechanic can do this job, and you DO NOT need to remove the gearbox. Once you have the seal out it really is a piece of piss . Budget for £27 for kit, £10 for fluid and £45-£120 for bleed procedure and a full day. You will save at least a grand by doing this yourself.
Good luck and I hope I have been useful in writing this.
 
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#4 · (Edited)
Great information!!!! Finally a viable solutions from BMW for all SSG owners ... Thank you so much for sharing this bro :thumbup: :bow:

P/s: do you have the part number for it?
 
#5 ·
Part number for the kit is 21 52 1 159 332, however I cannot be responsible if this is wrong and different countries may quote different numbers.
When you order it, the dealer/specialist will tell you what it is and it will non refundable.

Again good luck SSG er's
 
#6 · (Edited)
I would like to contribute to this thread on another solutions for our hydraulic pump (possible solution too for the 5speed smg) ... It seems there is a hydraulic pump repair kit for the SSG unit for the E46. I'm pretty positive that the repair kit can be retrofitted for 5speed transmission found on the earlier version such as mine.



Part Number: 23427571297
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=EV53&mospid=47725&btnr=23_0960&hg=23&fg=15

original info:
http://forums.5series.net/topic/86614-smg-transmission-fail-safe/page__st__30
 
#8 ·
Yes i guess so ... but it's stated as a clutch pump repair kit. Do you think that the pump will fit the 5 speed SMG too?
 
#10 · (Edited)
About the best I can do for now!!
 

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#12 ·
Nice ... Great work and thanks for sharing :thumbup:

Any chance for a DIY pictorial?
 
#13 ·
Thanks for the help, just this saturday I took your advice and did this whole procedure, everything except the BMW bleeding part. Ill be taking the car to get that done since the dealer have been closed since its a weekend, but my main concern is that the pump still wont shut up!!!:mad: The leak is gone finally, but the pump is still consistently pressurizing. Do you think thats from the system not being bleed yet? Or could it be another issue with my pump now?
 
#14 ·
Sorry for delay, I've been away for a week.

Did you sort the bleed procdure?

I think the reason for your pump continually running will most likey be because there is air in the system and so the accumulator will not reach the pressure required by the system.

If your pump was not continually running before then after bleeding, I would like to bet it would be cured.

Hope this helps, and how did you fing the job??
 
#15 ·
I finally got a chance to take the car to the dealership after all these weeks. I just took it about 30 minutes ago and dropped it off. The mechanic said that it is most likely from the system still have air in it and its needs to be bleed and the clutch gear positioning needs to happen. This is the same mechanic that repaired the slave cylinder a few weeks back. Im keeping my fingers crossed that bleeding the system will finally fix this problem. I will post back by the end of the day and let you know what happened. btw thanks a milli LRS for this fix of the cylinder bro, saved a whole lotta ppl a wholee lotttaaa moneyy $$$$
 
#16 ·
So any update LRS??? How's the O-Ring holding up? My actuator is starting to leak ...
 
#18 · (Edited)
Hi Guys.

Please do not drive the car after the procedure untill it has been configured. I would not like you to damage the clutch etc, the system is likely to be full of air and may give unpredictable performance and possibly damage the clutch.

The system will default to neutral gear, so it could be towed I suppose.

I had a guy come mobile with dealer software, so it was done while on the ramp.

The seal appears to be holding up although I have only done a couple of thousand miles.

Incidently, I got hold of a couple of exact match seals and I am thinking of making up a few kits (if there is enough interest I will). I will prob replace the accumulator and pump next.

Good luck guys, I am moving onto my brakes now as they require some work, as well as the suspension, exhaust, some under body trim etc etc etc..............BMW's eh, I wonder if they will catch on!!

:thumbup:
 
#19 · (Edited)
So i orderd the repair kit through a local shop here in M'sia using the parts number provided by LRS (thanks mate) :-



The piston for the clutch slave cylinder


In comparison with the SMG


The rubber thingy (dunno what it's called) repair kit rubber is on the left while one came with the SMG is on the right


I've got a few question for you LRS:-
Can we use the rubber thingy?

can we use the metal cap provided in the repair kit?

last but not least how on earth did you get the rubber out from the piston unharmed lol

Also if you gonna make your own kits let me know cos there's plenty of SMG owners here that would want to buy it from you (me included) provided the price is very reasonable and there's a installation guide like Beisan's for example as the price demanded by this one shop over here is just day light robbery lol

Thanks mate.
 
#20 ·
HI mate.

The 'thingy' or gaitor is exactly the same as your original (which is ripped looking at your photo) and the metal cap is practically the same albeit for a slight difference in the inside hole diameter, you will need this also as the old will be damaged when you take it off.

Getting the seal off is a bit un nerving but get it nice and warm (in hot water) and using something blunt just ease it off; I used a well used flat headed screw driver to lift it a little then prised it off. A little bit of oil will help lubricate it while you do this, same when you put it on your piston.

Oh and don't forget to put the seal on the correct way!!
 
#21 ·
Thanks for the response mate :thumbup: I'll try it this weekend takes a few days to summon up the courage :D
 
#23 ·
Hello, there should be no reasin why you cannot bleed the system while on axle stands, indeed mine was done while on the ramp and wheels on the floor.
I imagine it will need to be flat of course and very important is that your battery needs to be as close to 100% as possible charge or the system will not activate the procedure....and keep your eye on the fluid level. Good luck.

Lee
 
#25 ·
Hello. Can anyone share how long these new seals hold up. I paid a dealer almost $400 to install that seal, bleed, and reset my smg. It blew out last month...38k miles later. Paid $1300 for new slave, bleed, reprogramming. Kept my original. Wondering if it's worth ordering another repair kit, swapping seals and having a back up. I have 150k miles, which means the original slave seal lasted about 112k miles. $400 every 40k miles or $1300 every 110k or so...it's within $100! Swapping repair kit seals every 40k seems more time hassling. Any thoughts?
Also, LRS, decided whether to make/sell those kits? If so, how much?
Thanks
 
#28 · (Edited)
For anyone who reads this thread: the solution with the slave cylinder repair kit is not suitable for the Non-M / SSG (all 5- and 6-speed SMG systems) clutch actuator. The seal has slightly diffrent dimensions and is made of a completely diffrent rubber material. The SSG operates with a synthetic hydraulic oil, at very high pressure and temperature.
I offer overhaul for the part for EU-market and every month SSG drivers show up who followed the information here or in e46fanatics and destroyed their actuator or pump. By installation of the wrong seal, after some time small rubber pieces detach from the seal and can get into the hydraulic pump. Also the high pressure is baking the rubber material on the cylinder inner walls and causes the piston to stuck.
This thread does not help to avoid costs, it multiplies them.
 
#29 ·
For anyone who reads this thread: the solution with the slave cylinder repair kit is not suitable for the Non-M / SSG clutch actuator. The seal has slightly diffrent dimensions and is made of a completely diffrent rubber material. The SSG operates with a synthetic hydraulic oil, at very high pressure and temperature.
I offer overhaul for the part for EU-market and every month SSG drivers show up who followed the information here or in e46fanatics and destroyed their actuator or pump. By installation of the wrong seal, after some time small rubber pieces detach from the seal and can get into the hydraulic pump. Also the high pressure is baking the rubber material on the cylinder inner walls and causes the piston to stuck.
This thread does not help to avoid costs, it multiplies them.
What are this?

This is my smg

https://www.google.es/search?q=smg+1+e46&hl=es&prmd=isvn&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjA18nAhYDRAhWsKMAKHXRsAV8Q_AUIBygB&biw=360&bih=598#imgrc=e2XpYHXHqbBPcM%3A
 
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