SMG protection mode question

Hey Guys:

My wife was driving my car today - 2005 SMG and when she started the car a transmission protection warning came up, saying only reverse, 1st, 2nd and 3rd gear were available. It also said to take the car to BMW for service.

After a few tries of turning the car off and restarting, the message went away and she was able to drive home.

I haven't checked the transmission fluid level, which I understand can cause some issues if it's low.

What should be my next course of action?

Thanks in advance for any help!

The two most common causes for that error would be low transmission fluid level and the battery. I would check both of those first. If those turn out to be OK then next step would be to get the car scanned to read the error codes.

I had the same problem wit my smg took it in and they said it was the Actuator I believe , it's the hole system that's shifts the car they told me that it would cost 3Gs, but they told me that they would clear all the codes and hopefully it just was a glitch well in my case witch I'm glad is that I haven't had any problems yet so hopefully it's just a glitch in ur's . So u mite wanna take it in and have them clear everything and I hope all goes well

Transmission solenoids(actuators). You can aquire these from thectsc.com for about 500USD. Heres the write up. Also, you will not recieve any codes for these while scanning the vehicle since they are pressure activated. There is a writeup on this here on the forums.

No it can't b that then I no it has something 2 do wit the smg system for not letting it shift

This is an SMG transmission so no solenoids (at least not the same type as with an auto. SMG pump solenoids can fail but pump issues are normally related to the filter or gaskets.)

I saw in the other thread that it was diagnosed as the SMG pump, which can normally be repaired but most mechanics are lazy and just swap it out for a new unit.