Okay,

I am almost positive that my starter is dead. So here's my question, is there any way to start an SMG car w/o the starter? On a standard manual i could just roll the car in neutral, but unfortunately, SMG requires the brake to be engaged, any thoughts?

Cannot jump start SMG to my knowledge. You require hydraulic pressure to operate the clutch and gears. Without a running engine, you don't have any. Starter will need to be replaced where it is or have it flatbedded to the dealer/repair facility.

How do you know it's the starter? They are quite reliable.

You get hydraulic pressure from the electronic pump to engage/disengage the SMG gears. However, I don't think you can push start it. You should be able to jump start it tho. You just need a kick ass vehicle to be able to provide the cranking power for a BMW. Probably a diesel truck or one of those dedicated portable jump units.

You get hydraulic pressure from the electronic pump to engage/disengage the SMG gears. However, I don't think you can push start it. You should be able to jump start it tho. You just need a kick ass vehicle to be able to provide the cranking power for a BMW. Probably a diesel truck or one of those dedicated portable jump units.

He says his starter is gone, not his battery.

What are your symptoms? My car's beginning to show signs of not starting on first try...it cranks over, but nothing. Always starts on second try...

What are your symptoms? My car's beginning to show signs of not starting on first try...it cranks over, but nothing. Always starts on second try...

Yeah, car did the same for a while...dealership wouldn't do anything though since the car would still start. I am having the car taken via flatbed to the dealership today. I'll let you guys know what happens as far as why it wasn't starting. However, I checked everything i.e. every possible related fuse both in the glovebox and inside the DME box, all battery connections and voltage, etc. So it is likely the issues i was having where the car wouldn't go on the first try was signs of the starter dying.

Chris

He says his starter is gone, not his battery.

Understood... but somebody above said the hydraulic pressure comes from a running engine. I was correcting them on the fact that the hydraulic pressure comes from an electric motor... not a running engine, so you should be able to jump start a SMG car, but not push start it.

Relating to the bad starter... it's rare, but has happened. Before I would jump to a bad starter tho, I would check to see if it is trully in neutral.

What are your symptoms? My car's beginning to show signs of not starting on first try...it cranks over, but nothing. Always starts on second try...

Are you using Shell gas again??:nono