04 M3 SMG Issue

[hauptmm3]

So, I know this SMG subject has been beat to death, but here it goes...

I've got an 2004 E46 M3 vert with about 86k miles on her. She's a garage queen, very clean and well taken care of. It's been parked a lot the past 10 months since I've been working from home due to the covid crisis. I do drive it at least once a week though.

A few weeks ago I went out to run some errands. My M was slow engaging 4th gear while driving in S mode. It would slip/slur into 4th for the 1st 15 minutes (about 10 miles) after starting cold. After it warmed up, everything was great. Seemed odd, but I shrugged it off.

The next week I went out again...same thing but now it was happening going from 1st to 2nd and also 3rd to 4th. Otherwise, M drove fine. Cleared-up after 15 minutes.

The next week I started out in D mode and all good, no slipping/slurring from 3rd to 4th gear, no issues at all.

Today, started out in D mode, no slip/slur but completely skipped from 3rd to 5th. Did this in S mode as well and also during downshift. It was like 4th gear never existed. Drove fine otherwise. However 4th gear would never engage no matter S or D. Oh yeah...the little yellow cog warning light started shining brightly.

So yes, I googled/researched. Found the usual stuff, compression springs issue, salmon relay, gear positioner, fluid replacement, etc. Wanted to get some insight from cheapest to most expensive to instruct my go-to shop on what I wanted done. Compression springs seemed to be the most common issue causing the gear skip. I was satisfied with instructing my shop to look at those first.

After parking about an hour, got back in. Started her up. No more yellow cog indicator. Pulled off and no more issues. 4th gear engaged and no slip/slur at all. In fact it drove great. Just to be on the safe side I did the SMG reset. Haven't been out since to see if it's still having issues post reset.

So, now I'm at a loss. I would have bet money on the compression springs.

Can anyone offer any insight/advice on the odd Issue so I can point my shop in the right direction?

[asianvenom]

If you're guessing it maybe the relay, go buy another one and swap it in and see, it is the cheapest approach or thing to start

[eacmen]

I don’t think it would be the relay. If the pump is building pressure the relay is fine. Might just need to run the adaptation procedure again.

Any codes?

[hauptmm3]

Thanks for the thoughts.

I'll have to take it to a shop to see if there are any codes.

Drove a bit today. 4th gear is fine now with just a slight slip/slur from 3 to 4. No yellow cog dash light. After 15 minutes, all was good.

Stumped.