03 M3 Sloppy Transmission

[jcsmfever]

There seems to be a lot of play on the transmission of our new 03 M3. Not to mention that I think ANY play in the tranny of a new M3 is unacceptable. Does anyone else have this problem? Under sport mode it seems to rock back and forth sometimes because there is such a disconnect between the power and the wheels.

The dealer mechanic says this is normal with the E46 M3s and that it meets BMW specs, but he said, "if I were you, I would complain." It was as if he was trained not to help us if the transmission met some low quality standard but he understood our frustration. He even said "some are worse than yours!" Anyone I know that we have let drive the car says the same thing without us even bringing it up. I think this is total B.S., we are having a BMW rep come out to look at it which won't be till Dec 27. You don't drop 60K on a Beamer and expect to have to deal with this. Is it possible the BMW rep will screw us and say that it "meets BMW specs"?

Needless to say, the respone so far to this problem has been VERY surprising and VERY unsatisfactory. It seems as if BMW knows there is a problems but doesn't want to have to recall all of the M3s.

Thanks for your comments in advance!

 

[vlad]

I believe that what you are describing can be related to the infamous drive train "clunk" on the e46 M3s.

BMW NA states that this is normal on these cars.
See this link.

 

[jcsmfever]

It is an audible clunk as well as one that you can feel. But I think some are worse than others. What is up with that? The dealer mechanic did say that it was like that for a reason but what reason? I was too caught up in the conversation to follow up on that.

 

[jcsmfever]

Thanks a lot VLAD! That was helpful but I'm still concerned about it sloppy feel of the tranny.