Just watched the E46 M3 episode, where Mike bought a car with the SMG transmission, and had Ant convert it to a conventional manual (adding $3k to the value in the process). It gave a really good insight into how the SMG transmission works, and also the VANOS system, including how to service it. Fascinating episode, at least for me.
I always liked Edd, but Ant clearly knows his stuff too. Good presenter, too.
Pretty much the whole episode was devoted to the techie stuff. Mike bought the car, turned up with a bag of VANOS service parts, and then wheeled a gearbox bellhousing off to an external supplier where we saw it being adapted for manual operation. I recall Edd saying that the techie part of the show was being increasingly sidelined, but there was no evidence of it here. Quite the opposite, in fact.
And I still want an E46 M3! :)
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