Can't get car into neutral... what did I do to my SMG?

[Stepstools]

Thank you for the insight. Just curious did you replace the motor yourself? I see this replacement motor from dr vanos (https://drvanos.com/products/e46-m3-smg-electric-motor), but at $500, rather just put that towards the manual swap. I really need to get the code read again and see if it is the same thing. Def going to look into INPA - should have when I bought the car.

I did it myself using the SMG Society motor through the under-car method. It was a nightmare to work in that tiny space, but it completely solved my SMG issues. I really enjoy driving the SMG and was just looking for the cheapest and simplest fix to squeeze an extra 50k miles or so out of the car. Definitely don't waste your money on a new motor that you'll only put a couple thousand miles on if you intend on doing the manual swap anyway. In case you're curious, I recorded some data regarding pump prime speeds before and after replacing the motor: https://nam3forum.com/forums/forum/m...or-replacement

[vaRAVENS]

I did it myself using the SMG Society motor through the under-car method. It was a nightmare to work in that tiny space, but it completely solved my SMG issues. I really enjoy driving the SMG and was just looking for the cheapest and simplest fix to squeeze an extra 50k miles or so out of the car. Definitely don't waste your money on a new motor that you'll only put a couple thousand miles on if you intend on doing the manual swap anyway. In case you're curious, I recorded some data regarding pump prime speeds before and after replacing the motor: https://nam3forum.com/forums/forum/m...or-replacement

Thanks to all, again, for all the insight.

[Pnick]

hhhm. I can get my car in gear with the hood up, even when the sensors say it is open. Maybe its a later model year thing?? My cog light flashes but never prevents a shift.

Was the engine running when you attempted to change gear?
This is what I remember when I still have my M...
SCENARIOS:
Car parked, transmission in gear, engine not running, hood open...make an attempt to change gear...IT WILL NOT CHANGE GEAR, WILL NOT ALLOW START.
Car parked, transmission in NEUTRAL "0", engine not running, hood open...IT WILL NOT CHANGE GEAR, WILL ALLOW START
Car parked, transmission in NEUTRAL "0", engine running, hood up will not prevent the SMG from changing gear but the gear indicator light in the dash will keep flashing.
Back when I still have my M, i was driving home and all of a sudden my dash gear indicator was flashing, I was able to change gear up/down no problem. I stopped and slammed my hood closed further
and flashing stopped and drove home.