ProMed

Personally I wouldn't call it completely different. In my comparison of the two, the SAT does shift a few milliseconds faster but this could only be felt at 100% throttle shifts, the rest of the time it felt identical. The small blip is only on down shifts. If I remember correctly, you are also the person who said you could feel the suspension tighten up when you press the SAT button until someone posted the data sheets which shows the SAT doesn't adjust the suspension at all.

MRV99

Wow tha ia very sharp of you. I misspoke on that and I can easily explain that. At the time I just got a 2011 x5 with adaptive drive and that does tighten the suspension when you push the sport button so excuse me for misspeaking. I know you have never made a mistake so please excuse me Since I currently have the SAT I know first hand the differenc. If I find the time I will take a video so people can make their own judgement of the speed

mookish

IMO it's pointless to even continue this debate, people will always find a reason to say that something that is clearly better in all respects, is equal to something else. Clearly SMG was taken out of production in place of SAT for a reason. I have owned both and I loved my SMG and I thought it was the end all to the auto vs. man debate. That is until I got my SAT. The SAT is quicker on the draw and more reliable than SMG. Anyone that says any different or tries to argue that they are the same or that they can't tell the difference is in denial, can't drive, or just hasn't spent enough time in both options. Here's the deal: SAT>SMG>MAN>AUTO. And this is wrt sheer quickness and ease of use. Some will place a manual tranny in a different spot, but usually those people are 'old school' and like to row their own gears. But a SAT will out shift a MAN every day of the week, so we're not talking personal preferences. I can blow thru the gears in my SAT so quick and smooth you can be drinking a hot cup of coffee and wouldn't even know I shifted. Try that with a SMG or MAN and I bet you'll have hot coffee in your lap.

ProMed

That is an awful lot of superlatives you apply to the SAT, the fact remains that a SAT equipped car delivers the exact same performance times as a Steptronic equipped car. If you want paddles for the fun factor that is certainly understandable, but don't expect a performance gain that can actually be measured.

mookish

I don't know where you get Steptronic from, because I don't see that in my comments. I clearly said SAT, SMG, MAN & AUTO. When I say SAT, it doesn't matter if you use the paddles or the shift knob, there's no difference there. My comments are directed towards a comparison b/w SMG and SAT. I hope you're not saying that a reg auto w/step delivers the same performance as the SAT?

ProMed

Steptronic is the Auto, and yes the SAT delivers the exact same performance times as the standard automatic (steptronic) in DS. Feel free to share any article you can find that says otherwise. Those miliseconds faster shift speeds do not translate into any measurable increase in performance.

mookish

Oh wow, you can't be serious! What's the point of it then if it's the "EXACT" same performance?

http://jon.bimmerfest.com/bulletins/MY2008_E60PR.pdf

Optional: six-speed automatic transmission and automatic sports mode. As an option and, indeed, as a highly interesting alternative to the standard six-speed manual gearbox, all model variants in the BMW 5 Series are available with a six-speed automatic transmission as a no-extra-cost option.

Apart from the direct connection to the engine, this transmission stands out in particular through its upgraded hydraulics, innovative torque converter and even more powerful management software, ensuring a more spontaneous response to even the slightest movement of the gas pedal and an extremely fast and efficient gearchange. On the road, this means reaction times now some 40 per cent faster than on former automatic transmission models, with the actual gearchange time being almost halved. Shifting back a gear is now just as fast, too, thanks to the direct gear path finder.

The automatic transmission is controlled by an electronic gear selector lever following the usual gearshift pattern. The new gear selector lever moves back to its initial position once the gear selected is in mesh, with the transmission itself masterminded not in a mechanical process, but rather via electrical signals.

As an additional alternative, the optional six-speed Sport Automatic Transmission will be available in the BMW 550i and 535i equipped with the optional Sport Package. This new transmission offers the high standard of motoring comfort so typical of the latest generation of automatic transmissions and at the same time allows the driver to shift gears in even more sporting style in the manual mode, the driver choosing gears sequentially either by means of the gear selector lever introduced exclusively for this special transmission or by means of gearshift paddles on the steering wheel. The Sport Automatic will be available beginning with June 2007 production.

There ya go...

mookish

So you still wanna say the 2007 reg auto and the 2008 SAT tranny are the EXACT same?

ProMed

I've never said anything about the 07 vs the 08, but I'm sure you already knew that. The tranny for the Steptronic and SAT equipped cars is EXACTLY the same.

Everything you posted above except the last paragraph is for the regular old Steptronic auto, you do realize the Steptronic has a sports mode (DS) right? All of the stuff you highlited in red is the same for the regular steptronic automatic... well except for the "more sporting style" stuff you highlighted in SAT section at the end for some reason.. lol.

Also notice that they make no mention of an increase in performance with the SAT option, seems like this is something they would want to brag about if it was true.. but it's not.

So again, please make sure to post up any article you can find that shows the SAT delivers an actual measurable increase in performance over the standard Steptronic.

mookish

Dude, the title of this thread is "2007 550i vs 2008 550i What changed under the hood?" so if we're not comparing 2007 to 2008 what are we doing?

Lets talk about the difference in the 2008 tranny vs the 2008 tranny? LOL, makes no sense.