Originally Posted by rsyed' post='483003' date='Oct 18 2007, 02:59 AM

Guys, we are talking about a $ 500, here in europe a $ 200 feature - in my eyes, the sales guy just rushed the deal by saying that SAT does not make a difference because he knew that if he said it made a difference, aznunknownx would insist on test driving a car with SAT, and he also knew that there were no e60s available with SAT at that time, and that test driving one would push his deal by atleast couple of weeks if not a month. From this point of view, I think he had definite enough motivation not to tell aznunknownx that SAT made a difference. Alone because of this, I would freak out and talk to a GM there...

ps. you can not expect buyers to do the homework that we here have done, or do - when my dad bought his e70 x5, he would have bought extras that the sales guy was going to talk him into but i did my part in choosing what he should buy because i knew his wishes and requirements... difference is: i cared, the sales guy just did his job...

Originally Posted by rsyed' post='483065' date='Oct 18 2007, 03:59 PM

Obviously, now we know so much more thanks to everyone having done thousand's of miles with their SAT.

Originally Posted by ipp' post='483066' date='Oct 18 2007, 04:05 PM

No. We would have known much if someone did thousands of miles with SAT _AND_ with the new AT. The guys with SAT are trying to justify spending $500 on plastics and the ones with AT are trying to justify why they didn't...

Originally Posted by rsyed' post='483069' date='Oct 18 2007, 04:15 PM

...technically speaking, aren't cars with SAT but with turned off sports mode equivalent to a car without SAT but with the new AT???? From that point of view, thousands of miles with SAT = thousands of miles with new AT

Originally Posted by rsyed' post='483065' date='Oct 18 2007, 08:59 AM

The SAT was a big unknown at the beginning - no one was sure whether you are paying for:
* the paddles only
* the paddles plus different software for the transmission
* the paddles, different software and a completely different ZF transmission

I have been following the SAT discussions from teh beginning and at the beginning, alot of people (even the ones on teh forum) meant that the only difference between SAT and non-SAT are the paddles. Obviously, now we know so much more thanks to everyone having done thousand's of miles with their SAT.

am not sure even if the SAT was in the catalog in europe during the first half of 2007, i think it came with teh new catalogs from sep 07 onwards...

Originally Posted by kscarrol' post='483072' date='Oct 18 2007, 04:24 PM

If this was the case at the time he bought the car then surely the saleperson can be excused for not pushing the SAT. You can't let the buyer off the hook but not the saleperson. We don't know what kind of educational program BMW provided to sales people. Based on the OP's comments, this does not like a case where he asked about the SAT and got brushed off with a simple, "oh it just adds the paddles". Again, I am not trying to make excuses for the salesperson but he is not the only one who is responsible for the misunderstanding...

As for the catalog, the poster is in the US and it has been in the US catalog since it was introduced. By noting that the SAT will not be available until June 2007, the catalog was printed before then...

Originally Posted by rsyed' post='483077' date='Oct 18 2007, 09:47 AM

With "no-one" i meant this forum and other e60 forums. I expect from the sales guy that he tells me that the SAT is the same new transmission zf26 but with a different software, 2 driving modes and paddles, and IF they did not know, all it takes is an email to BMW munich to find out exactly what the difference is, but of course such an email would delay the sale by atleast a day or two! I am sorry, but saleperson must do his work, we can but don't have to...

Originally Posted by kscarrol' post='483312' date='Oct 18 2007, 08:03 PM

Talk about timing, I get home today and the new Roundel is in the mail. Sure enough there is a story on the new 550 sports package but it is written before the SAT was available. The writer, I assume using info he got from BMW, basically says the "SAT option is made up of paddles on the steering well and not worth it". No mention of any difference in performance, coding or whatever sets it apart from the standard Steptronic tranny. Now you would think that BMW, in dealing with the press would have very clearly laid out the differences between the two, with the new SAT pending... If BMW can't educate a single writer for Roundel, how are they going to educate the entire salesforce?