welcome aboard, azwdct ! m5 will be the car for you. have you considered another m3 or m6 when you drive alone ? that way you'll have all the fun .

 

azwdct, welcome to the best forum for the E60! (I hope my email to you was informative and helped you find this place okay!! )

CRRobert linked you to a recent post about SMG and hopefully you followed it through. Since many people ask similar questions about SMG, I updated the SMG FAQ thread so that it contains links to most of the better SMG threads.

You can find the SMG FAQ thread and follow it's links by clicking here.

For what it's worth, the quick answer to your question is YES, there is a learning curve to the SMG. You WILL be able to shift it smoothly (as smooth or smoother than a traditional manual) in time. It's all about reprogramming your brain to learn the new timing, etc. The best thing to try to remember when learning to reprogram your brain is that your hand initiates the shift sequence now. Before, your hand moved the shifter only after you depressed the clutch. Now, the hand movement tells the car to depress the clutch so when you feather the throttle, you need to do it a bit later than your instincts tell you to. Those of us who've driven the SMG's for some time seem to all agree that you will eventually get it sorted out and realize that there is nothing more fun to drive than this transmission!

I will, however, contradict the advice of robg and say that I always downshift the car before it does it by itself. I've found that the downshifts are actually smoother if you do it yourself. An added benefit is you're always in the gear you need to be in. For example, you're coming up on a red light, slowing down as you approach. The car is in second gear based on the speed you're travelling. You slow down to the minimum speed that second gear allows and just before the car downshifts into first, the light turns green and you accelerate. In this case, I would want first gear but the car is still in second. If I downshift now, it'll be way jerkier than if I blipped it down myself while still decelerating. Another scenario where this happens often is coming up to a stop sign but never coming to a complete stop. Many people simply slow down to the point where you're almost stopped but then they proceed through the intersection without actually stopping. Try doing this without manually downshifting in the SMG and you'll see why I always downshift way earlier than the car does. As a matter of fact, I'm now in the habit of pressing my thumb like three or four times when I'm crawling to be sure I'm in first (without having to look at the gear selector).

Enjoy the forums and, more importantly, enjoy your car!!

 

Quote

"I will, however, contradict the advice of robg and say that I always downshift the car before it does it by itself. I've found that the downshifts are actually smoother if you do it yourself. An added benefit is you're always in the gear you need to be in."


Nice Rudy - Pick on the "Junior Member" lol

Perhaps I did overstate. I do not always let the car downshift to 1st. As you point out, there are numerous times where it will be benefitial to downshift into 1st. When I know I will absolutely be coming to a stop, ie, fourth in line at a red light, I do find that it is smoother to simply leave the car in 2nd and when I reach low enough RPM's the car will shift to first without any noticible lurch.

One other bit of advice. If accelaration is not an issue, but smoothness is - like when my wife or other non-car person is in the car with me - I often shift to 2nd while at a stop to avoid the 1 - 2 shift. Obviously slower accelartation, but smoother.

 

I'll agree with you there -- starting out in 2nd with grandma, etc. is usually the best advice. With winter coming, I'm actually wishing there was a setting that could be changed to allow the car to always start from 2nd gear...