545mcz

Over the weekend I hit 1200 miles so I started sniffing out people to mess with . I've been driving it normally trying not to take it past 4500-5000rpm for the first 1.2k miles. I live in a fairly nice area so there are always nice luxury and sports cars on the road to have some fun with. I was able to put my ride against 4 formidable foes over the last few days. And just to note, I had no idea how fast this car (in particular the SMG) really was until the last few days hehe.

My first race was against a 2003 or 2004 Carera 4s. I was on the freeway cruising around 65 in 5th gear when this guy pulled up next to me in his Carera and honked his horn. I made a honking motion to him and put up 2 fingers to tell signal him to go on the 2nd honk. I honked twice, immediately tapped the downshift paddle twice to go down into 3rd, puppy roared as it hit like 5,000 rpm and I buried my foot in it. We raced from like 65 to 130. When i hit 130 I was at least a car length in front of him and then I let off and he blew past and slowed down. He slowed down so I could catch up to him and was excited as I was, he gave me a thumbs up and took off. This was just the first suprise, it is obvious that the SMG tranny has a serious advantage over drivers using a traditional manual. Though the stats of the Carera 4s are faster in both 0-60 and 1/4 mile, when racing someone who isnt a professional driver, this tranny really shines.

Second race was against an E55 AMG. I thought I would save myself the shame and puss out and not race it, but the guy is my neighbor so I knew I wouldn't feel as stupid if I lost to some random lame Mercedes driver . We raced on the expressway by my house from 0-100. I had him from 0-45 and he started gaining on me, by 60 he was next to me and still gainin, and I thought "awww man hes gonna pull away now and leave me in the dust". At around 80 I was surprised that I was still with him, my front bumped was at his rear door. At 100 I let off and was at the ass end of his car. We pulled over and he asked if he could drive it cause he said he thought he was going to smoke me =). We swapped cars and took a nice 30 min drive in the others car. The E55 is an extremely nice car, it was my first time driving one. But I must say it felt topheavy and sluggish around corners compared to the 545, it has a noticable sway to it...

Last race was again on the freeway. I was cruising aroun 65-70 when this asshole in a brand new E500 swerved in right behind me (i'm thinkign to look at the badge on my ride). He stayed there RIGHT on my ass for a few seconds. I had my eye on him the whole time in my mirrors, and as soon as I saw him aggressively swerve to the open right lane next to me, i popped it down from 6th to 3rd (god i love doing that) and took off. He past me and lookd over and gave me a sh*teating grin like he was winning, when I blew past him. Man I left this guy in the dust, by the time i hit 120 he was pretty far back. And he was obviously trying, when i let off at 120, he blew by me and continued to throttle it. He must have been going 140-150 and I was wishing a ticket upon him =)


I am soooo pleased with this car, and especially the SMG tranny. The shifts are sooo fast that it makes it compete with cars that are obviously faster than it. It makes non-professional drivers like we experience on the road unhappy campers :b. I was competely in love with my 2002 540i 6speed manual (540i had been my favorite luxury car even back when it was more boxy in the body), and I thought even my new 545i wouldnt replace my 2002. Well it has and will continue to.

bmwin14rsm

I have been continually skeptical about ordering the SMG. I will have to admit it was my wife who was more exicted about it than me. I hope my experiance is as posative as yours was. With my 545i in production, I am now getting anxious reading all the posative resonces on the SMG.

Where do you live, are you in the US?

545mcz

Yes I'm in the states. San Jose, CA to be exact, I'll update my profile =). And you won't be disappointed with the SMG. It just adds a whole new dimension to the driving experience. While many would argue it's not as "fun" as traditional manual, I think it's a lot of fun. Switching between the paddles and the shifter is good fun, and when you don't feel like doing anything (ie, a long drive), just pop that puppy into automatic mode and you're set.

joe540

I share you enthusiasm. This car is pure fun! downshifting click,click,click and I'm doin' 100+ baby----one of life's great pleasures - its really mind-blowing (given that the car's purpose is not for racing. The "ulitimate" sleeper.

545mcz

Ahahaha agreed! Though the "ultimate sleeper" may be an understatement. This thing surprised the hell out of me this weekend! I think BMW definately had racing in mind when tossing around ideas for this car, especially when implementing the SMG option. I can see those German engineers now..... "Hanz....lets make fast car..."

kigerka

If you search you will find a lot of people are buying SMG. I have it and love it. Wouldn't trade it for another trans.

Good job on the racing.

Try next with Launch Assist

heezy545i

Those are some nice runs

Usually when I see nice car on the road, they never want to play.

Did the e55 seem a lot faster when you drove it as I'm surprised you kept up that well.

545mcz

Yah the E55 did seem faster, not a *LOT* faster, but 1st-4th gear definately had bigger pull than my 545i. But again, the shifts are sooo much slower, inthe SMG 545 you are shifting in milliseconds compared to like a second for manual tranny in the E55, and that's where you make up the time/distance. Shifts with the SMG are at LEAST twice as fast than when I was shifting the E55, and I consider myself to be pretty good at shifting quickly in manual tran.

joe540

What was your neighbor's impression of your 545 after driving it?

545mcz

He loved it. He really liked the SMG tranny. Said the paddles were fun, shifting was great. He said it was more comfortable than his E55 (go BMW comfort seats!) and felt "sportier" than his E55. One thing that he emphasized was the handling. He got out of my 545i and said, "Man, my car handles like a boat compared to this." I agree with him, the 545i is sooooo much tighter/responsive in turns compared to the E55. The sport suspension, wheels, swaybars, and steering just makes the 545i much sportier than most of its competitors. This has always been a problem when talking about BMW vs. Mercedes. Yes Mercedes may put out some faster models, but BMW is more of a "sports luxury" car than a "fast luxury" car like the Mercedes E55. No matter how you look at it, from the body design, suspension, ground clearance, etc, it is obvious that the 545i is the sportier of the two. My neighbor agreed that if you want a fast, comfortable, luxury car for long drives and straight line speed, the E55 is the better buy. But he said for the overall experience, feel, and "more fun to drive"l, he liked the 545i better. Hes had a Mercedes his last 3 cars but now he wants the new E60 M5 =).