EBMCS03

Are you sure you need to do that. I'm pretty sure SMG "lifts off the gas" for you. So you can essentially keep your foot down. But with that said I always lift off during normal driving anyways cuz its smoother. I only keep my foot down if I'm racing or want to accelerate FAST.

subterFUSE

Like I said earlier....

You CAN drive the SMG by simply flooring it and flicking the paddles. But when you do this the shifts are rough.

By moderating pedal pressure during shifts, you smooth out the shifts dramatically.

BetterMakeWay

...but not as smooth as in an auto. Man with what you say it's the same thing as in a manual car (only that in manual you modulate the clutch). Do a test and you'll see what i mean. 10 short runs with some people in the car. Do your "wizardry" stuff and then note in how many times the passenger's heads moved even slightly. You'll see that even in the perfect shifts there is a slight movement, and i don't think you can shift perfectly smooth 10 out of 10 (unless you are the king of SMG). In D mode in the steptronic if i'm gentle with the throttle the passengers often don't even realise the car changed gear. No head movement whatsoever when car takes 2 seconds to change the gear in the smoothest manner.

So let's cut the c**p and evaluate the 2 objectively:

SMG:
+ for the feel
+ for the sound
+ for the shift times
+ for the slightly more driving involvement (if you consider lifting a toe and pulling a lever is driving involvement)(here no SMG owners nor Steptronic can make a claim when it comes to Manual owners)

Steptronic:
+ for the reliability (which however you look at it will always be more reliable than any SMG)
+ for the comfort (smoothness)
+ for drag racing
+ for ease of use (aka in town traffic, no rolling...adv of the torque converter)

Lateredit: Don't get me wrong i'm not here to say which one is better but we have to be 100% objective in this. Yes i am a newbie at using a SMG but that doesn't mean that i can't figure out that's impossible to make the SMG in the smoothest setting even with perfect liftoff as smooth as a 2 second shift in a Steptronic. In fact it's the shiftime it matters (in a way). And no way a SMG can shift in 2 seconds. Not that you need it, we were talking here about the principle and the fact that you made a big claim. I am a SMG lover and hope in the future i'll get a SMGIII in whatever model and hope i won't have problems with it. In fact i like more SMG than Steptronic but on the right engines. I mean i wouldn't even think of SMG on a diesel cuz 1st it's stupid and 2nd steptronic works perfectly with turboed engines especially TT (keeping the boost up---> see 997 turbo tiptronic (faster) than manual). But i would consider it in a petrol engine, more than a steptronic. So here's the answer. The conjuncture (engine type) combined with how important is for you the above advantages sets the decision.

w8pmc

SMG is ever so sweet.

Having owned an E60 with Steptronic & now SMG, i know which i prefer by a huge margin.

For fast driving, track & traffic light GP's it's SMG everytime, for cruising, town & general use it's Steptronic everytime. Such a shame the D mode in SMG can't be a mirror of Steptronic as that would make SMG the best Gearbox in the world.

BetterMakeWay

Amen to that. That's was i was trying to say. SMGIII would be even more "perfect" if it could be smoother in D (or as you say be a mirror to the Steptronic)

mirage.za

I think it's not that simple - which box is better.
It is all about which box/car better your driving style/needs.

For one, the ONLY thing I didn't like about M5 is the SMG.
BMW was kind enough to let me have one for a day... I felt like God on the roads.
Any gap, any speed, flick 2 gears down, get it to 8K and listen to the music of V10.

My best shifts were on fastest setting, it is rather easy, one just has to back off throttle
a little. My girlfriend tried it....we almost ended up in hospital, with neck injuries.
Let's be real here, gear change is rather violent if you don't know how to do it.
In city traffic also, drive can be a bit jerky. Driven hard, often clutch replacement is
inevitable - computer just does not have the same "feel" for the clutch compared to
good driver with proper stick. So, for me, M5 would be perfect with manual stick.

After my decision to go for 550i (18 months waiting list for M5) it was no brainer
about gearbox - it had to be steptronic. Why ?
Performance is almost the same 5.4s SMS Vs. 5.5s Steptronic, super smooth changes,
no need to worry about the clutch replacement, number of fast starts etc. All one has to
do is just floor it. Would someone with SMG be kind enough to explain the "more fun factor" ?
The way I see it, it is still only brake and accelerator pedal, if you want to wheel spin it you
have to "prepare"....if your rear lets go (when you have to press the clutch to get rear in check)
there's nothing you can do etc etc....

w8pmc

OK, i'll try to explain.

SMG = Sequential MANUAL Gearbox, so as far removed from an Auto as you can get, albeit with no clutch pedal.

If you use the higher SMG settings (remember their's 11 variations) then the gearchanges feel like a manual shift, also you have almost full control over which gear you're in (something no auto can do). In steptronic you have to fight the computer to get the gear you REALLY want with SMG you just select it.

So much more to SMG but i have an awful hangover so sitting in-front of my computer is hurting my eyes. Don't get me wrong, SMG is not perfect as the early controllers are weak & prone to fail, parking can be a real pain with no clutch as are hill starts, however for sheer brutal enjoyment SMG is just awesome.

The final HUUUUUGE plus is European Launch Control, which once you've selected the correct set-up, allows you to hold the car at just pver 4K RPM & the car just dumps the clutch & Nirvana is reached. Not greatly useful for Sprints, but nothing on earth looks or sounds better than an M5 launching correctly.

pennetta

I remember racing a manual Audi S4 with a 4.2 liter V8. We started from a stop and I did not use launch control and did not disable any of the electronic traction/stability controls(which would have made my SMG shifts faster). The S4 lead me out of the hole by about half a car length but at every shift point I gain about six feet solely because of my quicker shift times. At second gear we were even and by the time we were in third gear I was ahead. The S4 was right next to me the whole time so I saw that when he shifted I pulled ahead and when I shifted he pulled ahead, but I pulled ahead a lot more on his shifts than he did on mine. If I turned off the traction/stability controls I would have done better out of the hole and would have had faster shift to boot. This demonstrates that SMG have faster shifts in real life.
But the SMG's benefits are less about stomping the accelerator to the floor for 5.3 sec than they are for road racing from point A to point B. Keeping both hands on the steering wheel as you are racing through S-turns and shifting mid-turn, with the SMG's rev matching, to get in the right gear for an explosive exit is closer to the point. Also there is no way you can consistently shift equal or faster than a SMG without missing a lot of gears in the process, maybe you can do it for one 5.3 sec run, but put a couple run back-to-back and your missing shifts and time with the manual.

w8pmc

Also forgot to mention the 1K RPM throttle blip on downshift that SMG gives which is sooo sweet.

EBMCS03

Ya lifting smooths out the shifts but I wasnt referring to smoothness or not. I was refering to how even if you dont lift it should not affect wearing out the clutch as the car "lifts off the gas" for you anyways... but in the end either way lifting is better over all for regular driving.