derrickj

My loaner vehicle is a Z4 SMG, and with all the praise I have heard about SMG on this board, I am curious if the E60 gearbox is different? I am not really a big fan of this on the Z4, perhaps I need a little more culture, but it has been unamiously praised here and I would think that someone might dislike it other than me.

E60525d

I think on the Z4 is SMG1 geabox and its SMG2 on the E60.

GER_545SMG

Not sure of the different generations, but I do knw the one on the e60 is different from the Z4. My understanding is that it is somewhere between the Z4 and the M3 in terms of shift speeds and programmability.

There is like a 50 page doc that someone posted on the subject of SMG a couple months back (want to say it was Rudy). Mre than you probably want to know...just do a search to find. It is a PDF.

beewang

Absolutely NOT True!!

The SMG 1 was first introduced on the E36 series (and NOT available in U.S.)
The SMG 2 is the trannyin the M3

The SMG system that's in the Z4 is commonly know as SSG.



Now to answer the original question: is the SMG in Z4 same as the one in E60.

Answer: NO!! they may look alike w/ similar functionality. It is in fact very different SMG (it is really SSG, but anyways..) units.

In short, the SMG unit in the E60 is a MUCH better system. So if yo like the Z4 SMG, you will love the E60 SMG.

cheers,

beewang

TitaniumGray5

Absolutely NOT True!!

The SMG 1 was first introduced on the E36 series (and NOT available in U.S.)
The SMG 2 is the trannyin the M3

The SMG system that's in the Z4 is commonly know as SSG.



Now to answer the original question: is the SMG in Z4 same as the one in E60.

Answer: NO!! they may look alike w/ similar functionality. It is in fact very different SMG (it is really SSG, but anyways..) units.

In short, the SMG unit in the E60 is a MUCH better system. So if yo like the Z4 SMG, you will love the E60 SMG.

cheers,

beewang
[/quote]


Beewang is right about the SMG evolution...I've had an M3 SMG for 3 years and have driven z4 smg and 645 SMG (same as e60). Both Z4 and 645 are better than M3 SMG and z4 and 645 felt fairly similar to me, as much as you can compare two totally different cars. I like the newer revised SMG software of the z4 and 645 quite a lot. It just depends what you are looking for. If you are an automatic driver, then smg will not make you happy. If you are a manual driver and looking to get away from the clutch pedal, then you might be happy with it. btw, the automatic mode on SMG really sucks...just pretend it doesn't exist and DON'T get the car thinking your spouse who is an auto driver will be able to drive it....

EBMCS03

No way the Z4 SMG is different. I really didnt like it when I test drove it and was not going to get SMG because of it but then after test driving the 545 in SMG. (* YES I was able to find a SMG 545 to test here in So cal at the dealers*) I decided to get SMG. It drove a lot better than the Z4.

Rudy

Yup, it was me...

http://forums.e60.net/index.php?showtopic=2054

Rudy

Oh, and to answer the question of whether or not the SMG is the same in the E60 as in the Z4, I'd say they're more similar than different. Sure, there may be slight differences but overall, for general comparison purposes, I think they are the same...