tachyon

I was just on the phone with my sales rep getting an update on the production status of my 550 (starts this week!). He said that they were given word that SMG really is on an indefinite hold. He believes the manual will start production next month as expected.

It was not made clear to him if this was a production capacity issue, supply problem, or waiting for an upgraded system. He is not confident that SMG will be an option at all, at least through December.

Stay tuned ... I'm sure more will be known soon.

Rudy

A similar SMG "hold" happened while I was waiting for my car to be produced back in January or February of 2004. It had me panicked because it was one of those "until further notice" problems where there was no date associated with the commencement of SMG production and no reason given for the delay.

(Ironically, during my panic and quest for more information about the issue, I happened to stumble upon Lomag's original site and he and I subsequently "met" via email during our dialog about the SMG delay.)

It turned out to be a short delay that was caused by a supply problem so luckily everything worked out fine. I can only wonder if I'd ever joined this website had it not been for the SMG delay and Mark's little corner of the web...

Hope the current delay is something similar -- I'll be sick if I can't get another SMG E60 when my current lease is up!

drjochen

I had spoken to a BMW development engineer (former schoolmate of mine) during my visit to Germany a couple of weeks ago and he suggested that SMG is indeed dead for all cars except the 3 series and the M models. It simply didn't sell...

Rudy

I've heard that too and it sickens me. The only cure for that sickness would be to get an M5, I suppose...

drjochen

I've heard that too and it sickens me. The only cure for that sickness would be to get an M5, I suppose...
[/quote]


Better start to work overtime...

JDN

I've heard that too and it sickens me. The only cure for that sickness would be to get an M5, I suppose...
[/quote]
Now I know I will be keeping this one for a long time.

speedracerF4i

If BMW discontinues SMG on the 5'er, what would that do to the resale value for the current SMG equiped cars? Would this lower the resale because this proves that SMG is an obsolete technology, or simply that the market place is not ready for this technology. Either way it is corrosive to the SMG's resale. People would also be fearful that the replacement parts would not be readily available in the future. Thus avoiding an used 5'er with SMG.

On the other hand, would there be enough SMG aficionados, whom missed out on getting an SMG cars while it was offered, bid up the prices of used 5'er with SMG? Simply because of its limited supply?

robg

I was very seriously considering upgrading to a 550. My sales rep said they would let me out of my current lease, and the new lease payment would only be slightly higher. But, if there is no SMG option am I not sure that I want to do this. Tough call new 550 with the added power or 545 with the SMG.

Rudy

I think the SMG fans here ought to make sure that BMW hears from us about this possible decision.

Sure, SMG's are not selling well but it seems clear that those of us who bought it would buy another one in a heartbeat. Maybe this trend will continue as more and more people slowly adopt the new technology?

my530i

The stupid thing that BMW did was putting non-M SMG version, which is very jerky at the first test drive, on E60. This turns off most test drivers and he/she doesn't feel like he/she wants that car with SMG unless he/she already have driven M3 SMG and think that the learning curve is ahead.

Why doesn't BMW put some kind of M3 SMG version on E60? I'm sure they will sell it like hot cakes.

This make me reconsider whether I'd upgrade to 550 or not.