I don't do it either but I can understand that people would do it out of habit -- especially while still learning the car. There's no question that at a red-light, on a hill, if you're not yet accustomed to the SMG, your brain will be tricked into thinking you're driving an automatic and it's easy to use the gas as a hill holder.

Thanks for chiming in with your mileage and long-term experiences with the SMG. I think too many people only see the handful of people with problems and forget that there are many of us out there who will keep buying SMG's as long as they offer them!

 

21000 miles on my 545i SMG and no problems yet.