Bama214

I've now had my 545i with SMG for a few months now, and I'm past the stage of over-thinking every move. I would like to hear, however, if there are any "tricks of the trade" to be smoother or to get better response from the SMG.

In particular:
* Do you frequently roll to a stop using Neutral, or downshift progressively?
* Do you let the transmission automatically drop thru the gears when stopping (based on min revs), or row the boat yourself?
* Do you use the Sport setting more, or the "regular" mode?
* Do you park in Neutral, or leave it in gear?
* Any other tips?

At present, I pretty much use the regular (non-Sport) setting, and do all the downshifting myself, and hardly ever coast in Neutral. This is fundamentally different than when I was driving a pure manual transmission -- I would usually depress the clutch pedal and coast to a stop.

Anyway, would appreciate any and all tips from the pro's out there!

SMG353

Do you have any mods to the car yet? Do you plan on getting any, best advise for SMG and any tricks, get yourself the sprint booster. There is a group buy in here going on, for like 245. Get that, and then you can have fun with the car.

For smooth shifting, feather the gas peddle, when you shift. It will get rid of the hard jerk, and a lot easier on the rear. (have you seen the size of it)
Sport or regular, depends on how you feel.
Car is slugish in first till it builds up power, (sprintbooster gets rid of that) and using the shifter on the console, gives better responce than the paddles.

Good luck and enjoy. There are a million tricks, it's just about how confortable are you with it.

Bama214

I thought I was just "old school" --- I like the console shifter also!

I'm pretty good with the feather of the gas peddle, a little finesse does smooth things out.

Not quite ready for mods yet, just want to learn the hardware I have first.

Thanks

IceyTys

Bama......

Hey there whats up? Well I think you and I have had our cars about the same amount of time and to answer your questions:

In particular:
* Do you frequently roll to a stop using Neutral, or downshift progressively?
I always downshift, I may forget occationally, but i downshift
* Do you let the transmission automatically drop thru the gears when stopping (based on min revs), or row the boat yourself?
Again I downshift
* Do you use the Sport setting more, or the "regular" mode?
I use my sport setting occationally, I'd probably use it more if there was a way to leave it in sport mode, I dont like how it always reverts to non-sport after you turn the car off
* Do you park in Neutral, or leave it in gear?
I park my car in Neutral always with the emergency brake on, as if it were a regular standard
* Any other tips?
I have to agree with SMG353, I think its just a matter or choice


Hell I dont know if I am doing things right or not, but thats the way I've done things. Althought I like the SMG and I am used to it now, sometimes I forget what gear I am in if my hand blocks the indicator light or the rpms when holding the steering wheel, and I down shift prematurely. I also hardly ever use the paddle shifters either, guess im just used to a normal stick, but it feels more comfortable with one arm on the shifter.

I guess if you were the type of driver who keeps his hands at 10 and 2 the paddles would make more sense, but not me!

Happy Motoring!

AlexFW

NEVER downshift to N . The instruction manual said it too . You lost the control of the car .


I often downshift by levers because I want to hear the engine

Always sport, but it's a problem because I go too fast in sport mode .

D!!



Mhhh, likely there are many other tips, but I'm to tired to think now

Rudy

On my SMG, I always downshifted manually -- the car does it too late to be able to maintain full control in case you need to suddenly accelerate, etc. so that should answer the first two questions. I used sport mode pretty much all the time for the additional throttle response and faster shift times. Always park the car in gear, not neutral -- even on a traditional manual. Since you've been driving the car for some time now, I'm not sure what other tips there are except to say that the longer you drive it, the better you'll get...

(Some of you may find it interesting that I pretty much drive my SAT the same way I drove my SMG -- I always downshift before the car does, I always use sport mode, and I always use manual mode. My only complaint is that the car doesn't let you downshift into first early enough -- you have to wait until about 2,000 or 2,400 rpms before it will let you go from 2nd to 1st...)

EBMCS03

It all depends.
1. Never shift to neutral. In an emergency and you need power again getting back into gear would be troublesome. Dont think its good for the tranny anyways.

2. Depends... if i know I'm going to come to a stop then I'll let the tranny drop thru the gears... if I'm slowing down and theres a potential where I'll have to accelerate again before coming to a full stop then I'll downshift manually... or depending on my mood. If i want to show off and let the engine rev match I downshift.

3. I use both... I use to use regular mode 80% of the time but the past year i've been using both 50/50. IF I'm in the city driving really slow then I use regular mode...

4. Depends. If I'm parked in my garage or a location I'm comfortable at and its a really flat surface and I know the car wont go anywhere I'll park in Neutral... If its a foreign place I park in gear.

Other tips? Practice makes perfect. In sports mode when you shift, lift off the gas pedal MOST of the way not all the way... keep the gas depressed slightly at around 10% during the shift and it makes for very smooth shifts.

Westcoast M5

The safest thing is to put it in gear when you park, just like any manual transmission. If the parking brake fails or is not set hard enough the car will roll. It should be a habit to always park in gear, in fact in mine if you shut off the ignition in neutral it chimes and flashes a warning to put it in gear.

The rest is personal preference, but as other have said, keep the power available if you need it - stay in an appropriate gear.

Don't you just love the SMG!

Bama214

Thanks to all for the replies. To answer Westcoast M5 -- yes I love the SMG!

The first few days were tough, almost like learning a manual trans over again (but at least no stalls!). Since then it's been a blast. Love the control compared to previous automatics. The rev matching is just cool. The involvement factor with the car really makes the experience come alive. Great stuff.

IceyTys

The only part of the questions I am a bit confused about is the parking the car in gear as it seem a few of you do park in gear. In a normal manual transmission if the car is in gear at a stop light the car will not roll backwards, IE the clutch not being depressed. However on the SMG Tranny if the car is in gear (1st) at a stop light and you dont have you foot on the brake or the accelerator the car will roll backwards, or towards the decline.

So my question is, when the engine is off does the hydrallic clutch automatically disengage?