CoolTones

Oops! My last post should have read "WITHOUT Penalizing me..." The SMG was very smooth as I came to a stop and it dropped back down to 1st gear automatically.

Bart001

Well it's not ordered yet.....awaiting pricing and the ability to really place an order and not just give a dealer a deposit. I hope that the ability to order a 550i starts in the next couple of months.

I'm all the way on the east coast, outside of Boston. I went to Wagner BMW today (the dealer closest to me) but they didnt have a single SMG-equipped car available to drive. Not an M3, nada.

When I do order I will let a few local dealers compete, so I figure I'll try to get into an SMG test drive at at least one of those dealers.

Glad you enjoyed your SMG experience! I'm looking forward to checking it out myself.

subterFUSE

I have SMG, and it was the best decision I made with my 545.

I feel so "in control" of the car with SMG. I can do things with it I could never do with any car before.

I only had true manual experience from driving my brother's M3, but I was rather good with the true manual.... But I like SMg more. It's quicker, less work, and you can put it in auto mode if you ever have to. (I almost never use auto mode, but sometimes its nice)

EBMCS03

Hey anyone with experience with SMG and Manual on hills? Like stopping in the middle of the hill and trying to accelerate up the hill? How well does SMG behave?

Anyone in San Francisco can comment?


Reason I ask. I'm up in SF this weekend and was driving around in my MINI 6spd manual... Oh man... hills are a killer on clutches and a major wear and tear on the clutch. I think I burned off a few thousand miles off the clutch just from today! So cars now w/out DSC+ w/out the brake roll back assist how well does SMG behave on really steep hills?

Rudy

The SMG does hills without any problem. You simply move your foot from brake to gas and you drift back a small amount (less than you would with a traditional manual, in most cases.)

One thing you should NOT do with an SMG is hold yourself on the hill with the gas (like you can in an automatic). Doing this is equivalent to riding the clutch and will burn out the clutch quite rapidly...

realtyman

If I don't want to roll back on a steep hill I put my left foot on the brake for a moment while I give it some gas. Just enough to keep it from rolling back when starting off.

Rudy

Yup, that works too. No need for any parking brake acrobatics with the SMG...

realtyman

Yup. You can do it all and eat a cheeseburger at the same time (just don't try putting it in the cupholder).

hinckley

I "get" that SMG can shift faster than I can, but this post exemplifies my issue with SMG, or steptronics, for that matter -- you lose touch with the car. I think that with SMG it's easy to forget where you are in the shift sequence. With a manual's more tactile interface (your hand on the stick) you always just know whether you're in 3rd or 5th. You don't have to look anywhere. And you'd certainly never approach a stop sign and forget to apply the clutch and downshift to 1st.

One other thing -- how many SMG drivers get that silly grin on their face when they've just executed a perfect 5th-to-3rd downshift??!!

Anyway, I'm a dinosaur and understand the SMG preference of others, but I'll drive a stick as long as BMW lets me.

Bart001

Rudy what is the technique with SMG for crawling along in traffic jam type traffic? Im wondering what the SMG equivalent is of having the car in first...giving it a little clutch and gas to move it along, then immediately putting it back into neutral.

Also, what is the SMG equivalent of crawling along in first giving it no throttle...then just stepping on the clutch if you need to slow down...then releasing the clutch when you want to crawl along again in first.