UUronL

Again... it's all down to how the marketingspeak gets interpreted. That's about the only thing that's clear at this point.

aybeesea

If you look at my previous post, I wonder how many ways the quote could be interpreted?

I make it one.

Others may differ.

ABC

Raighne

Well, that documentation was not released to the press/public (it was leaked wasn't it). It was an internal presentation used for an internal briefing from UK marketing to UK dealers. Is it possible, even for a second, that marketing just got it kind of wrong and are misinforming even their own dealer network (stranger things have happened). I have worked with a lot of marketing groups and have seen this happen from time to time as they get carried away by the their own hyperbole.

I say that because it's quite interesting that the offical BMW UK Press release uses different language ... "One press of the Sport button behind the gear lever allows shifts to be made using steering wheel mounted paddles to deliver even faster, more dynamic, changes.". Now that is as ambiguous as the US press release.

I think, regarding this topic, we need to be put out of our misery once and for all. Could someone on this forum who works for a dealership (or has some connection with BMW) please get the specifics of this 'sports automatic transmission' for us.

aybeesea

Glad to see you've been converted from rumour and speculation.

I was using old currency.

ABC

dlevi67

I agree that there aren't too many interpretations. However, "your experience may differ" in reality. I just wonder how can they offer a significantly faster shift for ?70, unless it's just a reprogramming of the gearbox ECU, and if that is the case, how much faster will it really be?

(Edit: plus the misinterpretation possibility, as Raighne pointed out)

UUronL

Please take this all in the spirit of healthy debate... I'm not trying to be combative. It's just that I see, live, eat, and breath lots of dodgy marketing-speak... decoding it succesfully is key. With that said, what we have to decode is making my "Spidey senses tingle". I can see lots of ways to interpret.


First, there's an asterisk. We can assume that the asterisk is meant to forward our attention to the special availability message in paretheses, or... it could be referencing a footnote that isn't attached that might clarify what is meant by "faster shift times". Second, faster how? Is it a system that truly actuates shifts more quickly, or simply a human interface that could allow a driver to operate it in a different manner and theoretically achieve "faster shift times"... say from the moment they decide to change gears to when they follow through with action. The chain of action as I see it consists of the driver deciding to shift a gear, executing the act (or acts) that sets the transmission's act of making a gear change into motion, and the eventual gear change itself. We don't really know which part of that chain they intend to describe. To assume it is the transmission's mechanical chain only would be premature given the information we have at this point.

aybeesea

Not a problem. Never has been.

The astrerisk refers to June 2007 availability (for that gearbox).

From my quote I make 2 gearboxes (one manual and one auto) immediately available and one gearbox (sports automatic) available June 2007 (according to the document).

They do use the term "three gearboxes" but as all the disbelievers among us, that COULD mean... anything..

ABC

colejl

On the E90, the ?70 just buys the paddles... (No talk of different shift times?)

aybeesea

Semi duplicate. Sorry.

ABC

Raighne

I only allow myself to indulge in rumour and speculation during the 'anticipation phase' where is too much fun to imagine the possibilities.
Now that vapour has turned to substance it's time to get a bit more serious.

;-)

We are not so different after all.