Member545

This was due to the fact you can't disable DTC, not because of the tranny. They said it was a half second slower to 60 than the SMG.

I went to two dealers in Boston back in 2004 and they both discouraged the SMG, they said it was mainly because they kept getting them back for service issues and they would find nothing wrong. People that bought them didn't underststand how to use them. Neither dealer had one to test drive either, so I wasn't going to order one before test driving it. I guess I can't blame the dealers for not wanting to deal with problems that are not easily fixed. That said, when I test drove the M5, I did enjoy the SMG.

subterFUSE

Exactly.

People buy SMG..... and they don't know how to drive it. So when they have rough shifts.... they blame it on the car.

It is BMWs fault, plain and simple. It is their responsibility to inform their sales force about the products, and the various options. Obviously, this was never done.... because I have never talked to a dealer who knows what I know about the SMG.

Rudy

I agree that BMW blew it big time with the marketing of the SMG. I forget where I read it (posted here somewhere) but I remember a quote from some BMW executive in Germany saying that the biggest mistake they made was offering the automatic mode. I think he's right -- too many people look at the automatic mode as a substitute for the Steptronic.

The demise of SMG can be summed up with the following process:

• Salespeople have no idea how to sell the SMG and either attempt to sell it without the proper product knowledge or discourage customers from getting it in the first place.
• Most people can't test drive them because no dealers will order any -- but even if they have one to test, a short test-drive is usually only enough to make someone dislike the SMG and solidify what the salesperson told them.
• People that shouldn't have bought one end up buying one thinking it will be like an automatic and end up returning them or complaining to the dealer about how bad it is.
• We then end up back at the beginning where the dealer discourages people from buying them because "nobody likes them".

I'll never forget how many times my salesperson said "Are you SURE you want SMG? Really sure? Really, really sure? Okay then!" when I was ordering my car. I'm not sure but I have a feeling that I'm one of the only E60 SMG owners (non-M, of course) out of the many E60's that my dealer has sold...

We can only hope that the DSG will give us SMG lovers what we're looking for again -- in the meantime, I'm hopeful that the new sport auto will keep me happy until that happens.

elyk

i always thought of SMG as a NEAT idea and wanted it on my car, but i believe it wasnt an option for me at that time. now that i am planning to switch to another BMW, i was hoping to be able to have SMG. what a big let down

Rudy

Get an M3 or M5 and you'll be fine!

uglybear

For me (and I may not be alone) there was not enough convincing data to believe that SMG was something I would want. First, if I wanted automatic with shifting, I'd get steptronic. If I wanted manual, I would get manual. SMG changes the way you shift gears. I never considered SMG since I decided that after shifting with right hand while left stayed on the steering wheel for 20 years I simply didn't want to learn new tricks. However, no one offered me a good demo of SMG and hence I still don't know if it is good or bad.

Rudy

A perfect example of why SMG never caught on...

rodybmw

Another SMG / Auburn guy here .

Are you guys sure that they didn't just stop offering the SMG because they will be replacing it with the ZSG next year? I thought that was always the plan.

As someone who loves the SMG I would be sad if they stopped offering it without a true replacement (ala ZSG). HOWEVER, I have to be honest...........I test drove a new E70 X5 3.0si and was absolutely amazed at how fast it shifted in manual mode. Forget the old steptronic, this thing was as fast as (if not faster than) the SMG II in my car in shifts with absolutely perfect smoothness. The only way that you could tell that it shifted was from the sound of the engine and the RPM needle. Rudy, if I remember correctly it even blipped to match the rev when downshifting.

So with this new transmission being so fast I don't really see much difference between it and my SMG other than 2 things: One is that it does not have Acceleration Assist (launch control), and the other is that it shifts so smoothly that it does not "feel" like a manual the way the SMG does.

Now what I don't know is whether the X5 has the standard new transmission or the Sport one. I can't see the Sport one shifting any faster than this did, so could the difference between the Sport and normal Step on the E60 be just the paddles plus perhaps a slightly differnt gearing ratio?

Rudy

Unless I learn something that is opposite of what rody and others are saying, I think I will end up giving the sport automatic a try. Sure, I'd like an SMG or DSG but since it sounds like the new sport auto works pretty much like the current SMG (including blips on downshifts), I think it's a safe bet for me to give it a try. (Since I'll be leasing again, my risk is low...)