I love it! No complaints here and with the M Sprint Booster, it's just that much better.

 

The SMG is not jerky. It is my opinion that it is misunderstood. It is a manual transmission. Some people buy it expecting it to drive like an automatic or steptronic and then complain because they can feel the shifts as you could in any manual transmission.

The SMG is great and shifts smoother and faster than any human can shift the 6-speed and manage the clutch, IMO.

It is a shame that people listen to this and make the decision to buy an M-5 with the OLD 6-speed transmission from the E39 M5 which wasn't so great in the E39. It was my experience (after replacing the clutch) that the clutch on the E39 could not handle the power. There was a road test (when it was first put in the E60) that stated it could not hold up to a full day at the track. Those that do the 6-speed do not know what they are missing with the SMG which is a whole lot of fun especially in S-6 with DSC off!!! The M5 with the SMG will chirp/spin the tire shfiting into third gear when you are going all out. The car is a beast in S-6 (when going all out) and civil when you want it to be. LOVE IT!!!!!

Good luck with your decision. Don't let erroneous posts on froum sites lead your decision. You need to 'weed' through the B.S. There is plenty of discussions on m5board about the SMG, but many (maybe even most) will lead you down the wrong path...

Perhaps the best way to think about it is to not buy a the M5 if you are looking for the car to drive like an automatic or if you have no experience with manual transmissions and don't understand the difference between the SMG and the 6-speed which is simply that the car is working the clutch for you.

Any jerkiness is in automatic mode is simply because the car is now shifting and working the clutch for you and it will not shift exactly when you would (i.e. it never seems to be in the gear you want to be in when you want it). The car cannot read your mind, but it does a good job even still if you want to eat a cheeseburger or something and not have to shift...

 

To my understanding, SMG is a manual transmission without the clutch. The full auto mode that came with the SMG will jerks a lot because the car was supposedly to be driven as manual.

is this right?

 

I can't speak for anyone else, but I know how cars with SMG drive--they're nice, and make very fast shifts. I bought a manual 6 speed because I actually enjoy working the clutch and stick through the gears.

People who either don't like working the clutch or don't really care should get the SMG. But don't assume that 6MT owners made their decision based on bad information about supposedly clunky SMG transmissions.

 

It is a manual transmission WITH a computer controlled hydraulic CLUTCH (just no clutch pedal).

The automatic mode is fine. You can feel the shifts (identical to a person shfiting a traditional 6-speed) because it is a manual being shifted automatically. Kind of like you are a passenger in a traditional manual car (you can feel the driver's shifts).

I don't know how the car was supposed to be driven, but it is best driven in manual mode (mainly becaue it will change gears when you want it to and will always be in the right gear without any hesitation). This mode is best used if you don't have a free hand to shift or something or maybe in traffic while eating a cheesburger, drinking your latte, reaching in the back seat, typing text messages or replying to e-mails. I use D-mode (automatic) maybe 1% of the time.

If you are looking for smooth shifts (or do not want to shift the car) then I would buy a car with a traditional automatic transmission. Buying a E60 M5 with a 6-speed is not the answer and you will be getting an inferior transmission with your $100K car that was put in the car (only in America) to satisfy all the complaints about not be a driver's car. Believe me if you understand the car and the SMG you lose basically nothing and gain a ton with the SMG over the traditional 6-speed.

About the only thing you can't do is put in the clutch and free-rev the car at speed (but who does that anyways). But if you just want to rev up the engine while at speed (for show or something) there are ways to do that with the SMG (i.e. downshift with a slight tap on the accelerator). Once you understand the car and learn/adapt to drive it the 6-speed falls short in EVERY aspect, IMO. You might hear that you are not connected to the road as much as with the traditional 6-speed with a clutch pedal. I disagree... When your clutch is slipping freely because it can't handle the power, you are not connected to the road at all.

With all that said and to be fair the SMG has had it's share of issues as with most cutting edge technology that have been covered under warranty. The 2008's are supposed to be better, but there are some issues and occasional random mishaps and probably at some point I will need to warranty mine for something. If the SMG is working as designed it is awesome

 

I don't. I asume it is for the two reasons (either misinformation or those that like working the clutch for the experience). I never minded working the clutch and enjoyed/preferred driving manual transmissions my entire life including my E39 M5 for 180,000 miles. I do not miss the clutch pedal and aftter putting 13,000 miles on my E60 only enjoy the SMG more each day and after acheiving a state of Zen with the SMG I am sooo glad I did not read all these negative posts about the SMG or I might not know what I would be missing either and be stuck in a 6-speed.

The only reason people should not get the SMG is if they are dead set on working the clutch for some sort of enjoyment. There is absolutely no other reason to buy a 6-speed and I would argue that the enjoyment as well as performance you will get out of the SMG in all other aspects far exceeds the enjoyment of the action of pushing in on a clutch pedal.

I am not trying to slam anyone's decison for buying a 6-speed, I just want others that are in the process of making a decision to know that the negative comments about the SMG are mostly misunderstandings.

 

thanks for the detail report! currently i'm not debating about should i get a 6 speed or SMG. My main problem was the jerks that present in the car. I was told by a friend of mine that the new M3 uses the double clutch and it shift very smoothly. He told me that the new M5 supposedly have the same set up(double clutch). So i was just checking whether that is true.

Since i am very very new in the BMW world, i'm curious about the experience of driving SMG. that's the reason why i was asking about those jerks. I now completely understand how does the SMG works and i know what i am expecting if i decided to go with the M5.

to others: thanks for the insights!!!!

 

So the simple answer is:

The SMG is not jerky. The M5 does not have a dual clutch.

The only jerk present in MY car is the one behind the wheel.

 

I'm a jerk in my M5. Hahahaha!