SMG - Are we taking a step backwards?

[pentoman]

I was reading people's complaints about SMG on the new M5 on m5board.com and wrote this:

Does anyone else wonder if we're going backwards these days?? I've never driven SMG and expect it's a technological masterpiece, however



Even the supposedly 'manual' SMG III doesn't really let you control the car, except which gear you are in. And you could get your 10 year old daughter to do that for you from the passenger seat.


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[pic]http://a.focus.de/D/DL/DLB/DLBE/DLBEA/UPLOAD/HBSBAGGaONk.jpg[/pic]


BACK in the '80s with an old fashioned automatic, if you're braking for a corner you could just shove it in '3' or '2' or '1' and it would slam down into that gear, even if it meant nearly overrevving - which is great for driving very fast or on the track (and you could smooth the shift by using the accelerator). The driver was in control of the car's shifts. You can even control the upshifts if you're good.



A new tiptronic automatic seems better - in that it lets you choose your gear with buttons - but it does annoying things like cuts power on shifts, it won't let you change down rapidly when braking in case of overrevving, it won't let you hit the rev limiter (except AMG speedshift) etc etc. All of which means you feel like you have with much less control than you should. Ultimately it can only give you the "impression" of control because you can choose the gear. But really all the rest is being controlled by the car - often in a way that you don't like - and you can tell.



I wonder if this is what some experience with SMG: the "impression" of being better because it can change gears more quickly, which appears to be the only advantage. But it actually gives the car, not the driver, more control over what you do. Can't change gears quickly at low revs? Why not - some people like to. Can't coast along in neutral? Can't pull away in 3rd gear? Why not? You might want to. Just because it's your car.


I'm not anti-technology in any way and believe some sort of automated gearbox will lead us into the future. But BMW should not lose its emphasis on driving involvment. After all, what good is "The Ultimate Driving Machine" if the driver isn't doing the driving.


Russell
'86 190E, '62 Elan

[Zod]

You really do need to drive to get SMG. If you drove an SMG car, without having spent years driving manuals, you just wouldn't get anything like the best out of it.

It is difficult to explain to someone who hasn't driven it (nobody managed a satisfactory explanation for me before I switched from a manual M3 to an SMG one - I had to drive one), but the driver can still influence the gearchange. You can feel the clutch action and you learn to anticipate the way it works. Of course, you can jus tstick it in the quickest setting and just pull the paddle, making superfast, harsh changes but to keep the car balance, you want to smooth them out and to do that, you have to use hte knowledge built up over the years using a clutch pedal with a gearstick.

Until I drove one, I couldn't imagine how you could park in a tight space without a clutch pedal, but it it there an insitinctive: you can feel the appraoch to the bite point through the accelerator.

Try one for a long drive. You may well be impressed.

[Sortie 10]

I've put over 6000 miles (over 4500 abroad) on my Z4 SMG in the past 4 months. I'd agree with Zod - you really must try SMG but add that even after a 2 - 3 hour test drive, you should be prepared to have a gamble and go for it (a Ferrari owning pal said it took him some months to become fully acquainted with the F1 gearbox).
Firstly to get the gripes over and done with, there have been software glitches (see my other post) and in some conditions a classy manual (I had an MX-5, that by all accounts has one of the best manual boxes in the business) has a certain "tactility" through a nicely weighted lever and balanced clutch than on some occasions I miss; such as col-bashing in the Alps when blatting from one hairpin to another.
In day to day driving I think that SMG is massively under-rated. On fast French D roads (or those rare traffic-free British B's) I don't want my hands off the wheel, particularly on fast twisty high speed (abroad think 90 - ?#* mph)I DO want to be able to change gear seamlessly and obtain the right gear for the conditions instantly. I do want control over the gear (so an automatic is not for me - in these conditions), I want to concentrate on the conditions to change up whilst overtaking (the 2.5 Z4 is quick, but no rocket-ship so to maintain the momentum it is necessary to change up.)
In town, it is nice to have the option of a slush-matic setting - there's no satisfaction in gearchanging in heavy stop-start traffic, and then when the traffic thins to go back to SMG mode and use those horses.
The Z4 manual was pleasant, but the gearchange was not nearly as positive as the MX-5. My dealer offered me a cracking deal on a very young (in miles) SMG and took the gamble (following Ferrari-pal's advice) and have taken to SMG.
I've no wish to dip the clutch and coast in neutral, just because you can, it doesn't add anything to my driving pleasure (nor can I see any safety or mechanical benefits).
My main regret? That the Z4 has an earlier generation
SMG. Friends with M3 CSLs have so much more flexibility in their gearbox programs, it's a shame that the bean-counters (and I'm one) dictated that Z4, despite being a sports car, should have a de-specced box. Shame.
One final thought - BMW are renown for making cracking drivers cars, with decent engines and well-balanced handling. Could it be that their engineers designed M5 for an SMG set-up from the outset - to match the rest of the package?
I'm an SMG convert - despite the occasional software problem; I am confused as to why more Z4's and M3's are not specced with it - it really does add something to the drive, as long as you give it time to be acquainted with it. (After all if you want an easy drive that you can jump into and not have any gearbox-challenge there's always the Micra!)

Sortie

[mudfish]

I am an SMG convert having owned an M3 Manual and now smitten with an SMG Estoril Blue beauty.

You can do all the things with the SMG system such coasting in neutral (God know why you would want to do that); pulling away in 2nd is feasible (though why you'd want to do it in 3rd?)

Basically the SMG lets you be in full control of the car....without breaking it. Try and push the car into 1st from 70mph and it won't let you.

I think if you haven't tried it you can't offer an opinion based on assumption.

[ascender]

The SMG-II on the E46 M3 was a real treat for me - the best balance between an auto and a manual I'd driven. But it did take time to get the most out of it and I've seen loads of reports from people who were put off by its being too jerky when being driven by a dealer who obviously had no idea how to drive it properly.

I think the SSG in the Z4 is the same idea, but I've only ever driven manual Z4s. My mate has an E36 Evo with the original SMG which I've heard was dreadful but he quite likes it.

The SMG-II was one of the things I miss most about my M3 and I think its clear that manufacturers see this sort of gearbox as the way forward. Personally, with our roads becoming ever more congested and over-policed by cameras, I quite like the option of having a sort-of-auto mode for the daily grind but also being able to use the paddles when I feel like it. Like others have said, there is a clutch and you do get a feel for it over the course of a few days.

[psjkxp]

I've got a dodge left knee from sports injuries and the SMG is perfect
I hate driving an auto but I get knee problems with a manual.
So, having bought an E46 M3 SMG II in Feb 2005, I can tell you that I have the best of both worlds,
an auto-clutch manual.
It took about a week to get the technique right for smooth gear changes , but I’d never go back to manual now.


>> Edited by psjkxp on Friday 19th August 16:00