What do you guys think? The SMG seems nice for times when you're stuck in traffic, but is it as clunky as some claim?

 

bmw will be moving away from the smg to a dual clutch gearbox (like audi uses). personally, i'd rather have the true stick even in traffic. my limited experience with the smg is that it is not smooth enough for my tastes, plus i don't spend enough time in traffic to really take advantage of that aspect. if i were driving to LA every day it might be a different story though.

 

On this specific car, I prefer the 7-speed. It's better mated to the engine characteristics.

As a side note, SMG does take a little bit of practice to get smooth.

 

I havent drive the smg is a M5 but I went from a 6 speed m3, to a SMG M3 and hated it... I sold it in 3 months and went back to a 6 speed and never looked back!

 

i'm not so concerned about using the paddles myself. i'm worried that when left in auto mode, the car is jerky and unpredictable.

 

SMG III is noticably better than SMG II.

Auto mode on the M5 still sucks.

 

i'm most likely going to purchase an 08 model, but when did the smg III come out?

 

I've never driven an SMG, but I would lean more on the stick, manual tranny.

 

You lean more on the stick ?

 

The best thing to do is to test drive both the SMG 7-speed and the manual 6-speed. I drove the 6-speed and didn't really care for it. It suits the M3 better.

 

I own an e46 M3 with SMGII and love every second of it. I have also driven an '07 M5 with a 6-speed gearbox. It should be noted that the 6-speed version of the M5 does not allow the driver to completely shut off DSC.

Maybe they changed it for '08 but not that I've heard of. Correct me if I'm wrong. The SMGIII M5 my neighbor owns is extremely easy to drive, and not as restrictive as you'd expect for a 2 pedal car

John

 

for an M5 or M6 is either SMG or nothing... i've driven manual all my life and in the begining i hated the idea of "automatic" clutch. but after driven my friend's m6 smg... i gotta say it ROCKS!! SMG is the only way to get everything out of that V10

 

Smg.

 

smg all day long...
the manual trans on the M5 is really ****ty

 

E60 M5 & E63 M6: SMG III
E46 M3: SMG II