If I was to buy an M3 I would definitely get the manual. Half the fun is shifting and my commute isn't too bad. I think SMG could be fun on the track but the dance you half to do to be smooth while downshifting and braking is what make driving so much fun. Also, a clutch is way cheaper than a rebuilt tranny and the SMG's don't have enough of a track record.

I think high hp has become a huge marketing scheme. It is the fascination with the 1/4 mile that has created all of this. There has been benefits, like these more powerful engines, but you will impress me far more when you lap a Miata quicker than a Type R---and yes, I have seen that happen. That hp difference means nothing on a roadcourse. After all, aren't these supposed to be sports sedans?

 

i posted a thread here a while ago about the m3 smg that i beat 2 outta 3 times on an 800ft strip without my headers. In all honesty and brand new m3 should eat my car for breakfast every time but i beat him twice. No way in hell is a slapstick faster than a manual. And dont give me that electronic clutch shit, it has 2 pedals, its an automatic. it shifts like an auto, you drive it like an auto except with fancy little steering paddles to play with. I love the new m3's and i love the old m3's, but the way to go without a doubt is stick. You have much more control over the car. And how come with the smg you can give the tires a little chirp action like you can with a stick m3. Even the slushbox cl-s tranny can chirp the tires. Go with a stick

 

that bmw3i guy is full of shit. either that or the guy he smoked in the CL LET HIM WIN

 

Keep talking shit. Me and my buddy are sittin here reading how you want to race. So he told me to tell you that him and his WRX will meet you where ever you want in NJ and he'll show you what a real beating feels like.

Sorry but Germany has been taking a back seat to Japan lately.

 

i dont know about germany, maybe just bmw cuz audi's S series cars are sick and so are mercedes AMG. Bmw are just overrated pieces of crap off my ass. oh and nice orange instrument cluster lighting

 

Audi's R series is SICKER. The AMG SL 55 is simply Amazing for that weight. BMWs are SICK, though this Bangle dude has bumped his head. Yeah the interior leaves much to be desired (IMO) but the style and performance more than makes up for it.

 

I challenge you to a race

Let me get 2K on the engine and i'll own you w/out trying. I call complete bullshit on you. Go research SMG before you speak out.

 

Oh how brave is that lemme talk tough on my friends ride why don't you speak for yourself.

 

I am RobG


your buddy cant drive for shit. Switch cars... you drive the m3 and let him drive your car.

And you are the most uneducated fuck i have ever seen... have you even read about the SMG? It CANNOT be compared to the auto tranny in a CLS. Give me a break!!

 

Since you've proven you don't know what your talking about, here is the proof.

http://www.iabuseproperty.com/02SMGM3.mov

Yeah, you against M3's must have been ones with 20 cement bags inside them and flats.

Oh, and I love the 14.76 speed you ran at the track Right in the 13.3 1/4 mile M3 category.

Your quarter speed is like 14.76 BUT i have some excuses: the temp was 96 degrees felt like 110 it was windy, my front left tire was .02 underflated to my other tires, i drove through the burnout box, I bird flew in my direction and I picked up the voodoo idol from the Bradys in Hawaii :P

 

As from a review:

The SMG does not eliminate the clutch but it does eliminate the third pedal. The computer handles engaging and disengaging the clutch, and does so far faster (just .08 seconds, according to BMW) and much more smoothly than most human drivers could. There's no need to declutch and move into neutral when rolling to a stop; the computer and electro-hydraulic actuators handle that for you. Punch it, and the system feathers the engagement into first, and you leave the line in a proper haze of sizzling tire smoke.

But what makes the BMW SMG unit so neat is that the driver has full manual control over the up and downshifts -- no computer overrides or forced upshifts -- and can adjust the quality and speed of the gear changes and clutch actuation (from soft and pleasant to hard-core race-style firmness) simply by selecting, via the touch of a button, from one of six available DriveLogic programs.

Turn off the traction control (DSC) system for the most aggressive acceleration in DriveLogic program number six and you'll get tire-barking, slam-you-in-the-seat upshifts that'd do Ralf Schumacher proud.

And get this: There's even a fully automatic function for those days (and traffic conditions) where you'd rather just leave the gear changes to the computer. In other words, this true manual six-speed gearbox can be set to operate like a conventional automatic -- but without the parasitic power loss (and also loss of driver control) that comes with an automatic and its torque converter. The automatic mode also has five different DriveLogic settings -- ranging from sedate and smooth, with second-gear starts -- to high-rpm, very firm gear changes when it's time to make some fast moves. It even handles downshifting for you during passing maneuvers and will hold the transmission in a lower gear during hard cornering.

To operate the SMG, you select either the full manual "s" mode or fully automatic "a" mode -- then tap the console mounted button to tailor the shift quality from mild to wild. If you're in manual mode, just pull back on the shifter handle to move up through the six forward gears -- or use the steering-wheel-mounted paddles, marked "+" for upshifts, "-" for downshifts. The tachometer even has a lighted scale that blips at the appropriate engine speed to let you know it's the best time to upshift for maximum performance; the same progressive series of illuminated indicators also serves as an engine speed warning during warm-up. The lights gradually go out as the engine comes up to full operating temperature, letting you know it's now okay to rev the thing to redline.

 

Hey moron, if my car was faster and I thought I could take him I would be speaking for myself. Gee you're pretty smart.

 

Sorry but if you were to go to the track on a friday night with a pocket full of cash there's the expression 'run what you brung'. I used to own a mid 12.4 - 12.5 Mitsu GSX and I guess I get tired of hearing. "Oh yeah, well my friend has a supra and he runs 11.7's he'll show you " Sorry, must be a pet peeve of mine".

 

keep it friendly...

 

Which is fine, but again why would I talk shit about beating someone when I damn well know I couldn't. Plus is was my friend that wants to race. He's still up for it.

 

yo eclipse and sellout why don't you boys just go back to your bile movement forums with your "stories". bye .. c ya... laytas...peeeeaaaaaaccceee

 

hey newbie, welcome to the forums.

 

We arent the ones tossing stories. You guys just have a hard time with a good dose of the TRUTH.

 

TRUTH??? I guess you forgot this part of the story in Car & Driver:

BMW claims that performance, not convenience, is SMG's raison d'être. Our numbers don't prove that out...

We are tired of hearing about SMG, and the 330ci, and the M3. That's great you bought a M3 with the SMG option on it, but you are wasting your breath trying to convience us that the SMG option was the way to go. Anyone that buys a high performance car like the M3 wants the fun and control that comes with a stick. A stick is faster, funner, and the best choice for the M3....you blew it buddy!!

 

Interesting how it went from 330 beating a CLS to SMG...

 

I don't need to convince you or anyone it's my decision. BUT, when I see kids in here claiming to whip M3's with the car I currently own I think it's really funny. I didn't blow anything chief an M3 is an M3 SMG or not. There are alot of plus's to the SMG system you obviously are not seeing and if it costs me .02 or .01 at the track I won't complain. re-read this whole post and you'll see the fiction vs fact.

 

This thread started out with a kid driving his dads 330ci claiming he 'toasted one of the dorks' on here. You took this thread and turned it into a SMG and M3 thread.

If you didn't want to try and convince people then why not stay focused on the orginal subject? If you wanted to defend the M3, then fine....but then why bring the subject of the SMG into it?

The facts are:
M3 is fast
M3 with SMG is fast
M3 with stick is faster

Let's be serous here, the M3 is a high-performance car, that is very fast. Anyone that wants to be close to that car better have thier CL modded out to the max! But we were talking about a 330ci at the start of all this, and I can gaurantee you that my car can kick any 330ci car off the road.

 

damn... cant you guys talk about cars without argueing???

keep it about racing!!!!!!!!!!!

 

all i know is that i would buy an s4 way before i bought a 330

 

 

if i could afford an M3 it would be with SMG option...if my SS shifted like the SMG did i would not even think about the '03 cl 6 mt

 

this has nothing to do anymore with the original posting... closed