a friend just bought a bmw m3. 2004.
he said it has this 'smg transmission'.
no clutch.

whats all this then?.

drives like an auto but no torque converter.

http://www.toodarkpark.org/misc/cars/m3/smg/index.html

 

sexxorz.

 

It's kyna old.

 

Welcome to 2002

 

its kinda gay

 

wouldnt go that far

 

Manual with a hydrualic actuated clutch, capable of faster shifts than human possible FTW.

PS, Im wasted, but its true.

 

My friend just got his 06 last month with SMG.

I still prefer a clutch.

Audi's DSG system is pretty fucking sweet though.

 

Yeah I heard their's is sick, is it any different from BMW's SMG?

 

Very different, starting with it using 2 clutches.

I drove the A3 with it, and it almost made me rethink being a sitck-shift only guy.

 

You are correct sure...wasted or not.

BTW it is the exact same tranny as in the three pedal E46 M3, uses the same clutch as well. I had one on my 2003 and I was a track god with it, but went back with a three pedal car in my current M3.

 

The only real problem is it uses fuzzy-logic to preselect the next gear, on the track it can stumble big time if it thinks you will be going to 4th when you hammer the brakes and try to select 2nd. Curious how well this will translate into the 911, they seem to be still developing it for that application and it seems they will try to iron out some of the track type issues.

I did think of another issue, certainly the expense issue is there, the trannies will be far more to maintain and replace. Although they are in a different league I have seen 17K bills for F-car F1 tranniy problems. M3s wouldn't be as bad since the much of the system is the same as a three pedal car. This change with the new M5/6 since their tranny is designed for SMG only with an odd shift pattern that a human couldn't deal with.

 

Point out to him he has a clutch (same one that is in three pedal M3s) just not a pedal, he has a lever and paddle to control the clutch.

 

There's just something about driving a manual tranny with a clutch that makes it fun to drive. hitting a button just doesn't do it for me.

I've heard you can adjust the timing on the SMG to be faster or slower depending on what your preference is, but still. And I've heard it's quicker than manual shifting. However, manual gear shifting is just a heck of a lot more fun.

 

I would kill for a '06 550i in Deep Green Metallic with SMG right about now.

For anyone with a history of driving an SMG transmission, do you think of it as a solid tradeoff for driving manual? I drive through New York City traffic every single day and I want a stick but I don't want to deal with it during rush hour. This seems to be the next best thing. Also, is it difficult to learn at first? I'm vaguely familiar with driving stick.

 

The E46 has 6 different speeds for "maunual" shifting, the ECU also adjusts shift speed within a certain parameter depending on throttle position. The only place I prefer the SMG is on the track or in traffic.

 

For me no, hence the trade for my 04 three pedal car, but I drive the M3 when I want to drive, not when I have to get somewhere.

Difficult, takes about 5-10 minutes to learn the basics, a few weeks to get smooth and understand how to utalize it well. Although my significant other is a gear head it took her 10 minutes of explanation and she was ripping it up on the track (yes the track).

One thing to understand is the the M car SMGs are a different animal from the non-M SMGs. I have yet to drive a non-M SMG that I would own. Plus for the character of the 5 series I think the auto fits better. To further compound the issue SMGs are hard to get the day to day feel of in a test drive, Although not quite as severe it is not unlike a person that has only driven a manual a few times taking a test drive in a manual car, no way they can evaluate the clutch and shifter feel etc when they are stilllearning how to use it.

 

I was reading(i don't know what car magazine either Car and Driver or Motor Trend) they tested a Z3 with the SMG they said it "lurched" and would hold in gear and just a lot of problem issues. This was 2 or 3 years ago. I've heard a lot of good reviews about Audi's DSG

 

The non-M SMG are better than they were but the problem is they are a race bred technology unlike DSG, the SMG is better for the track but DSG will be much better for the street.

I still think the SMG is best left to the M cars, people that buy them will accept a little rawness for the performance you get in trade. You really should live with a SMG for a while before buying it, that however is ususally difficult.