Was reading Car and Driver... well, everyone knows the new M5 will have 500 Horses... but I certainly did not know there is a "power" button:

"...Press the button marked "power" next to the shifter, and you get 500 horsepower at 7750 rpm and 384 pound-feet of torque at 6100 rpm. That's 106 more horsepower than the previous M5's V-8 and 175 more than a 545i's. Don't press the button, and the intake restricts itself to 400 horses...."

full article online found here:

http://www.caranddriver.com/article....rticle_id=8782

hehhee... somehow I just remember those vanilla boring family sedans such as carmry, altima, etc all had that "Overdrive" button on the shift.

 

WOW...Thats going to be myy next car...or the C55 AMG

 

you going to put the turbonator on that too ?

 

haha I was just wondering what it does...and if anyone used one...

ok ok I got

 

 

why the hell would they do that? why not have it 500 hp all the time?

the only reason i can come up with is gas consumption?

 

:captainobvious:

 

 

Wheres my damn stick shift though

hate all this moving to auto's and paddle shifting

 

bmw was saying they had to put the smg in it because of the way they have the gears arranged inside the casing...1st and 2nd are in the middle, the strongest part of the tranny. so if they were to have a traditional manual it would have a really crazy shift pattern....so no

 

I think they’re going to have a LOT of pissed off BMW loyalists if the next M3 comes only with a slushbox.
I don't care if it's called SMG...It's still a slushbox !!!
I know it’s an awesome system. The new M5 7-Speed SMG Tranny has gotten lots of great reviews.

I don’t care if a TRUE 6-Speed is a tick slower 0-60 or I can’t crack off repeatable 1/4-mile times….Some people (like me) just want to shift on their own and want three pedals on the floor.

I know it’s gonna be a V8, but they could put the 6-Speed manual from the 545 or the 645 in there and I’d be a happy man.

 

But I think there's more to a reason than 1/4 mile time and 0-60 when BMW decided not to supply MT

 

Sad to say, but standard manuals eventually will go the way of the Dodo bird. Even now over 80% of Ferraris are sold with F1 shifters.

 

Yes, I’ve heard that too.
It’s the further PUSSIFICATION of America if you ask me.

I even heard that 80% of 2004 M3’s were sold with SMG.
Any truth to THAT number?

 

the smgII's are just as quick as a manual

 

I certainly don't think the % is that high, from what I gather its about 50/50.

 

Here in the U.S. it will, around the world, the 3-pedal/stick action will never go obsolete.

 

i thought the SMGII's shift in the milliseconds....doubt of you can find a person who can shift faster than the SMG.

 

SMG is better for the track, manual for the street.

 

That’s not the point. I don’t care if it’s 0.0000000000000000001 milliseconds.
Doesn’t anyone “enjoy” driving anymore?

I drove a car with SMG….twice. It’s NOT a manual and it doesn’t do what I want.
It’s only one step up from the auto-shift slush stuff that you can get in most autos now days.

Until the Tranny is smart enough to look down the road and decide what I need to do with the car I’ll be against them.
When I flick the “shifter” from 4 to 3, how does it know if I’m preparing to power out of a sweeping curve or if I just want to decelerate because some truck just cut me off on the interstate?

When I was “driving” the SMG car I felt like I was a passenger in a car driven by some teenager that just learned stick shift the week before.
It just didn’t know quite what to do and when to do it.


I guess my only hope is that the Europeans keep producing true stick shift cars for their own use and a few trickle over the pond for us enthusiasts that would rather drive then yack on the cell phone.

 

gotcha, point taken. i'm just slushbox guy at heart i guess.

 

According to the Head product manager at BMW they will never get rid of manuals on the M cars. I'm curious what he will say this year though at the BMW Club meeting about the M5 coming only in an SMG right now.

ANd Beltfed is right, I'm almost positive its close to 50/50 on the M3s.

 

Why is this happening? The customers? Ferrari?

 

As said above... possibly to talk on the cell phones.

 

I doubt that's the sole reason. I was asking who is responsible for the decline in manuals. I know it's obviously the manufacturer who makes less, but why?

 

Because there is no demand for them. Long ago, a slushbox was a $1500 option on top a standard. Now, slushboxes are standard options and some car companies charge a premium on manuals