Bye bye Z4!

It's a shame you found a dodgy Z4 on your first attempt, I can't imagine there are many that have been clocked. Atleast you've got your money back and haven't been put off Z4's. :thumbsup:

I drove a Z4 with SMG when I was looking to buy. I think I could have quickly gotten used to it and still occasionaly think it would have been nice to have with the commuting I do but it wasn't as impressive as the DSG I've tried. There was a lot more jerkyness and hesitation, that was a little unsettling at times, I was just never quite sure what it was going to do. But this was with just a 15 minute test drive, others have said you learn to lift at the gear change and make things smoother. The paddle configuration isn't what I expected either, confusing for the first two minutes.

Auto's and SMG's are bumped up into the next road tax bracket, which cost a few quid more each year :fuelfire:
 
Herminator said:
Auto's and SMG's are bumped up into the next road tax bracket, which cost a few quid more each year :fuelfire:
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SMG's aren't.

It's the same economy and emissions as the manual, as it's actually the same gearbox.
 
Yep, tis only the full auto that goes over the 225g/km threshold and into £400+ a year :o

I'd go for a decent test drive and see what you think. One thing I would want to do to an SMG is make it proper LH down, RH up on the paddles, which I'm sure you could do by fiddling with the wiring, and/or asking CJ to work it out for you :P

Pull up/push down at both sides would really confuse me.

Dave
 
Andrew D said:
Herminator said:
Auto's and SMG's are bumped up into the next road tax bracket, which cost a few quid more each year :fuelfire:
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SMG's aren't.

It's the same economy and emissions as the manual, as it's actually the same gearbox.
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Really?, some sites must have had their specs wrong, I'm sure when I was looking at them they were given the same CO2 rating as the regular auto. :thumbsdown:
 
From parkers.co.uk

3.0si manual 207 g/km
3.0si auto 209 g/km

3.0i manual 221 g/km
3.0i smg 221 g/km
3.0i auto 231 g/km
 
Mr Whippy said:
Yep, tis only the full auto that goes over the 225g/km threshold and into £400+ a year :o

I'd go for a decent test drive and see what you think. One thing I would want to do to an SMG is make it proper LH down, RH up on the paddles, which I'm sure you could do by fiddling with the wiring, and/or asking CJ to work it out for you :P

Pull up/push down at both sides would really confuse me.

Dave
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I thought that, but actually same function both sides works great. Imagine hands fixed on the wheel half a turn and then remembering that its now upside down so it's my right hand now on the left side to press, etc. I tried my wiring for both push down and up and settled on the former.

In reality I'm sure we could get used to any convention whatsoever.
 
cj10jeeper said:
I thought that, but actually same function both sides works great. Imagine hands fixed on the wheel half a turn and then remembering that its now upside down so it's my right hand now on the left side to press, etc.
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I agree, this is an intrinsic problem with steering wheel-mounted paddles; once you start moving your hands on the wheel it becomes tricky to instinctively know where specific paddles are. The best system is large column-mounted paddles, one for up, one for down, as on the F430. That way you always know where the paddels are and they're big enough to find quickly. But as lnog as the paddles are on the wheel, the Z4 system is the way to go.
 
Well I took the SMG out for a test drive today with Mr Whippy on board and I have to say I was impressed. The thing I was afraid of with getting the SMG would be losing the the involvement that you have with a manual. I still felt very involved in the driving experience with SMG. The shift from 2nd to 3rd is very impressive and we both agreed that it would be very very hard to shift that quick in a manual so from a performance point of view the SMG is very good. Gearing down never fails to put a grin on your face as it blips the throttle perfectly each time. The auto mode will also be handy for my commute during the week. There is still something nice about a manual so I won't say either is better or worse as they both have their advantages.
So my conclusion is that I will be going for this SMG that has been offered to me as the rest of the car is in very good condition and has some nice options on it. I also happen to be getting it at a cracking price so I could possibly own it for a year and not lose much on it.
 
Yeah, the 1st > 2nd shift felt smooth and quick at WOT in sport mode, but 2nd > 3rd was almost surreal in the speed but smoothness.

I've been pedalled around a track in an M3 CSL and the shift felt very very similar to be honest, especially the 2nd > 3rd shift onwards speeds.

Not sure on the intuitive nature of the programming because I wasn't driving, but it felt pretty supple after the 1st > 2nd shift... seems that is where it is weak, but even a manual is hard to be even partially fast while remaining smooth there anyway.

Dave
 
ksher said:
It is very hard to find BMW AUC with SSG (SMG on M cars). :)
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It's SMG on Z4's. SSG is from the E46 non-M.

Although it's just a name, all systems are differnet. So far to my knowledge there have been: SMGI on the E46 M3, SSG on the regular E46, SMGII on the E46 M3, H-SMG on the Z4, and SMGIII on the E60 M5 and E63/64 M6. The regular E63/64 also had an SMG box available, but I suspect it's an H-SMG derivative.
 
All I know is, at WOT in sport the 2 > 3 shift is quite nicely 'up there' for speed and smoothness against the CSL I went in.

I'm not quite sure why people suggest a lift during the shift, from where I was sat, asking Nerra to ignore the throttle during the change and leave it put 'felt' smoother and more controlled and very very quick.

Dave
 
I guess it depends on what people class as smooth. Compared to autp boxes in some modern cars where it is practically impossible to detect the shifts I would say the SMG in the z4 was jerky but compared to a high speed manual shift I would say it was pretty damn smooth.
 
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