Evening all!

K

Kav

Member
 Devizes
Hi

I'm making a return to the BMW fold after a 3 year gap. Started off with a company supplied E46 330D saloon (cracking car), followed by a privately funded E39 528 (best car I've ever had :D ) which I sold with 185,000 on the clock - the compression on all 6 cylinders was still within factory limits 8) . The last BMW I had was a E61 520D which was a fantastic long-legged load carrier but not the most exciting thing on 4 wheels.

I had a couple of mediocre company cars and then decided I needed something to soften the blow of turning 49 and got myself an '00 4.5 TVR Chimaera last year. I've loved the car but it's a handful and Mrs K doesn't enjoy wrestling with it :driving: . However, she loves a soft top and a 3.0 Z4 ('05 or '06) looks like a great choice.

I've got a stack of questions (I'll use the search button first) but I'd be interested to get people's views on the stock auto box vs. the SMG. The auto on my E39 was a steptronic AGS and it was an absolute peach. I drove a mate's E36 M3 with a 1st generation SMG box which wasn't an easy drive but once you mastered it - fantastic! I wonder how they've evolved.

I'd also be interested to know the main differences between the SE and Sport specs - are they mainly cosmetic?

TIA

Cheers
Kav
 
Welcome Kav. Personal experience, manual Is fantastic but I hear the SMG box is pretty cool and responsive too. Wouldnt want to pay for repairs on one if it went really wrong though as apparently ludicrously expensive to sort out. That said I dont think Ive seen anything on here, just stories of E46 ///M SMG.

Good luck with the search :thumbsup:
 
Thanks All! :thumbsup:

Hi andysat - good to hear from you! Yes indeed - spent a lot of time on BMWland when I had the E39. Fantastic and friendly forum where I learned loads of stuff - de-chroming, fitting angel eye headlights, front centre armrest, general maintenance, tips and tricks - saved me a fortune and I had a load of fun doing it.

Started buying research in earnest and there are a lot of tasty cars around. I'm sticking the Chimaera on Pistonheads tomorrow and if you know of anyone who fancies changing marques from BMW to TVR, please point them my way.

Thanks again.

Cheers
Kav
 
Welcome to the forum Kav :thumbsup:

Can't help with the SMG point of view, but I have the tiptronic auto box with paddles and having had a few auto cars I have to say it is the smoothest I have ever driven. Very quick, barely noticable changes in full auto that just make the car feel like it is constantly accelerating. Pulls like a train. You seem to be able to learn how to 'make' the gearbox shift up or down through different behaviour on the accelerator too, depending on how you want to drive. In sport / manual auto you can get it to behave reasonably close to a manual box with more aggressive upshifts and, with practice and confidence in the mechanicals, engine braking on downshifts. I love it - you should drive one :driving:
 
Hi and welcome, I have an 04 3.0i auto and love it, the auto changes are very smooth and relaxed, when sport is selected everything just speeds up and becomes really well....sporty, in sport mode the manual changes on the auto are good, but not the same as a manual car, but I drive like miss daisy so the auto just suits me fine and sport mode just now again :wink:
 
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