In praise of SMG

[johnnymarrsbarres]

So, I am now the proud owner of a 3.0 SMG E85, and have tested the car on both open road and crazy rush hour urban traffic. It's my daily drive and I really think the SMG is a great option for manual purists who sadly have to deal with modern traffic regularly. I find the zed infinitely easier to drive in traffic than my old E46 manual, and once you open up free of traffic and hit the sport button it becomes a new beast. In my experience so far, I think 99% of the complaints of jerkiness have come from people comparing it to an auto box, not a manual. If you treat it as you would a manual (and I do, as I've never really driven autos for any significant period) the box makes total sense.

I think it is a shame it got such a bad rep, but I'm glad I've got one.

From what I've read here, it really polarises people, and I'm interested to know why some people who've actually owned one disliked it...
...

 

[mac27040]

I agree I love mine

 

[Adamski]

Yes - I've heard good things from an SMG zedder, glad you like

 

[Stuart Truman]

Without wanting to start this argument again, I'd have loved an SMG option in the M.

 

[Londontog]

I love mine, too! I tried a manual, and thought it was fantastic, but couldn't face returning to a life of riding the clutch around London all day after three years with an E46 auto. The SMG is a great compromise, and the paddles make changing gears entertaining in a different way.

A couple of niggles: I still occasionally get the staggers when I move off in first, and the choice between bleeps when you turn it off in neutral, and a lot of faffing when you start it up after leaving it in gear. But all in all, I can live with those.

 

[RJS-Z4]

I'm really interested to drive one of these, having never driven an SMG car, and not being a fan of autos, I think I may quite enjoy it.

 

[johnnymarrsbarres]

I love mine, too! I tried a manual, and thought it was fantastic, but couldn't face returning to a life of riding the clutch around London all day after three years with an E46 auto. The SMG is a great compromise, and the paddles make changing gears entertaining in a different way.

A couple of niggles: I still occasionally get the staggers when I move off in first, and the choice between bleeps when you turn it off in neutral, and a lot of faffing when you start it up after leaving it in gear. But all in all, I can live with those.

Absolutely. I commute to central Manchester every day and traffic can be a pain. I couldn't bring myself to buy an automatic sports car (sorry auto guys, but its just not right ) yet as you say, riding a clutch around city traffic is less than fun.

SMG is a genius solution. Not for everyone, sure, but for those of us that want to use our Zeds in the city as well as the open road it's awesome.

The parking thing is weird though I agree. I usually leave it in 1st fine but then forget and try to start it in gear...then my car shouts at me .

 

[jaxZ4]

Totally agree - the SMG box is what makes my Z special - I've had it almost 3 years and although it's not my daily drive - I've loved the SMG since first picking it up and driving it home from Norwich to Scotland (via a 2 week stopover at Manchester airport whilst on holiday).

Like anything new you do need to learn a little how to get the best out of it and remember to be in neutral to start but Drive to turn ignition off etc. otherwise you're assaulted by the beeps!

Once you master fast upshifts (easily) by backing off the throttle momentarily before flooring it again (just as you would in a traditional manual) it's great. The blip on downshifts is fun too and being able to nudge down a gear with the heel of either hand is fab.

I never use my mine in D (auto mode) where it is a little clunkier so treat it largely like a manual. I even love how you can take off from rest in 2nd (say in traffic or downhill) though you can't move up to 2nd until it's ready.

I also have the 7 Speed Audi S-tronic in my S4 which is also excellent though frustingly doesn't allow take off in 2nd (say in snow) - yes it's even faster & much newer technology and dual clutch but with practice the Z's SMG is almost as good.

I often mean to give non SMG users a demo on forum runs but never do. Someone on the forum ( can't remember who - sorry) swapped the gear know for an SMG version from an M5 I think which looked great !

I mentioned on another thread how whilst blasting up & down the Stelvio & other passes last year how the SMG box was in it's element. There are many other sub "clubs" on here - how about the Exclusive SMG Owners Club (ESMGOC) ?

 

[mac27040]

The SMG M5 gear knob was me, just need to get it wired up so it lights up

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[jaxZ4]

The SMG M5 gear knob was me, just need to get it wired up so it lights up

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That does look good - did you buy the M5 knob from a dealer ? was it expensive and did you give yourself the obligatory black eye/bl00dy nose when removing the old one ?

 

[mac27040]

No got it off ebay approx £150, with gaiter and surround. old one came off without hitting myself.


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[bladeowner]

I mentioned on another thread how whilst blasting up & down the Stelvio & other passes last year how the SMG box was in it's element. There are many other sub "clubs" on here - how about the Exclusive SMG Owners Club (ESMGOC) ?

Seconded, I nominate myself ESMGOC #5. previous posters to this thread can have #1,#2,#3#,#4