SMG or Manual?

L

Lil_g_1234

Member
Hi All,


I'm new to the forum and on the brink of purchasing my first Z4. I am looking for a 3.0 preferably manual but I have seen a couple with the SMG. Reading mixed reviews on the SMG, but I will like to make my own mind up on drivability. I am more concerned about reliability of the SMG. has anyone had any problems, big or small.

I am looking to buy for around £5500 so the car will be an E85 with a have a fairly high mileage. Will this cause any issues?

Also I have read some buying guides but if there are any other problems I should look out for please let me know :)

Many Thanks

George
 
Lil_g_1234 said:
Hi All,


I'm new to the forum and on the brink of purchasing my first Z4. I am looking for a 3.0 preferably manual but I have seen a couple with the SMG. Reading mixed reviews on the SMG, but I will like to make my own mind up on drivability. I am more concerned about reliability of the SMG. has anyone had any problems, big or small.

I am looking to buy for around £5500 so the car will be an E85 with a have a fairly high mileage. Will this cause any issues?

Also I have read some buying guides but if there are any other problems I should look out for please let me know :)

Many Thanks

George
Click to expand...
I have the SMG and I really like it. Its fun to shift the gears manually, but I also enjoy the D1 automatic function. This function does all the up shifting for you...down shifting as well. If the car is high mileage, you may need a clutch in the near future, and possibly a slave cylinder. I have had zero problems from my SMG. Good luck in your search. Rick
 
i have a 3.0 SMG and had no issues at all with the gearbox. mines on 107k and has a supercharger strapped to it. :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
 
I bought an SMG this time last year, have done about 5,000 trouble free miles since and really like it. I do have a few pointers I have learned from driving it

1) I always keep it in manual. I don't think it works well as an automatic box and has a tendency to change mid-corner and also when going round roundabouts when you want to be accelerating and negotiating traffic.
2) Feathering the throttle greatly improves the smoothness between gear changes. I guess you shouldn't need to do this but hey it helps.
3) Stick it in sport mode for quicker gearshifts and throttle response, really transforms the car from laid back into a proper sports car.

I have never really researched for any problems on the SMG and haven't felt the need to. If Mac's car can run with a supercharger than that says a lot to me
 
Once you 'understand' it and then adjust your driving technique accordingly it is superb ! I absolutely love it. My car is 2003 2.5i with 56,000m and I have had a faultless and thoroughly enjoyable 6 months since purchase. No regrets here.
 
Supercharged, wow!!! All seems good in this respect then. Although a clutch and slave cylinder sound expensive. I am coming from a gti with a dsg, I did struggle with that with regards to just giving it a squirt to go through an amber light without dropping 2 gears and spinning the wheels. Are smg similar to this? Urgent I suppose is a good way to surprise it, but at times when it's not needed.
 
My brother in law has an M5 with the SMG gearbox i have driven it and to me it felt jerky ,personally i dont like it and he is not too keen on it either but has learnt to live with it .

I would go for a manual .
 
I've driven all 3 types and settled on the normal Auto in the end. The SMG always felt like a halfway house and offered some benefits of both Manual and Auto but wasn't as good as either.

If you really do want to be changing gear manually, then get a manual. I love the Auto for what it is, but I never use the M function as it is just not as intuitive, and I found the SMG to be the same when I tried it.

Just my opinion of course. You have to try it our for yourself before committing.
 
Agree with other posts - SMG is a great box and had zero issues with mine - though only had 42k miles. It's best in manual mode - pure auto is its' clunkiest and as an early version of flappy paddle it has a lot going for it. Don't let it put you off - though it takes a little practice to get the best out of it so it maybe doesn't test drive so easily as you might think but with a bit of practice it is very smooth and great fun.
 
If you're coming from a DSG Golf, you'll find the shifts are slower and generally less quick to react with the SMG - this may not bother you but it certainly bothered me enough to go straight for a manual. Driving modern cars with 8 speed autos and 7 speed dual clutch gearboxes on a daily basis for work highlights the vast difference between modern gearboxes, and those of 10 years ago to me, and the SMG gearbox would have felt like a let down getting into it after work every day. Go for the manual :thumbsup:
 
The only SMG I drove was to test an M3 (e36) many years ago. I couldn't get it to drive right in either manual or auto. It was an awful thing and put me off buying the car. SWMBO hated it more than me and just couldn't drive it.

Back then it was explained as SMG 1 was problematic but SMG 2 was much more driveable. Don't know because I never drove one after that. Just stuck with regular slush boxes after that.

I suspect they're on SMG 15 by now so maybe they've got it sorted.
 
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