Have any of you had any experiences with this tranny? I'm thinking of getting in on a new BMW 3. TIA, Dale
I have one & love it. Take note though that the SMG on 3, 4, 5 & 6 series cars are not the same w/ the one found on the M3. The SMG on the M3 is more refined & tuned for sports/agressive driving. If you are in the market for one, I recommend the '05 M3 w/ the Competition Package. It has a track mode and among other performance upgrade such as (taken from an article): - Compound and cross-drilled brake rotors, with larger front brakes. Front rotor diameter increased from 12.8'' to 13.6'' (the rear diameter remains 12.9''). - 19'' cross-spoke forged wheels with high performance tires. - A more direct steering ratio, at 14.5:1 vs. 15.4:1. - Modified suspension calibration (shocks and springs) - M track mode - a new Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) setting that allows for sportier driving and less intrusive DSC intervention. The regular DSC setting is still the default, unless track mode is selected. - Alcantara sport steering wheel (no multi-function steering wheel or cruise control buttons) and handbrake grip If you want to learn more about the SMG, go to www.m3smg.com Good luck.
the new car and driver mag is doing a long term test on the z4 3.0 with smg....they loved the car except for the smg tranny, which they trashed...everyone on staff hated...i have never seen a worst review...i know the m3 smg is different..i test drove one...was fun ... i still prefered the bmws wonderfun manual tranny on the m3....the smg on the m3 has been favorably compared to the ferrari f1 tranny by mutual owners
yeah, Dale, i got me one too. An '04 M3 SMG cabrio. Love it. You gotta adjust the parameters to your liking first, since at some settings the shift is too slow, and at others, too jerky. And, the whole game changes again when you hit the sport button. I like it alot better than the paddle shifter i had on a 355. I also use this car for commuting, so it makes life alot easier to go to NYC without having to constantly battle the foot clutch. And, since BMW is going to effectively bangelize the next M3- even though it will have more power and performance- these are probably the ones to own. I have seen ads for that performance coupe and it looks even better than the standard version. But, if you go for the cabrio, as i did, make sure to get an optional matching hardroof. (Harder to get, i think, after you buy the car). It really completes the car, and looks much better than the ragtop in my estimation. by the way, it's the car on the left... Image Unavailable, Please Login
Dale. My '04 M3 SMG is a great drive. Fast, handles great and fun. I didn't test drive the standard tranny car, as it was either the SMG or nothing, as I use this as my everyday commute to work car, and didn't want to be rowing the gears and pedals all the way. I wanted the flexibility of being able to stick it in Drive, and let the car do the work, and the fun of flogging it through the gears when the mood struck me. Turns out, the drive mode is about useless, and I am in manual mode about 95% of the time, using the paddles. WHICH ARE POORLY DESIGNED. Only complaint I have about the car is the paddles are a little short, and the move with the wheel, making upshifts while turning interesting. Gotta remember which hand has the upshift lever with the wheel turned. Is it left, or right? Wait, oops, don't think I wanted to go from 2nd back to 1st instead of 2nd to 3rd. Oh well. It also causes an occasional 1st to 1st shift, which is also annoying. The transmission requires some getting used to. You'll find certain settings work best, and those same settings don't work as well when you hit the sport mode button. At about 2K miles, I finally figured it out and get it working the way I wanted it to. Now at 6K, I'd probably get an SMG again, but mostly becuase I don't want to have to hop on and off the clutch during my around town driving. If it had come with a performance option automatic transmission, I would have seriously considered it. Oh, and I'd probably skip the 19" run flats, too. I have them now and it's like riding on fork lift tires, you know the solid rubber ones? No give, feel every rut and bump, and the sidewalls are hard as rock. I get a much better ride on my 17" snows, without as much handling loss as I'd expect. I'm going to switch to 18", no run flats, in the spring. If you decide to go with 19's, get 18's on yours and I'll swap you. DM
what do you think??......the next M3/M4 i like them....and a 4.0L V8, and you know SMG will only get better and better!!!.......yes sir!!!! Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
For those who know (Hopefully Terry will see this thread.), would you choose a 1995 Porsche 993 with a TIP or a 2004 M3 with the SMG?
Dale, I think BMW's SMG is very similar to Ferrari's F1, with the exception (as Jimmy Page pointed out) of the adjustable shift algorithms in the BMW. That said, getting SMG or the manual tranny depends on what you intend to use the car for, IMO. I am no fan of paddle shift trannies. They add weight, cost, huge mechanical & electronic complexity, and major headaches once the warranty expires. And, if you lose hydraulic pressure, you can't drive the car, whereas a manual tranny is its own fail-safe. Plus, BMW makes one of the sweetest-shifting manual transmissions on the planet, IMO.
One thing that pisses me off is that I just got turned on to how to use a TIP in a Porsche. What you do is blip the throttle very fast. If you do it fast enough, the TIP will downshift. Do it just a hair faster and it will pull two downshifts. Very cool stuff. The blip has to be fast because you don't want to actually hit the gas. I'm pissed because I sold a 2002 TT with a TIP because the car was too confusing. Now you tell me! Dale ps I need some kind of auto to keep "you know who happy." pps Are there after-market chips for the 2001-2004 SMGs.
Had the pleasure to drive an E46 M3 SMG (2004/5?) for 250+ miles in California a few weeks ago and have to say that I was thoroughly disappointed on how uninvolved it felt driving the car as well as how jerky it was; I'd buy a manual M3 100x sooner than a paddle shift.
Called Dinan, Dale, and you can spend oodles of money on your M3 after you buy it. Dave in PHila. was recently contemplating doing just that...
Had a 2002 M3 SMG and did find it to be a pretty neat toy and shifting was amazingly fast. Only problem I had and many others was the "Washing Machine effect" that would happen every once in awhile. You would start to go from a stop and car would suddenly start to jerk violently and was embarrassing as hell. Not sure if this has been fixed but you could probably find out here http://www.m3forum.net/m3forum/index.php? In the end I got rid of car after one year as for me at least I found leg/arm shifting was how I wanted to drive.
The current M3 is so highly tuned, doing an aftermarket EPROM flash accomplishes little if anything. I would save your money. As for the Tip...the Tip in a 1995 993 is VERY cool, but only that year. I have driven one on track. It is much more highly intelligent & useful that those that followed, IMO. You can do a lot with it, and it is really set up for track use. I was incredibly impressed. And later Tips I have driven (on 996's, for example) have left me highly disappointed.
Yup, And after much consideration, I decided to leave it mostly alone. I may get some work done on the suspension, to make it a little more pliable, and I am for sure gonna dump the run flats, but beyond that I'm leaving well enough alone. 4.7+- 0-60 is fast enough for me, and I've managed to scare myself in the turns a couple of times, so it's zippy enough there, too. DM
I have instructed a couple of students on the track who drove Porsches with tip. When it is used as Dale describes, it is a VERY Slick setup and the shifts are ultra smooth and fast. I have no knowledge or experience with the BMW semi-auto boxes so I really cannot comment on them. I would guess that a new and fully loaded M3 is going to cost a good bit more than a '95 993 with tip. You should be able to get a perfect condition 993 with tip for under $30K. If you like the tip in the P-car its a big bonus because in general they go for less than the manual cars. I am sure the M3 is faster, more modern, more high tech and it would have a warranty. All great stuff. However, its also going to depreciate like a rock and the 993 is either fully depreciated or pretty dang close. Hmmmmmmm for the price of a brand new loaded up M3, could you not buy a '95 993 tip AND a '00 Boxster S ????? Thats what I would be looking at! Terry
Exactly. 1995 993 with tip in perfect shape = $30K 2000 Boxster S loaded = $30K Depreciation is always more expensive than maintenance! Everyone is happy.... Terry
The Porsche Tiptronic is an automatic whereas the BMW SMG is a manual gearbox that is operated with steering wheel manipulated paddles. Also, the M3 has a real backseat whereas the 993 back seat is for barbie dolls only. Plus with the M3 you get a BMW whereas with the 993 you have to live with the knowledge that you own a Porsche! LOL By the way, is the Boxster now the "'dino" of Porsche?
Besides the Paddles BMW also gives you a nice stick to use if you want . Try the new Boxster 987 S is a huge improvement
