The Unofficial BMW M5 Messageboard (m5board.com) - View Single Post

thebishman · 25th May 2002, 05:39

MWM,
Thanks for the reply.
I will check into the B+M shifter. My stock shifter glides thru' the gate like a knife thru' butter; it is even very easy to engage first. However, the 'throws' are quite long and I'd like to shorten them up.
The M3 with the SMG II transmission was a revelation. The best 'manual' transmission I've ever owned/driven. When driven aggressively, the SMG imho allows one to concentrate completely on the task at hand, and not have to devote time/energy to the physical act of shifting. Remember though, that the choice of what gear to be in is still driver dependent. The Auto modes were only used during coffee/telephone times and hence were fairly useful in this regard. The SMG II is not a Tiptronic transmission however, and even though one can learn to drive the M3 in 'Auto' mode quite smoothly, it is in the 'S' modes that the transmission shines. My hope is that Porsche is working on a SMG equivalent; if the next generation TT comes with it as optional, I would trade immediately.
The M3 works extremely well as a 'daily driver'. I even put Pirelli 240 Snowsports on mine this winter, where it did very well.
Take care,
thebishman

25th May 2002, 05:39	#3 (permalink)
thebishman Member, P500 Sport, DSC On (>700) Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Topeka, KS, USA Posts: 725 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	MWM, Thanks for the reply. I will check into the B+M shifter. My stock shifter glides thru' the gate like a knife thru' butter; it is even very easy to engage first. However, the 'throws' are quite long and I'd like to shorten them up. The M3 with the SMG II transmission was a revelation. The best 'manual' transmission I've ever owned/driven. When driven aggressively, the SMG imho allows one to concentrate completely on the task at hand, and not have to devote time/energy to the physical act of shifting. Remember though, that the choice of what gear to be in is still driver dependent. The Auto modes were only used during coffee/telephone times and hence were fairly useful in this regard. The SMG II is not a Tiptronic transmission however, and even though one can learn to drive the M3 in 'Auto' mode quite smoothly, it is in the 'S' modes that the transmission shines. My hope is that Porsche is working on a SMG equivalent; if the next generation TT comes with it as optional, I would trade immediately. The M3 works extremely well as a 'daily driver'. I even put Pirelli 240 Snowsports on mine this winter, where it did very well. Take care, thebishman