Manual or SMG?

[whatheheck]

FYI, the CPO on my 2006 M6 expires Sept 2012. So its time to let her go.
As you all know, these cars are very expensive to maintain and repair post warranty.

I only have 29,XXX miles on my beast, she is pristine condition, would like to keep her for a long time but as you all have experienced and read here - track record for reliability on our beast is not great......

My beast has been 99% reliable since the day I got it 4 years ago except for the recent SMG pump and 2 SMG relay failures.

Based on what I've read on posts around here, ~30K miles is when SMG starts to fail.
Lucky I still have warranty as the recent SMG pump failure on my beast cost $4,700.00.

I will be selling my beast soon and I am now already actively searching for a low mileage 2010 CPO, perhaps convertible this time, blue exterior and tan interior (back to my favorite colors). Not much out there right now available for sale that meets my wish list, so still looking daily.

Anyway, I have always been a manual transmission guy but after experiencing SMG on my M6, I am now sold. I love SMG and paddle shifters.
Shifts are super fast, downshift rev match is always perfect and I never had any issues with it until the SMG pump failure last month.

I am now thinking of perhaps I should find a 6 speed this time?

So my question is to the 6 speed manual transmission owners:

What issues have you experienced?
How long does a clutch last assuming someone knows how to drive a MT and never rides the clutch?

Any inputs, feedbacks or comments would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[IndyM6V10]

Hi Dan!

I'm unable to provide much insight relevant to your questions as I bought my CPO 6 speed M6 only months ago. However, I'm quite interested in anyone who has put more than say 35k miles on a 2010 with some hard driving miles included. Living in South Florida has its advantages, and one of them is an abundance of nice used performance cars. I had the option to buy a CPO 2009 with SMG (21k mi) or the 2010 I now own with a 6 speed. I did much research and decided that since I plan on keeping the car 5 or more years, and saw multiple opinions regarding some of the other less desireable daily driving traits of SMG, to go with the 6 speed car. The hard drive based Nav and color combo of the 2010 didn't hurt either. I will say that the 2009 with SMG was a hell of a car, and I'm sure I'd be quicker in it around a track. Now that I've had time to get a handle on the 6 speed with DSC off on launch, I don't think I could do a quarter mile quicker in an SMG.

As this is my first post in a SMG vs 6 speed thread, I would appreciate it if someone would now deliver a written face punch my way.

[jlf74100k]

Dan,

I am knocking on wood as I say this, but I have 53K miles on my beast and have had no issues with the SMG. I had to get a belt replaced once, but other than that only routine maintenance. I do drive hard 90% of the time. There are probably more owners than not in my category, but having to fix something that expensive out of pocket would be frustrating. I do have a warranty until August 2016 or 100K miles, but honestly would prefer to not need to use it. I cannot compare to a six speed, but it is important to note that not everyone has had the SMG go bad.

All that being said, good luck on your search. I personally love the convertible and have thought about getting a 2010 myself in either blue or black with the tan interior. I will not seriously start looking for one until you find yours out of respect for all that you have done for the board members . Whoever gets your beast is going to be a very lucky person.

Cheers,
Josh

[USAF]

Dan, GO WITH THE MAN-TRANS, NOT THE CHICK STICK BUDDY! I have 48,000 on my car now and have never had an issue with the trans. If you look down the list of thread titles here, you'll see that 90% of all issues with these cars are related to the SMG. That makes it pretty obvious where if you're going to have problems what the cause will be. There's 2 reasons I chose the manual over the SMG; 1. The "purist" sense of driving a manual. To me, a real sports car has a manual transmission. It involves your input and your skill to make those shifts giving more satisfaction in the driving experience. 2. If the SMG s#!t the bed, I would never attempt to repair it. The manual transmission/clutch I could. I've replaced man-trans clutches before and it's no issue to accomplish.

Also, having a man-trans keeps me from bowing to excessive technology in a way and keeping a hold on some of the old-school way of driving. We're forced to live in a technological world in so many ways and this is one way to resist that. With my loud exhaust it's more fun showing that off with the manual. When people hear me going through the gears they know it a manual transmission which is getting more rare each year. Being that the man-trans isn't very common in these cars, it gives it even more of an exclusive appeal also. People are impressed that such a sophisticated car can still have a manual transmission also.

Good luck in whatever you choose Dan!

[MTV10]

Get a manual.

Although SMG is the better tranny for this car due to shorter gearing, given that extra gear... manual will always be more fun and less headaches.

The only thing is that you will need a 3.91 diff and a tune to raise the rev limiter with the manual car. From what I've read, in stock form they fall out of powerband in between shifts. SMG will blow right past you!

[Feld1128]

My six speed is out of warranty and I dont care, the trans is super smooth and the best shifting stick I ever had including the E39 and E36 M3. Once you learn where to shift which is obviously the fun part because the car has such long legs not much will get away from you. There is also no slipping under hard acceleration like the e39 did because the clutch was too small for the power. The only thing which is a little strange compared to all the other manuals I have had is determining the strongest gear for the car, in most 5 speeds I have had it was usually third gear, in the e60 somedays It seems to be 3rd and some 4th. 3rd pulls wicked hard for the fastest acceleration and 4th pulls for a really looong time as a matter of fact you will probably say Uncle and let up in 4th because you can get close to 150mph before redlining.

[whatheheck]

Thank you everyone for the kind posts and honest feedback. Greatly appreciated.

[MKSixer]

Hi Dan,

I'm a little late to the party but I wanted to quickly chime in. While the 6 speed may be a little more fun and I definitely respect all of the 6-speed owners opinions and experiences, the SMG III in our cars was optimized for use with the S85. The 6 speed was a bit of an afterthought and not fully optimized for it's performance. The solution of getting the 3.91 diff set is a great suggestion but I still think from the purity stand-point considering the F1 history of the S85, the SMG is the best solution, IMHO.

One of the biggest kicks I get with first-time riders is the speed and ferocity of the shifts! I love the single clutch vs. the dual clutch. At full throttle, the shifts are simply epic and cannot be matched by the human hand...the same thing goes when tracking the car.

Just my .02!

Good luck with your decision and please keep us posted on your progress!

Best Regards,
Milton

[whatheheck]

I completely agree with you Milton, and that is the primary reason I went with SMG with my 2006 M6.

I know that SMG was designed & optimized for the V10, and the 6 speed was an afterthought due to demands by US buyers.
And I love the SMG. It's just SMG is not very reliable.....

Similar to you, I prefer the single clutch as I like to feel the shifting of gears. As you know, when we test drove the new M5 in Spain, the dual clutch was simply too smooth for my taste. Its like driving a fully automatic transmission. So I dont know if I will like the new M6 once I buy one is a couple of years.

I am still on the fence though.... Will keep you all posted.

Thanks for chiming in Milton! See you in Las Vegas next month!

[MKSixer]

Dan, you are absolutely correct in characterizing the DCT as too smooth. From our experience at Ascari, I will find it very hard to give up on the visceral experience of our cars but I guess that's progress.

Vegas should be great! See you and everyone else next month!