Quote:
Originally Posted by lve2xlr8
SMG was actually pretty great when accelerating like this. Around town it was slow and clunky.
|
This- in S6 mode, the shifts are extremely violent when accelerating hard, like being kicked in the back of the head by a mule. It really is a gearbox you have to get some seat time with to learn how to use properly, and treat it like a true manual transmission car. The first 2 weeks I had mine, I thought I had made a terrible mistake buying the car, but after getting used to it and getting the Euro SMG flash it got quite a bit better. Helps that the previous owner had just replaced the SMG pump and clutch, so it felt infinitely better than the other 2 cars I test drove before purchasing.
I sold mine about a year ago, still miss it. I sometimes think about getting another one and budgeting the money to preventatively fix all the complex and unique systems on the car, but by the time you’re done with bearings, vanos pump, vanos solenoids (which BMW stopped making, so OEM is now $1200 each, car needs 4), updated piston oil squirter, and then everything associated with the SMG, it becomes a very expensive project and it’s money you’ll never get back, the cars aren’t worth shit these days unless it has really low miles. An E90 M3 makes so much more sense, and adding a blower gets you even more insane top end power.
And yet, there are days where I find myself cruising YouTube, stumble upon a video of an uncorked S85 V10, and the wheels in my head start turning. What a ridiculously awesome and fun car, not a forever keeper because of the issues with it but everyone who’s an automotive enthusiast should own one at some point.