I am thinking about buying an M6. Actually, my wife is. We have found a CPO 2007 with SMG tranny. My wife likes automatics and I have heard folks say that the SMG auto mode sucks. I have driven them in manual mode and they are rockets.
Any thoughts on the auto tranny performance?
Scott Pettit
61930
Silver / Black
Honestly it is very poor as an automatic, for the USA I would recommend the much torquier and more relaxed 650i which has a seamless auto box. The SMG is only good when you are really flying, otherwise it is poor at best. You can read my full report on it here.
Andrew Macpherson
Expert Z8 Inspections, with full support for both Z8 sale and purchases.
+1
Lots of seat time with SMG III in both the 6 and the 5. Do NOT think you can use it as an auto. The slop will put you in an accident at some point.
thegunguy
Andrew is spot on as usual. The SMG is a horrible, horrible, did I say horrible, it's a horrible transmission. Actually SMGII from the E46 M3 is better than SMGIII. Its the kind of thing that will make a good day bad, and a bad day worse. It was the number one reason for why I got rid of my E60 M5. You are much better served by going with the 650 automatic. Also the V10 is a great motor, but its a real revvy drivers motor. Its not like the S62 we have. Under 5k RPM it feels like youre driving a 525 touring around. Over 5K, it feels like youre strapped to lightening. Pardon me for stereotyping, but "wife"+"automatic" in mind equals someone who wants low down torque and doesnt want to rev the motor into the sky and hit speeds in excess of 80 MPH to feel the glory. And thats the other problem of this motor- you need some serious space to enjoy it. Its the kind of thing that sounds great on paper but in real life is a let down. And the icing on the cake is you'll get about 180 miles range on each tank of dino juice. Put that motor in a small, light, track machine and you've got a nice combination. Its not a good choice for road use by most people.
Sorry if I sound harsh, but they really blew it with this combination IMHO.
Thanks guys. You have all underscored what I have already heard but wanted to confirm it.
I have tried to explain to my wife that she will be unhappy with the tranny as she is an auto tranny driver. The only time that the SMG will be put to it's intended use is if I am behind the wheel which would be for the occasional trip to LA and some twisty's drives. But then, I have other cars for those trips.
Now, let me ask this: As I am not an SMG user, if YOU were to drive the car and not know that you could shift on your own, how would the car / tranny compare with any other automatic out there? This is how my wife is gonna look at it. She only wants it as a daily driver and the price seems to be right.
Scott Pettit
61930
Silver / Black
Imagine the only way you can change gears is by a drunk in your passenger seat selecting your gear when you press the clutch and call out the gear you want. Well, that would 100x smoother than the SMG.
Andrew Macpherson
Expert Z8 Inspections, with full support for both Z8 sale and purchases.
Originally Posted by macfly
I don't recall my 2003 M3 SMG being that bad, but it was bad enough that I'll stick to the standard tranny or a traditional auto.
Haha- Andrew said it. The SMG will do things you are not prepared for and will sometimes be caught flat footed. Example: you're driving down a two lane highway. You need to make a left turn by a traffic light. You slow down and the light turns green so you keep your momentum to cross the intersection- just then you notice a car on the other side of the highway is barreling down on you- you press the throttle down hard expecting a downshift and you get--- nothing- the computer is trying to make sense of it.
If you want a m cab with automated box I'd suggest the m3 with DKG - that actually lives up to the promise of smg and is about 98% as good as an automatic in daily life. However again here I'd say a 335 with automatic is probably a better choice.
We drove a M6 in Munich, and around town in auto, it was the worst transmission I have driven. I had no clue what it was going to do. In manuel mode driven hard it wasn't any fun. Not a good thing. We decided to leave it in the garage at the motel. I chose the car to drive never having driven one and other than the car, which was very educational on what not to drive, the trip was a blast. Erik
Thanks, everyone, for the replies. I will let my wife read this.
It is interesting that every time I have driven a SMG equipped car, I must have always run it in manual without even thinking about trying the auto function.
Go figure.
Scott Pettit
61930
Silver / Black
My understanding is that a new redesign is due shortly for the 6 series, which can only markedly improve on the existing design. I'd wait for sure!
Agreed, but that means a new M6 is probably 30-36 months off. The new one will likely be just what you want- 580ish HP- 500+ ft lbs of torque, the excellent DKG transmission.
A gazillion thanks for all of the replies.
My wife and I went to let her drive the M6 and much to my happiness, it was sold. So it was an easy out.
She settled on a 2010 328i with a folding top. It is a great car, 224 HP Alpine White with Beige Leather and loaded with all of the options. She loves it and it really fits her.
Scott Pettit
61930
Silver / Black
Congrats, it's a very good looking car
Nice! As you said, seems like a much better fit than an M6 for her.
Congratulations! I love the color choices. I think these newer shapes really work well in white. And the E90 platform is soooo good.
I had the M6 for about 18 months and 15,000 miles. Unfortunately I agree with the prior psots about the gearbox. It's really too bad b/c the chassis and engine in that car were fabulous. Out on the highway or backroads the car was amazing and the build quality was unsurpassed.
One other dissapointment for anyone willing to put up w/ the gerabox is the dreadlul fuel range. The combo or poor mileage plus a tiny tank meant getting fuel every 175 miles, which was 2-3 days a week when using the car as a daily driver.
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