Off topic i know, but Scutch has had enough ego boosting in this thread ....
What is SMG like when not hooning, i.e. stuck in a traffic jam tootling to work.
I don't find it an issue at all. Not had one single issue with it on the two M3's I've owned with SMG. Touch wood.
The SMG transmission is basically a manual with a clutch, but it has no clutch pedal. It is actually the
exact same transmission as the manual, with some extra electro-hydraulic stuff attached to it. It will operate the clutch and the shifting for you when you use the paddles on the wheel, or the gearstick itself.
It does have an "automatic" mode where you don't even have to tap the paddles. There is also a series of levels you can adjust that will determine how fast and hard it will do this. In the automated D mode, there are 5 levels, and in the sequential S mode, there are 6 levels.
However, it is not an automatic, so if you put it in "D" it will do all the shifting for you, but it won't feel like an automatic. It will feel like a manual that someone else is shifting for you.
The gear shifter has a + and - for shifting, an R for reverse, N for neutral, and S/D for Sequential/Drivelogic, which is a fancy term for auto shift, no paddle presses are required. Push it over towards S/D while in S mode and it switches to D, and vice versa. S mode is when you use the paddles or the shifter yourself and do the +/-.
Even in S mode where you are shifting yourself, the system will not allow you to upshift at too low an RPM, or down shift at too high an RPM. If you pull up to a junction or traffic light without downshifting, it will do it for you.
All very clever. It can also aid with hill starts and there's a launch control function using setting S6. Hardly recommended obviously but for the crazy amongst us, it works.
General consensus is use D for town driving on setting 2 or 3 and S for spirited driving on setting 4 or 5 with Sport mode activated. I use S4 all the time, as I prefer using the paddles. If you're in D mode and use the paddles or gear stick at any time, it automatically sets it to S mode anyway.