E46 SMG for Central London - would I be mad???

[five50]

I cant help feeling that the 46 M3 is a car I need to tick off my list.

A lot of the cars that I like the look of have SMG.

Would have thought that an auto box would be a bonus in town .

However, a mate of mine who had a CSL found the SMG pretty horrible in town - difficult to modulate at low speeds / park without clutch etc.

Is this a commonly held view, or do others find it ok once youve got used to it??

Talk to me!

[ecain63]

For starters you're gonna chew through clutches and flywheels like they're going out of fashion. It'll be annoying as hell and I'm sure its going to ruin the whole M experience. Go auto mate.

[outnumbered]

five50 said:

However, a mate of mine who had a CSL found the SMG pretty horrible in town - difficult to modulate at low speeds / park without clutch etc.

Is this a commonly held view, or do others find it ok once youve got used to it??

SMG II is easy to master, and fine around town, if you have an ounce of mechanical sympathy. If you try to drive it in auto mode like a normal slushbox, it can be horrible. If you take the time to get used to how it works, auto mode can be fine for town driving. Personally I use manual mode all the time. It still changes down for you when coming to a halt, and you don't have a clutch, both of which are big advantages in traffic.

I disagree with the previous poster that you'd get excessive clutch/flywheels wear from town use.

[MPowerMark]

Years ago i had a E46 BMW SMG and live in central london and had no issues whatsoever. The only time the SMG was a pain was when the car was cold as it would bunny hop alittle if you put your foot down too quick. The SMG gearbox when working well is great fun.

[JTR32]

I would have no problems recommending an E46 M3 SMG to you, even if it is to be used predominantly in a busy city.

I have never had, or ever thought I would own an automatic car but since getting the SMG, I can now really appreciate it's uses.

Even though the box isn't a true torque converter auto, you can get it to be very smooth. It will just take a bit of time learning the shift behaviour of the box in auto mode (ie I know at exectly what revs it will be looking to change up and down when in S2 setting for example). Modulating the throttle during changes will also make it much smoother.

I can't see the need really to use the paddles for stop / start driving. This mode is best saved for the open road - it really is fantastic.

One tip that will help though - Change the gearbox oil for some fresh stuff (I still used BMW OEM)as this will also make changes less 'clunky'. It is supposed to be 'oil for life' but I found changing it to be a definate improvement. I think it cost me less than £80 all in to this (£40 for oil which I think you need 2.5 litres and and hour's labour at an indy).

[Yanto]

Agree with outnumbered. Am in central London and drive full manual all the time. That said, depends on how often you drive it (only weekends for me).

[NickXX]

SMG works very well in Central London IME. The biggest bonus is not having to constantly work the heavy clutch (this got annoying around town in my 330). Additionally, even in manual mode you can drive around in a leisurely manner - the car will shift down for you as you approach lights.

It really isn't jerky around town after getting used to it.