6-Series SMG - Strange Transmission or is it me?

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headnerd

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#1
I just picked up a 2004 BMW 645ci with SMG. Does anyone else have the SMG transmission and care to comment? It seems to me that, in automatic mode, it shifts like a 16-year old who just learned how to drive. And, I still haven't figured out how to smooth out the bumps from 1st to 2nd gear.

Is it me, or is this a very odd bird?
 
Bmw 325i 7803

Bmw 325i 7803

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I'd take it to the dealer and tell them it shifts rough.... It could need a software upgrade or there could be a problem with the transmission. One reason I don't like buying used high-end cars, is the rich consider them to be expendible and likely abuse them.
 
///M SPEED

///M SPEED

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The auto mode on all SMG gearboxes I have driven behave this way. It is a true manual gearbox emulating an auto. This is normal in the auto mode. They are very herky jerky....
 
MrElussive

MrElussive

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For SMG to be smooth, you have to treat it like a manual transmission because it is one. I found SMG upshifts to be smoother than a typical manual but it helps to ease of the throttle temporarily when performing an upshift, and to blip the throttle when performing a downshift.
 
///M SPEED

///M SPEED

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MrElussive said:
For SMG to be smooth, you have to treat it like a manual transmission because it is one. I found SMG upshifts to be smoother than a typical manual but it helps to ease of the throttle temporarily when performing an upshift, and to blip the throttle when performing a downshift.
Click to expand...
He is talking about the smoothness while in Auto Mode....
 
D

deutsch100

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I have a 2005 M3 with SMG, and the "Auto/D" mode (and I am using the auto word incredibly loosely) is absolutely horrific. You are right, it shifts like a 16 year old trying a stick shift for the first time. For the first 2-3 months after getting my SMG, I kept trying "Auto" mode in various aggressive modes, with and without the Sport button, letting up slightly on the gas between shifts, etc, etc. It is basically pure shit. The only time I use the "Auto" mode, is when I am in really bad, bumper to bumper traffic, and then the rough shift from 1st to 2nd, is not bad at all with slow speeds. Shifting it via the steering wheel paddles, or the hand shifter gives precise, lightning fast and perfect shifts from 1-6, and I almost always let it downshift by itsellf. I also found that using the Sport button makes everything feel better, and I personally like driving mode 3 or 4 (the little button by the hand shifter).

Don't bother taking it to the dealer...Nothing is "wrong" with your SMG. It is just, well...SMG.
 
gbelton

gbelton

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SMG is a Manual

Hi,

I have been driving SMG in my 645Cic since Feb. '05. SMG does take some getting used too.

Auto-mode is exactly that. Auto-mode (Emulation), the act of changing gears based on the gas/exceleration. It will never be perfect and will be jery especially if you are not familar with the drivelogic in this model.

I for one have not master the sequence but I do not use Auto-mode often. [:D]
May I suggest that you put the car in Sport-mode and it will decrease the jerkyness you are experiencing. [driving]

How long have you been driving it?

GMAN
 
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