SMG

[Azrielsc]

Not driving a SMG car so can't help u there...

As for the tilting mirror, look at your door handle with the lever to adjust your mirror. Push the button to the left, then engage reverse, and then readjust your mirror, like how much to tilt etc, and then engage drive and drive away!

Cheers

 

[bimmerworks]

I've tried SMG two 330s, two 325s and SMGII(M3). IMO if you drive with a light foot there is no need to back off. But for more agreesive driving its better to lift off a bit to prevent a jerky change. I think there is some variation from one car to another, because one 325 was harder to drive than all the others.

The engine response seems more immediate on any SMG, maybe because there is no torque converter. So a SMG 325 was smoother, quieter and faster than a steptronic 328 (with sports exhaust though). The autos always have slight spongy feel to their accelarator response in comparison. My 2 bits.

 

[jaskin]

I have a 325 SMG too. I tend to lift off alittle bit of pressure when I shift. If not the car jerks. Does your car sometimes have a clunk sound when you downshift from 3rd to 2nd at a stop?
I think driving in sports mode is going to get you shifting the fastest. But from response I'm getting from my car it would seem that it's also the method that would cost the most wear and tear on the system.

 

[ryan]

Drove a friend's Z4 2.5l sometime back..

Did some aggressive driving and shifting without lifting off.

Feels damm solid to be driving so aggro, however..clutch smell did turn me off. :errr:

For normal 'sedate' driving, it's best to lift off the gas and shift then gas on gradually. Very involving, but it becomes second nature after that. It's more smooth than driving in 'auto' mode.

Pity i don't have a SMG of my own. :verysad:

 

[Racebred]

for slope, just use left foot brake. no roll back

 

[MRacer77]

SMGs need to be driven fast to be smooth... the harder you rev the car the smoother the gear changes. Also, the blipping of the engine on the downshifts become more accurate... My 2 cents worth.

 

[bimmerworks]

Have been driving an SMG M3 for past few weeks and using setting level 5 (quick change), its still jerks on upshifts even flooring the accelerator. So IMHO the agressive driving for smooth shifts does not work for me. By backing off just a bit, the upshift is much smoother. Downshifts much less of a problem.

BTW for m3 SMG, pulling right paddle shifts up and pulling left paddle shifts down. Pushing either paddle does nothing. For the 330 and 325 both left and right paddles shift up when you pull and down with a push.

For M3, pulling and holding the left paddle on an incline, activates an incline assist. which revs the engine and slips the clutch to balance on a slope.

I've never tried a manual BM but appreciate the SMG every time there is a start stop crawl on the CTE or queuing to get into IKEA

 

[bimmerworks]

Have been driving an SMG M3 for past few weeks and using setting level 5 (quick change), its still jerks on upshifts even flooring the accelerator. So IMHO the agressive driving for smooth shifts does not work for me. By backing off just a bit, the upshift is much smoother. Downshifts much less of a problem.

BTW for m3 SMG, pulling right paddle shifts up and pulling left paddle shifts down. Pushing either paddle does nothing. For the 330 and 325 both left and right paddles shift up when you pull and down with a push.

For M3, pulling and holding the left paddle on an incline, activates an incline assist. which revs the engine and slips the clutch to balance on a slope.

I've never tried a manual BM but appreciate the SMG every time there is a start stop crawl on the CTE or queuing to get into IKEA

jaskin, About sounds, yes I get the clunking gear change sound. Also whenever I use the remote to open the door, there is the sound of a pump priming. A sales girl at TTS pointed this out and said it was for all SMG systems.

 

[laven]

For M3, pulling and holding the left paddle on an incline, activates an incline assist. which revs the engine and slips the clutch to balance on a slope.

Is there any indication that the incline assist is on? Maybe I should try to see if my 325 got this. Try to check with pml on this but they say they have no idea. Sigh..... Thanks anyway for all you help

 

[jaskin]

Incline assist would be nice but I doubt if the 325 has it.
Bimmerworks: thanks! I always thought the sound when I unlock was for the headlights. LOL :laughlik:

 

[bimmerworks]

jaskin, The incline assist feature is described in the manual, so if 325 has this, it should be there. There is no dashboard indication of when incline assist is engaged, but the engine reving up to balance is fairly obvious so no question when its engaging. It only stays engaged for a few seconds though, so you have to move off by then.

 

[MRacer77]

Have been driving an SMG M3 for past few weeks and using setting level 5 (quick change), its still jerks on upshifts even flooring the accelerator. So IMHO the agressive driving for smooth shifts does not work for me. By backing off just a bit, the upshift is much smoother. Downshifts much less of a problem.

BTW for m3 SMG, pulling right paddle shifts up and pulling left paddle shifts down. Pushing either paddle does nothing. For the 330 and 325 both left and right paddles shift up when you pull and down with a push.

For M3, pulling and holding the left paddle on an incline, activates an incline assist. which revs the engine and slips the clutch to balance on a slope.

I've never tried a manual BM but appreciate the SMG every time there is a start stop crawl on the CTE or queuing to get into IKEA

jaskin, About sounds, yes I get the clunking gear change sound. Also whenever I use the remote to open the door, there is the sound of a pump priming. A sales girl at TTS pointed this out and said it was for all SMG systems.

The sound you hear when you unlock the door is the sound of the hydraulics for the SMG gearbox.

 

[Racebred]

they start charging it up because the system anticipates you will switch on the engine soon.

 

[laven]

jaskin, The incline assist feature is described in the manual, so if 325 has this, it should be there. There is no dashboard indication of when incline assist is engaged, but the engine reving up to balance is fairly obvious so no question when its engaging. It only stays engaged for a few seconds though, so you have to move off by then.

Just check wif pml, the incline assist is not available in 325 and 330.

 

[jaskin]

Shucks, I was hoping it was a hidden feature that I haven't discovered yet.

 

[Roy]

Re: SMG

Anyone Driving a SMG car here? Got a few questions to ask.

1. is there anyway to change the gear much faster beside using the sports mode?

2. should i release the pedal when changing gear?

really finding it pretty different when driving one. But have to say it is damn fun. only have to get use to the roll back when move off from a slope.

Also, How to adjust the angel of the side mirror when reversing?

thanks man

Driven the M3 with SMGII on the track for my driver training. I did ask the instructors on what's the best way to use SMGII. What I am about to write here is what I have researched from the net and reliable sources and what I have experienced while trying it out.

A background on SMG:
The SMG system in you car (say M3) basically is a standard M3 6-speed manual gearbox with SMG to control the gear changes and clutching. So remember that SMG is a manual gearbox, not an auto.

SMG has 11 settings: 5 for auto mode (A1 - A5), 6 for sequential mode (S1 - S6, S6 requires DSC to be swtiched off). The higher the level you set, the faster the gear changes.

Answer to question 1:
I am assuming that when you say "sport", you mean that you switch on that "sport" button on the centre console. That sport button doesn't affect the SMG system in any way. All that button does is sharpen the throttle response (as it is drive-by-wire), i.e. makes the throttle pedal more sensitive.

The fastest way to change gear would be to use S6 (with DSC off as required). It is only in S6 (and shifting close to the redline) that it is possible to do the 0.08s shifts that BMW claims SMGII is capable off. When you are doing this, you dont have to lift-off on the throttle when you upshift.

Answer to question 2:
Other than in S6 mode, you only need to lift-off the throttle a tad when shifting up. There is a certain timing as to when to lift-off. Jump in your car, and without moving, just flip the upshift paddle and take note of the gear display on the instrument panel. What you should see (e.g. you are shifting from 1 to 2) is the digit 1 blink before the digit 2 is shown. Remember that it is a standard manual gearbox. And, in a normal manual car, you would: lift off the throttle, clutch in, engage into the next gear, clutch out and apply the throttle again. That blinking part is the SMG system doing all that. Thus, time your gear changes and lift-off to this blinking. A rule of thumb would be to flip the gear paddle first, and the lift-off (just a bit) and re-apply the throttle. As everything happens so fast in SMG, it's really hard to time this sequence so accurately, so you just have to go by feel as you practice.

A friend of mine used to lift-off as he flips the paddle. He later tried the method I just mentioned, and said that it did feel faster and smoother.

I know this is a long explaination, but I hope this helps.

 

[laven]

Great info! thanks for it. But I dun think my 325 SMG comes in the settings that you mentioned? Or does it? Anyone know? I realise when i switch on the "sports" mode, the gear shift tends to be faster than turning it off. So maybe dat's the difference betweent the M3 SMG and the 325 and 330 ones. But nevertheless, great info. Thanks

 

[Roy]

Great info! thanks for it. But I dun think my 325 SMG comes in the settings that you mentioned? Or does it? Anyone know? I realise when i switch on the "sports" mode, the gear shift tends to be faster than turning it off. So maybe dat's the difference betweent the M3 SMG and the 325 and 330 ones. But nevertheless, great info. Thanks

Left some info out.

There are two versions of SMG: SMG (version 1) and SMGII (which is only available on the M3's at the moment). The SMG system on the 330's and 325's are running on the first version (with the upshift-downshift toggles). I understand what you mean when you said "sport" mode now.

The SMG (I'll just refer to SMG 1 as SMG) on your car has a "sport" button near the shift lever. SMGII has a level setting button on where the "sport" button is. So, yeah, with your "sport" mode switched on, you get faster shifts.

I get a little confused whenever people use the term "sports mode", 'cos BMW calls everything "sport": the button which controls throttle sensitivity, the S mode in steptronic, the mode for SMG 1, etc. The info in my first post are based on the M3's SMGII, but most stuff can be applied to SMG 1.

Hope this answers your questions. =)

 

[Racebred]

wow great info thanks. i didnt know about the blinking part.

for non-m, since there are no S1 to S6 to choose from, sports makes the shift faster. same goes for the maserati cambiocorsa and ferrari f1 shifts.

for m, since there are shift speeds you can select already, sports button dont have to take those into consideration.

 

[piggyboyz]

Re: SMG

Anyone Driving a SMG car here? Got a few questions to ask.

1. is there anyway to change the gear much faster beside using the sports mode?

2. should i release the pedal when changing gear?

really finding it pretty different when driving one. But have to say it is damn fun. only have to get use to the roll back when move off from a slope.

Also, How to adjust the angel of the side mirror when reversing?

thanks man

I wonder if this will come too late....

Yes I drive a SMG car and apart from putting the car to Sport mode, there is not way the car can shift faster but u would have noticed that as the revv climbs, the gear change is slightly faster....

I do lift off a bit when i am not in a big hurry and i does allivate the jerk a bit at times....