Bought myself an M3 for my birthday. :)

[195]

I turn 23 in about 2 weeks so I went out and got myself an early present. A 2003.5 Carbon Black on Black SMG - fully loaded. :)

Now I will finally have time to to do maintenance on my e30 since it doesn't have to be together by the end of the day.

I'll post pics of both cars when I pick up the new ride today or tomorrow! :D

[325is_e30]

pics sound good

[CleanAzzE30z]

Congrats. That car E46, aside from feeling and being a bit heavy, is very well-sorted from the factory unless of course you go to the track, thats when its few flaws come out. But for a quick jaunt through the canyons, its more than satisfactory. I have guilty pleasure canyon runs with my moms ///M3. I never thought Id enjoy a BMW that was made in the last 6-10 years so much. Ill shut up now.

Mariano

[motorprestige]

smg is not my taste but, if you are like everyone else and think new bmw's have to be posh and cutting edge, than rats off to ya'.

[MR 325]

SMG? Why not stick?

[YAN-3]

why get an SMG? you loose a leg or something? by the way nice color. I love them.

[golde30]

why get an SMG? you loose a leg or something? by the way nice color. I love them.

[Stu]

A lot of people like the SMG's because they are faster for just about every driver.

Nice car, I bought myself a digital camera and a few CD's for my birthday. ;)

[Matt86es]

Sounds good to me. I like the old fashioned 5(6)-speed, but the advantages are obvious.

-Shifting can occur faster than even an expert driver can achieve. (as fast as 80 milliseconds)
-2 modes: Sequential and Automated
-5 DRIVELOGIC programs controlling gearshift actuation
-SMG revs the throttle during downshifts to help modulate engine braking.
-A BMW Motorsport inspired gearbox with Formula One style controls.
-An alternative manual transmission you can shift in quick succession to move rapidly through the gears
-Shift lights maximize engine performance (sequential mode)

"BMWs answer is to give the driver nearly limitless choice. Firstly the driver can choose between the manual gearbox doing a fine impression of a conventional automatic box or a full-on sequential manual. In addition to this, the M3 also allows the selection of five different programs in Automatic and six in Sequential, giving 11 different gearboxes in total! Of course the changes are all just coded into the clever software, but you can choose from Automatic 1, a creamy smooth automatic system that swaps cogs in about half a second through to Automatic 5, which is a far punchier and more brutal automatic system, holding onto the gears longer before shifting itself quickly once more into the M3s broad power band. The automatic mode is impressive indeed, but for the sort of drivers who go all moist and gooey at the sight of an M3 in the first place, the full sequential manual mode will give them grins big enough to slot woks into.

The quickest of the manual programs can shift gears in just 0.08 seconds (thats theoretically 12.5 gearchanges a second!) and twice as quick as a Ferrari 360 Modena F1. Downchanges are the stuff of F1 fantasy, however, with the throttle blipping perfectly as you brake into a corner and flick away at the left hand paddle behind the obscenely chunky steering wheel.

Unlike the Ferrari, the paddles move with the steering wheel, making gearchanging on the fly far easier. The Formula One parallel continues through the fitment of acceleration assistant, a program that acts as a launch control system. Launched just as traction control was legalised in Formula One, the M3 SMGs acceleration assistant program was written by the same men responsible for the Williams-BMW FW23s launch control software. Top that."

[Royal]

Pics!

[Tvan]

Nice birthday present. My friend's dad did the same thing last summer, he went out on his birthday and came back with a red Lotus Elise.

Pics or ban fo sho.

[195]

Thansk for the compliments. One question I have, the original owner had firefighter plates and kept them. So I have no plates on the car while I wait for DMV. Is that ok? Any details on this circumstance?

Also I got SMG for a couple of reasons. You can't hold your girlfriends hand when you are driving around the city. And it's easier to drive around the city. ;) And I thought it just looks cooler to have that thing than a traditional stick.

If I want to drive a car to it's limits, I'll drive around my go-cart-like e30. I'll drive the M3 agressive on the BMW runs and what not, but if I ever were to test it's limits, it's gonna be on the track. Because of that, I chose SMG because it's more conveinent to drive IMHO.

[niq_nak]

If I want to drive a car to it's limits, I'll drive around my go-cart-like e30. I'll drive the M3 agressive on the BMW runs and what not, but if I ever were to test it's limits, it's gonna be on the track. Because of that, I chose SMG because it's more conveinent to drive IMHO.

word, if i could afford an e46 m3, it would def be smg for the convenience. i'm not sure about everyone that has commented in this thread, but a lot of people hate on the smg without any experience with it. after driving my friends smg m3, smg is that shit.

[UNHCLL]

word, if i could afford an e46 m3, it would def be smg for the convenience. i'm not sure about everyone that has commented in this thread, but a lot of people hate on the smg without any experience with it. after driving my friends smg m3, smg is that shit.

SMG-1 sucks at slow speeds, and in stop & go traffic. Even in full auto mode.

Most people are "hating" on the SMG because:
1) They cant afford it
2) They've never driven it for real
3) They think its more "elite" to drive a real manual



The more recent SMG's have greatly improved (I have yet to drive the M5 version), but they still have minor flaws. The byproduct of meshing Auto comfort with enthusiast demand for "manual" control.

E46 is to big of a car for me, after driving an e46 SMG1 M3... It feels as big as my moms e39. Awesome car none-the-less. Congrats on the birthday purchase.

I don't know if the car falls into the realm of the failure motors with bad bearings... might want to look into that.

[CarsSuck]

I personally do have a fair amount of experience with SMG, in all its forms. In the M3 its good, not always faster, a good driver will be about equal i think. What i really dislike is the jerkiness. The SMG found in the Z4 and 6 series is worse i think, the function of the paddles is different (push/pull vs. left/right) The M5 is just about the same. I havnt had very much time in it but it seemed to be just as fast as the M3 but was smoother. just my 2.