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Thread: Is SMG an Automatic or Manual Transmission

  1. #26
    Join Date
    Dec 2012
    Location
    Pittsburgh,Pa.
    Posts
    21
    My Cars
    2008 BMW M6 Convertible
    Enough said!


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  2. #27
    Join Date
    Apr 2015
    Location
    NJ
    Posts
    373
    My Cars
    1995 BMW 850ci
    Guys, this can't be that complicated ! This ain't the 2016 elections lol.

  3. #28
    Join Date
    Jun 2017
    Location
    California
    Posts
    2
    My Cars
    E90 328i
    I saw this and thought I’d dig it back up with my two cents:
    Someone said, if it has a torque converter, it’s an auto and if it has a clutch, it’s a manual.
    A transmission using a torque converter and planetaries still has clutches in them.

    And how come we can’t just call it a “semi-auto” because it doesn’t do everything manually or automatically?

  4. #29
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Dallas, TX
    Posts
    348
    My Cars
    88 M3,94 840Ci, 06 M6
    I have a 06 M6 w/SMG (Sequential Manual Gearbox). It a manual gearbox with a clutch, No Torque Converter! Hydraulically shifts in the D mode! Definitely! Even in D mode she will roll back or forward just like a normal Standard-Manual Transmission. I also have a 07 650i BMW convertible (wife's car). This car has a Automatic Transmission (Torque Converter) with the option to manually + - gears
    Last edited by 840ways; 02-05-2018 at 12:41 PM.
    It's the Machine in Me!

  5. #30
    Join Date
    Dec 2004
    Location
    Charlotte, NC
    Posts
    151
    My Cars
    2008 BMW M5 SMGII
    As an SMG owner, my son said it best - 'the car doesn't coast like an automatic'. While it does shift by itself, it feels much more tightly coupled to the engine compared to an automatic transmission. Once you let off the gas, it slows immediately. Still love it!

  6. #31
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    Las Cruces, NM
    Posts
    330
    My Cars
    BMW M6 M63 V10 6 sp
    Has anybody thought about manuals as a mechanical clutch and gear engagement transmission vs an automatic transmission, with its torque converter and gears? Back in the day when we did not have computers, buyers had the choice of mechanical/manual vs hydraulic/automatic shifting, hence the names. Manual transmissions disengaged the clutch via foot power, changed gears via hand/arm power, ergo manual. Automatic transmissions stored hydraulic oil pressure in the torque converter, moved hydraulic vanes and valves, changed gears. And yes, there is a slight power lapse in automatics as the gears are being changed... check GM's Hydramatic 400 vs. Ford C6.(1970's) (Ford's lapse is shorter). That's why racing transmission properties oil resemble Ford's oil rather than GM's. What if this argument, for the sake of ending this somewhat obscure tread about transmissions, clutches, torque converters and motherly advice we focus on what makes a transmission... mechanical vs hydraulic? In which case the SMG will be a mechanical transmission with computerized clutch and shifting mechanisms, an automatic transmission will be the one with the hydraulic torque converter. Any further discussion is just an obsessive compulsive desire to argue endlessly, unreasonably, needlessly.

  7. #32
    Join Date
    Jan 2018
    Location
    Plainview, New York
    Posts
    5
    My Cars
    2018 BMW 530i
    It is extremely frustrating to be searching for a used model with a preference for a manual transmission only to discover that 2 out of 3 listings that specify a 'manual' transmission actually have the automatic. I've been trying to understand this seemingly BMW-specific phenomena that's been wasting so much of my time, but I still don't really get why someone selling the car would check that box in this scenario. Forgetting all of the arguments about why the SMG can be considered 'manual' - when putting it next to a model with a clutch & a gear shift in the center console, of course it belongs under 'automatic'.

  8. #33
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    Las Cruces, NM
    Posts
    330
    My Cars
    BMW M6 M63 V10 6 sp
    Just as a last ditch effort to avoid any further attempts at defining the undefinable: BMW made 3 types of transmissions for the 6 series models: the AUTOMATIC, with torque converter and planetary gears, the SMG, a mechanical transmission with a computer operated clutch and shifter mechanism, and a MANUAL transmission, with foot operated clutch and arm and hand operated shifter. Take your choice, pick one, and just live with the fact that there are people that don't know as much as you do... maybe that will cool down the yet untreated OCD in you ( I treated mine with a glass ..or 2.. of Chardonnay). Cool down, it's all good.. Get the car you want and forget about the lesser mere mortals that don't follow your beliefs..

  9. #34
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Location
    Northeast PA
    Posts
    53
    My Cars
    M6 (2013)
    Someone will correct me if I'm mistaken, but doesn't the DCT make FOUR types of transmission?

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  10. #35
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Location
    Northeast PA
    Posts
    53
    My Cars
    M6 (2013)
    Not to stir the pot, but it seems to me there's a difference between an automatic transmission, and a transmission that shifts automatically. The internals are what defines it (does it - or does it not - have a torque converter), not strictly how its operated by the customer.

    Sent from my SM-T813 using Tapatalk

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