A friend of mine who owns a car dealership called me last week and said he had a car he thought I might be interested in. It is an 07 M6 cabriolet with the SMG. While I really had no interest in the SMG, I have looked at the M6 as a potential replacement for my e36 M3 at some point, and it seemed worth taking him up on the offer. He really is a friend, and said he didn't care how many miles I put on the car, and he specifically told me to take it on a scheduled convertible cruise that Saturday. A few thoughts:

(1) I absolutely HATED the SMG on the first drive through scenic PA. It was awkward, I hated the pause in between shifts even on position 5 and it didn't hold a candle to the standard automatic on the F type I drove this year.

(2) After that first drive, I went on bimmerforums (thanks guys!) and read up on the SMG. Treat it like a manual and you will love it they said, and to some extent they were right. I made peace with the transmission by using the gear lever instead of the paddle shifters, and lifting off for gear changes like I would in a stick and suddenly the transmission made sense. From that point on I no longer hated the SMG, but I still didn't understand why anyone would call these shifts "lighting quick." Also, the car seemed rather pedestrian unless I pushed the "M" button on the steering wheel, and then it had power.

So I went home that evening and downloaded the owners manual on my iPad and set about understanding the various buttons and modes of this car (crazy how slow this car feels in 400hp mode and how much a difference the extra 100hp makes when you engage it). The following day was a two hour cruise through gorgeous countryside with the convertible group. The drive was a joy, and overall I liked the car but not enough that I would want to make it mine. Continuing my thoughts:

(3) The SMG isn't as terrible as people say, or as good as people say. Ultimately it's...ok. The only way to get really quick shifts with it is to turn off DSC, and that seems like an unwise way to drive around a car with this much power. After spending the weekend with this car, I would not buy a BMW with an SMG even though I did enjoy driving it. In short, it's not as fun to drive as a standard manual to me, and not as good as a dual clutch or even the automatic in the Jaguar F Type (Drove one of those this year, I had no idea an automatic could shift like that thing does. The F type's paddle shifters are legit and bring about lightning quick gear changes).

(4) It's a very nice and special car, but the extra 1000 pounds over my 99 M3 is very, very noticeable. The M6 is a better daily driver and better cruiser, but the M3 is simply more fun to drive.

(5) This car desperately needs a backup camera.

(6) I was surprised at the lack of room in this car. I expected it to be roomier than my M3, but the rear seats actually had less leg room and the front space really didn't feel much different. The trunk was a noticeable upgrade though.

(7) The most impressive thing about this car is the brakes. They are legit and bring this heavy beast to a stop in a hurry.

(8) This is a thirsty, thirsty beast. I wasn't expecting Prius mileage, but dang...

(9) This is a nicer daily driver than my car. It was raining on Sunday, and I drove this car with confidence.

Overall I enjoyed driving the M6, but won't be hunting one down any time soon. These are of course simply my opinions, and I thought I would share them.

Joel