Thinking of an M3 E46 SMG

9zap

9zap

9zap

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Hi there,

After been in my mates E46 M3 Cab at the weekend I was pretty impressed it was a manual 2003 Model I have a 2004 Clk 320 Cab tiptronic. I really am tempted to get one but it would have to be an SMG model, I drive with hand controls and was wondering can it be driven without to much of a headache as the hand controls pull to throttle and push to brake all on one lever... so without actually trying one its kinda difficult to see how these smg boxes differ over an A box tiptronic, can it be driven fairly successfully don't want to end up with something I cant manage, and its not really an option to fit 500 quids worth of hand controls for a test drive :) opinions on the SMG and there thoughts.

cheers
 
I know little about hand controls but my first thought is that a car with the character of an M3 wouldnt suit that sort of setup as well as something more wafty like your CLK320.

Would you run the M3 in Auto mode all the time? SMG is an excellent system but it's not a conventional automatic and nor does it drive like one.
 
As fox says, its actually a manual box with joggery pokery on top and can be very sharp. I think you would need to try it first.
 
I would like to use the paddles not sure how it differs from the fully auto mode? problem is trying one..can it be driven in fully auto mode? can you not press the gas pedal and of it goes changing by itself or by pulling on the paddles
 
It can be driven in automatic mode but it's not a conventional autobox. The experience will be very different from your Mercedes. In many ways, it will be far superior, in other ways, not so good.
 
SMG can be driven smoothly in auto mode - some people drive it solely in auto mode. However, it will take a while to adapt to how the gearbox works. Apparently it can be driven very smoothly once you understand how it works, although I have never spent much time learning how to use it.

SMG in manual mode is also very easy to use though. You can either change up and down using the paddles or the shifter. Note that it will also shift down smoothly for you (to prevent the car from stalling), so you can get away with just using the upshifter if you're driving leisurely.
 
A mate of mine is in a chair and actually has a CSL and drives both on road and on track with no problem at all, in fact he is very rapid on track and very smooth. He drives with one hand using a wheel ball like a fork lift and uses the SMG box in full automatic and has no issues at all.
 
Housey said:
A mate of mine is in a chair and actually has a CSL and drives both on road and on track with no problem at all, in fact he is very rapid on track and very smooth. He drives with one hand using a wheel ball like a fork lift and uses the SMG box in full automatic and has no issues at all.
Click to expand...

Good stuff - I thought this might be the case. SMG auto is terrible if you drive it like a normal auto, but I have seen many comments suggesting it is pretty good when you've worked out how to use it.
 
Housey said:
A mate of mine is in a chair and actually has a CSL and drives both on road and on track with no problem at all, in fact he is very rapid on track and very smooth. He drives with one hand using a wheel ball like a fork lift and uses the SMG box in full automatic and has no issues at all.
Click to expand...

Hi Mate,

That's the same as me I'm chair bound, I would be interested in maybe contacting the guy for some more info general natter etc, if not that's not a problem but just hearing that someone with hand controls driving the M3 smg and doing very well with it puts a smile on my face ,how does he work the throttle?
 
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