BMW 325i Sport Edition with SMG

BMW 325i Sport Edition with SMG

by -

Not everyone can get to be a F1 driver and pilot those tarmac-hugging cruise missiles at speeds way past the speed limits of even the liberal Germans (as well as the US state of Arizona). However, drivers of some types of cars which you can buy if you have enough money can have some of the experiences that the likes of the Schumacher brothers or David Coulthard have with regard to how they change gears.

I am referring to the sequential method of shifting gears, a concept which has been used in F1 cars for quite a number of years. It began as the semi-automatic gearbox in the Ferrari racing cars in the late 1980s and from that evolved into the gearbox for the F355 F1 for street use. Alfa Romeo then adapted the technology for its Selespeed transmission and during the 1990s, many other European makers also began offering clutchless gearboxes that allowed manual or automatic shifting.

There is, however, a difference in these clutchless gearboxes in that some are adapted from automatic transmissions while others – like those used in F1 cars – are adapted from manual transmissions. The Porsche Tiptronic, BMW Steptronic, Toyota E-shift, and variants (like those in Peugeots) which are basically licensed from Porsche’s Tiptronic design are all automatics and therefore have hydraulic linkages with torque converters. As such, they do have the disadvantage of inherent power losses although electronic wizardry helps to reduce those losses significantly.

The manual transmission-based units such as BMW’s Sequential Manual Gearbox (SMG) are considered superior to the automatic-based ones for this reason as they have no power losses. Basically, they are manual gearboxes with high-pressure hydraulic shift actuators installed and lots of electronic controls to provide quicker action than what the average driver could do.

BMW’s SMG has been available in the mouth-watering M3 (E36 generation) since 1987 and has gone through three generations now. In the latest 325i Sport Edition which Auto Bavaria is assembling locally, the SMG is a variation which uses a 5-speed manual gearbox, rather than the 6-speeder (M-Getrag unit) you find in the M-cars. It’s a simpler design without the numerous shift programmes but still offers the racecar feel for drivers.

The 325i SMG is made by ZF with the electronic bits coming from Magneti-Marelli. It has three selectable driving programmes – Normal, Sports and Cruise (this is the same as the ‘City’ mode referred to in some other markets’ models). The shift lever movements are arranged in a L-shape with Park and Neutral positions to the left side, the sequential manual gates in the middle and the C mode to the right side.

Like other clutchless transmissions, you get higher or lower gears by pushing forward or pulling back on the lever. BMW’s philosophy has push for downshifts and pull for upshifts, and the logic of this is that when you accelerate and need to change up, your natural body movement is backwards. During deceleration, when you may shift down, your body moves forward with inertia so it is supposed to be natural to also push forward to get a lower gear.

Additionally, ‘paddles’ are also mounted above the centre steering wheel spokes at the 10 o’clock and 2 o’clock positions (inside the rim). Some manufacturers have the buttons on the steering wheel boss but BMW’s are shiny paddles located within thumb’s reach (people with short thumbs may find it a bit of a reach…). As with the shift lever, you push to downshift and pull (or push from the back) to upshift.

The existence of the Cruise mode is not intended as a replacement for the automatic transmission but it is provided for the convenience of drivers in today’s increasingly congested city conditions. This gives the best of both worlds, without sacrificing efficiency in manual shifting. In fact, BMW acknowledges this point and states that ‘the SMG does not seek to compete with the unique shift comfort of an automatic transmission with a converter lock-up clutch… and is not even in a position to do so’.

Having SMG is obviously a very nice thing because not only do you get to enjoy a driving experience like Montoya but shifting is foolproof. BMW feels it enhances driving safety as any driver will be able to drive sportily without fearing bungles in shifting at high speeds.

With electronic traction control systems and BMW’s Dynamic Stability Control (DSC), wheelspinning, tyre-smoking starts are not easy to do nowadays. The on-board computer prevents you from such ‘naughty’ behaviour by adjusting output and also using the brakes – without your authority! That’s good and bad and for the enthusiasts, it’s no fun at all.

Well, with the 325i SMG, you can still have that kind of fun. There is a thing called ‘acceleration assist’ which basically requires you to be in Sports mode and deactivate the DSC. Put ‘pedal to metal’ on the start line and you get that kick-in-the-pants sensation as the car smokes away from a 4000 rpm start and in some conditions, you would get wheelspin even in third gear! Of course, you don’t want to do that at every traffic light as it isn’t going to do your drivetrain good in the long term.

The highlight of the new 325i Sport Edition is the SMG but there are also a few other additional goodies thrown in for the RM25,000 more you pay over a 325iA at RM291,172 (excluding insurance). The suspension has sports tuning and there is a BMW M aerobody kit along with 17-inch M Double-Spoke 68 alloy rims ad well as sports seats up front. For special metallic colours are available: Titan Silver, Ebony Black, Biarritz Blue and Phoenix Yellow.

“The accessory package is already worth RM20,000 so customers are getting a pretty good deal with this additional variant that we are assembling locally,” said Tunku Badlishah bin Tunku Annuar, Auto Bavaria’s GM for Sales & Marketing. He added that 110 units will be assembled in the first batch and so far, demand has been high because many see this as being very good value for money.

The SMG Experience
Auto Bavaria organised a press preview of the 325i Sport Edition because it felt that the SMG must be truly experienced to be understood – plus a tech guy from BMW Asia also provided a very good presentation. Nice of them but the experience was somewhat short as it involved a drive between Bukit Kiara and Sg Buloh on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur… and in a car shared with two other journalists. Nevertheless, it was sufficient to get an insight into the SMG operation and it is not everyday that a company representative actually encourages you to push the car hard!

For those interested, BMW’s claim for the 325i SMG is 7.2 seconds from 0 to 100 km/h and a top speed of 240 km/h, both figures said to be the same as the normal 325iA. However, if there are two cars and one has SMG, it is possible that the SMG car will have an edge on twisty roads (but still depends on the driving skill). The SMG driver can execute changes faster (the mechanism takes 150 milliseconds to execute a change in sports mode, 50% slower in normal mode) and concentrate on cornering harder.

I found the sequential shifting nice and on twisty roads, it is fun to use. But somehow, in slower driving, the slight lapse with the conventional H-pattern shifting seems more preferable for some reason. Of course, if you are used to driving an automatic, then it is not much difference in feel. But with the SMG, the shift throws are short and positive and changes occur almost as quickly as your mind can will them.

Sports mode has a harsher sort of shift feel, jerky if the driving is hard. The clutch operates much faster, in the same manner as a racing car, to shave off precious milliseconds. It’s a mode you will want to use when in a hurry but not quite suited for daily driving to work.

Nothing much to comment on Cruise mode since it just works by itself. The transmission has adaptive programming so it can adjust to your driving style after a few tens of kilometres.

As for that ‘acceleration assist’ feature which some like to call ‘launch control’ (from the similar type of feature in F1 cars), the demonstration by an Auto Bavaria driver was mind-blowing – not because of the impressive acceleration but because of the location. You see, it was along a straight road in a sports complex and at the end of this road was a very solid Tenaga Nasional building! I wondered if it was deliberate so to also demonstrate the capabilities of the BMW’s brake system – and the six airbags installed in case the brake system did the very rare thing of failing!

Anyway, it works as advertised and while it may not be the same sort of sensation as rocketing off on a superbike, the wheelspin is exhilarating. All those 192 horses from the 2494 cc start to yank the 325i forward as the tyres squeal for grip and I heard the tyres chirping even as the transmission went into third gear. By the way, if you are not able to upshift when it hits the rev limiter, the transmission will do it for you. Some drivers may dislike this but BMW feels that it is better to avoid the ‘discomfort’ of hitting the rev limiter.

I am still in two minds about the shift paddles on the steering wheel and must admit that I personally don’t like them. This may be due to lack of exposure to such an arrangement but I think that there is more though required to using them as they are small. Of course, Ralf will probably be right at home with this since he changes gears like that most of the time with his BMW and I am sure there is a case for such a system.

But I still prefer the ‘old-fashioned’ way and the nice thing is not having to bother with a clutch.

1 COMMENT

Leave a Reply