E46 or e92

Chris_PDX wrote

As Zoidberg would say, "Why not both?"

Now do the next logical thing.... buy an E46 M3 anyway.

I own both... E92 is my fun street car, E46 is the hardcore track car. One can never have too many M's...

Is your e92 DCT? How come when I go to put it in drive after turning on the car , it goes automatically into manual mode? And then after I click it again to the right it goes into normal drive

yeah_knee wrote

Is your e92 DCT? How come when I go to put it in drive after turning on the car , it goes automatically into manual mode? And then after I click it again to the right it goes into normal drive

It is. This is how BMW designed the software which was stupid. Find someone that does coding and get the GTS transmission software. It defaults to "D" and adds some other nifty things (remembers shift settings, and helps smooth 1st gear stutter/clutch slippage, and shifts more smoothly when in D mode).

You should be able to find someone local. I use BIM Coding, who is based out of Seattle. He can do it remotely if you have a Windows laptop, and he'll ship you the cable (they are tied to VINs so needs to be programmed).

Chris_PDX wrote

yeah_knee wrote

Is your e92 DCT? How come when I go to put it in drive after turning on the car , it goes automatically into manual mode? And then after I click it again to the right it goes into normal drive

It is. This is how BMW designed the software which was stupid. Find someone that does coding and get the GTS transmission software. It defaults to "D" and adds some other nifty things (remembers shift settings, and helps smooth 1st gear stutter/clutch slippage, and shifts more smoothly when in D mode).

You should be able to find someone local. I use BIM Coding, who is based out of Seattle. He can do it remotely if you have a Windows laptop, and he'll ship you the cable (they are tied to VINs so needs to be programmed).

Ya I use EAS out here In so cal. They're awesome

Chris_PDX wrote

It is. This is how BMW designed the software which was stupid. Find someone that does coding and get the GTS transmission software. It defaults to "D" and adds some other nifty things (remembers shift settings, and helps smooth 1st gear stutter/clutch slippage, and shifts more smoothly when in D mode).

You should be able to find someone local. I use BIM Coding, who is based out of Seattle. He can do it remotely if you have a Windows laptop, and he'll ship you the cable (they are tied to VINs so needs to be programmed).

You think it's stupid to default to manual mode? What would be really stupid is if it defaulted to auto mode - that would annoy the frack out of me since I would drive a DCT in manual mode 99.9% of the time.

What it "should" do is default to where you last had it.

EricSMG wrote

Chris_PDX wrote

It is. This is how BMW designed the software which was stupid. Find someone that does coding and get the GTS transmission software. It defaults to "D" and adds some other nifty things (remembers shift settings, and helps smooth 1st gear stutter/clutch slippage, and shifts more smoothly when in D mode).

You should be able to find someone local. I use BIM Coding, who is based out of Seattle. He can do it remotely if you have a Windows laptop, and he'll ship you the cable (they are tied to VINs so needs to be programmed).

You think it's stupid to default to manual mode? What would be really stupid is if it defaulted to auto mode - that would annoy the frack out of me since I would drive a DCT in manual mode 99.9% of the time.

What it "should" do is default to where you last had it.

That would work too

Why choose...get both, that's what I did. Well I got an E90 instead. lol

IMG_3570 by dj_dub, on Flickr

IMG_4369a by dj_dub, on Flickr

They both having different driving experiences which I love and had to have both. My E46 was originally SMG and I enjoyed it while it was working. Once it started to have problems consistently, I got tired of the headache and I did a 6MT swap. It's nice having both M3s 6MT now.

EricSMG wrote

You think it's stupid to default to manual mode? What would be really stupid is if it defaulted to auto mode - that would annoy the frack out of me since I would drive a DCT in manual mode 99.9% of the time.

What it "should" do is default to where you last had it.

Nearly ever E9x M3 owner I know wants to default to D when you first start the car. When it's cold I leave it in D until the engine oil is up to temp, then I hit the M button.

There's way more cases when I want it to start and D and then switch to M later rather than starting in M from start.

Chris_PDX wrote

Nearly ever E9x M3 owner I know wants to default to D when you first start the car. When it's cold I leave it in D until the engine oil is up to temp, then I hit the M button.

There's way more cases when I want it to start and D and then switch to M later rather than starting in M from start.

Really? So nearly every DCT owner you know, including yourself, bought the DTC primarily for its automatic mode??

Wow. That's so far removed from my mindset I'm dumbfounded. I wish BMW never programmed the auto mode into either the SMG or DCT in the M-models, but I digress.

EricSMG wrote

Really? So nearly every DCT owner you know, including yourself, bought the DTC primarily for its automatic mode??

Wow. That's so far removed from my mindset I'm dumbfounded. I wish BMW never programmed the auto mode into either the SMG or DCT in the M-models, but I digress.

I bought it because it is extremely capable of doing BOTH!

UPSROD wrote

I bought it because it is extremely capable of doing BOTH!

Honest question here - is it really as good as a traditional automatic?

They be like Savage why you gotta 12 car garage but you only got 6 carsss

EricSMG wrote

Really? So nearly every DCT owner you know, including yourself, bought the DTC primarily for its automatic mode??

Wow. That's so far removed from my mindset I'm dumbfounded. I wish BMW never programmed the auto mode into either the SMG or DCT in the M-models, but I digress.

No, but when it's cold (or raining, etc.) why bother shifting manually? Just let it do it for you while the engine is warming up.

If people didn't want it, Dinan, EAS, and every coder out there wouldn't be offering it.

It's a personal preference to be sure. If you don't like it, that's cool. But a lot of people do.

EricSMG wrote

Honest question here - is it really as good as a traditional automatic?

Depends on the automatic.

The new 8 speed ZF's that BMW use are actually pretty good. They still don't shift as quick as a DCT, but they are MUCH better than torque converter autos from just 3 years ago.

I drove a new Corvette with their automatic (which I think is GM's own box... not a ZF or Getrag but not 100% sure) and I swear I was controlling it with paddles. It held gears when I wanted, downshifted when I wanted, and really the average person couldn't tell it wasn't a fancy dual clutch.

But I also fall into the camp of 3-pedals isn't the end-all-be-all of a car. I want fast shifts, and I there's no way, even with my upgraded clutch in my E46 that I can shift as fast as the DCT. I just prefer paddles any day of the week. Again, personal preference.

EricSMG wrote

You think it's stupid to default to manual mode? What would be really stupid is if it defaulted to auto mode - that would annoy the frack out of me since I would drive a DCT in manual mode 99.9% of the time.

What it "should" do is default to where you last had it.

Fortunately on the DCT, the first time you manually shift it, it stays that way until you either turn the car off or you switch it back to automatic. No stupid 10 seconds and it reverts to auto like the 8 speed ZF

EricSMG wrote

Honest question here - is it really as good as a traditional automatic?

I much prefer it to the 8 speed ZF in my X5.

With GTS software it's pretty much just as smooth, the difference is the DCT software (both OEM and GTS) has **much** better logic.

The 8 speed drives me mad and I had to retrofit paddles and use it in auto mode to not lose my mind. 8th gear is incredibly long and left to its own devices it'll shift into 7th, then 6th in every grade it finds. Two *stupid* shifts 2 seconds apart. Wasn't this gearbox supposed to be able to shift several gears in one go? Bullshit.

The DCT on the other hand is so good in auto mode it doesn't drive me crazy. It never does two individual shifts to get down to the gear it's decided it wants.

Obviously part of the blame lies in the S65 vs N55 engines, but still, it's annoying.

So after 5 days of ownership... blown motor

Took it back to dealership.. they want to see the damage themselves and we will go from there.

yeah_knee wrote

So after 5 days of ownership... blown motor

Took it back to dealership.. they want to see the damage themselves and we will go from there.

Wow. Good luck with this. Did it show any signs of pending failure?

Was PPI clean?

Ggeezer wrote

yeah_knee wrote

So after 5 days of ownership... blown motor

Took it back to dealership.. they want to see the damage themselves and we will go from there.

Wow. Good luck with this. Did it show any signs of pending failure?

Was PPI clean?

Ppl was clean... drove great with a lot of power first 4 days. And on 5th day it blew out ... hood started smoking and oil leaking .. needs an engine rebuild

Dealership I bought it from wants to see it. And we will go from there

yeah_knee wrote

So after 5 days of ownership... blown motor

Took it back to dealership.. they want to see the damage themselves and we will go from there.

Wow! Bad luck. Keep us informed as you work through this.

Ughh that's terrible news. How many miles were on the car? Do u know Rod bearings or other type failure?

IB M wrote

Ughh that's terrible news. How many miles were on the car? Do u know Rod bearings or other type failure?

108k miles

Car is being diagnosed now but I believe it's rod bearings that caused it

yeah_knee wrote

108k miles

Car is being diagnosed now but I believe it's rod bearings that caused it

Any sort of warranty on the car?