BMW Ditching SMG to Follow VW's Leading Edge (DSG) ?
10-04-06, 10:10 AM
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BMW Ditching SMG to Follow VW's Leading Edge (DSG) ?
Rumour Mill: BMW Ditching SMG to Follow VW's Leading Edge
source : autospies
One thing about being a spy is that you sometimes overhear conversations that surprise you.
One of particular interest, was a recent discussion between two automotive insiders concerning BMW. With my earphones in and electrical gadgets ablaze, I slipped in silently, and quickly gathered the following from their private conversation.
It seems the BMW has approached, and brokered a deal with Borg Warner, to supply the legendary Munich automaker their new twin-clutch transmissions. These twin clutch gearboxes are part of an overall plan to phase out the much-maligned SMG transmissions currently in production.
The reason for the monumental switch?
While the SMG design may be a technical marvel, its real life performance simply wasn’t up to par with the rest of the vehicle, and it tended to detract more than aide in the overall driving experience.
The Borg Warner twin-clutch designs are currently in production by VW and Audi and marketed as the Direct Shift Gearbox (DSG).
Porsche has also indicated they will be an option in the near future on select models.
One of particular interest, was a recent discussion between two automotive insiders concerning BMW. With my earphones in and electrical gadgets ablaze, I slipped in silently, and quickly gathered the following from their private conversation.
It seems the BMW has approached, and brokered a deal with Borg Warner, to supply the legendary Munich automaker their new twin-clutch transmissions. These twin clutch gearboxes are part of an overall plan to phase out the much-maligned SMG transmissions currently in production.
The reason for the monumental switch?
While the SMG design may be a technical marvel, its real life performance simply wasn’t up to par with the rest of the vehicle, and it tended to detract more than aide in the overall driving experience.
The Borg Warner twin-clutch designs are currently in production by VW and Audi and marketed as the Direct Shift Gearbox (DSG).
Porsche has also indicated they will be an option in the near future on select models.
10-04-06, 11:39 AM
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SMG never thrilled me, too notchy. I love DSG (like everyone else), and totally think this is a good idea. Interestingly though, I think the new ZF transmission in the 335i is almost as fast (probably as fast), but there are clear differences (clutch being the most obvious).
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10-04-06, 03:25 PM
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Hmm interesting....BMW following Audi's lead. Isn't Audi's motto "Never Follow"? At least in the U.S. VW/Audi should have made the DSG transmission exclusive to only them somehow....oh well.
10-04-06, 04:15 PM
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10-04-06, 05:08 PM
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The reason for the monumental switch?
While the SMG design may be a technical marvel, its real life performance simply wasn’t up to par with the rest of the vehicle, and it tended to detract more than aide in the overall driving experience.
This is the main reason. The SMG was a great idea but rather poorly executed. It was an attempt to combime manual-transmission power and gas mileage with automatic-transmission convienence and ease of operation. Unfortunately the BMW system was never able to fully compensate for the loss of the torque-converter smoothness, and tended to jerk in and out of gear and between gears like an old tractor.
Such was not the case with the marvelous VW / Audi DSG gearbox. I don't know how many of you have actually test-driven one, but I HIGHLY recommend it...it is a marvelous gearbox in almost every way, and, compensates for VW's failure in several other areas. Now, of course, long-term reliability is a question-mark as it is a fairly new design ( and complex as well ) but it is certainly a pleasure to drive while it DOES work.
10-04-06, 05:13 PM
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10-04-06, 05:24 PM
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10-04-06, 05:39 PM
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It's called a contract with Borg Warner that only allows them to sell that technology strictly to VW/Audi.