How does a BMW M5 E60 SMG III transmission work?

I’m a little confused on how the m5 e60 transmission works. Is it where you need to be constantly shifting via paddle shifters or the gear selector but without a clutch? or is it like any other tiptronic where you can just slide it into manual mode from auto?

One Response to “How does a BMW M5 E60 SMG III transmission work?”

  1. Ethan on June 19th, 2010 11:56 pm

    SMG is sequential manual gearbox. It is a manual transmission with a computer controlled clutch. From the drivers seat, it is just like tiptronic, with paddleshift on the steering wheel. But this transmission performs a million times better than that. It is just about as fast as any human can shift; formula 1 cars have been equipped with this technology for years. You can switch it into "automatic mode" but it isn’t as smooth as a normal automatic transmission. Because it is not anything like a normal automatic transmission.