Not a *35 but I went from a manual 118D to sports auto 220D and I love the auto. Just take one out on a test drive remember the sports auto has the paddles ans well as the sequential shift in sports mode.
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My M135i was the first auto I have ever bought (I'm 4
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I love it because...
1. Manual mode: Total control over the gears, but nice that I don't need to down change when coming to a stop. I usually start in M2. When pressing on, it's great to have both hands on the steering wheel.
2. Gear display in "S": Push the gear lever over to the left and you'll see "S1, S2 ..." etc in the dash so long as you don't do a manual shift
3. Gear Display in "M": Push the lever over and use the +/- on the gear stick or steering wheel paddles and you have a manual sequential gearbox with super fast changes. When in sports mode, full throttle up changes are awesome in terms of grabbing the gear and the noise! Also full throttle downshift make you feel like you've been launched from a catapult!
4. EcoPro: On a long run with family on board I use EcoPro which allows Coasting mode which is kind of fun in that you come off the throttle, the engine goes to idle and you feel all the transmission losses disappear and the car rolls almost (but obviously not quite!) like it has no friction.
5. Semi auto: Have it in auto but when a quick over take is needed, just flick down a couple of gears, do the over take and shortly after the 'box goes back to D. Very usefull when in EcoPro in the motorway.
6. Cruise control: If it gets disengaged (say you brake coming up to a roundabout), from a low speed just "Resume" and the car takes over including all the gear changes.Very smooth "chauffeur" mode.
7. Integration with GPS: What I really hate about regular autos is gear changes at the wrong time. I find this rarely happens in the M135i. If the tech blurb is right it's because the car knows the terrain. For example the car never up shift going down a steep hill or when approaching a bend or roundabout.
8. Relaxing mode: When the car is warmed up, in comfort mode and in D, I have to say it's a wonderfully smooth 'box. Some friends have even said my car rides like a limo. That's crazy especially as I have Eibach springs, but it is good and the gearbox enhances that feeling.
9. Cheaper road tax: Not really, I don't give a sh1t about that!
10: Fuel economy: Again, did I really get a 3.0L 6 cyl for fuel economy? Not really, but I can't deny it's a great bonus. I know the manual is good too but perhaps not on the motorway.
Not so great...
1. 8 gears is a lot and it can be tricky to know what gear you are in without looking at the display, but that's for me to master.
2. Also, unlike a manual, you can't manually go from 6 to 3. You have to go sequentially 6-5-4-3. The gearbox is designed to do "extreme downshifts" like 8-2 by holding the "-" paddle and kicking down but it's a bit violent for me.
3. Engine has to be on to get N. But that's all autos.
Overall, I took the punt because I felt this is the way all performance cars are going and if it's good enough for Lewis Hamilton it's good enough for me! I wanted to learn a new way of driving and have more options on demand.
I'd have no hesitation in buying this specific box again. I think it suit the M135i very well.
Hope that's interesting.
Paul
Disclaimer: On some cars such as Porker GT4, a traditional manual is a no brainer and totally in character. I get that. Also my other car is a manual and I love to heel and toe that I've been doing intuitively for about 30 years.
I love it because...
1. Manual mode: Total control over the gears, but nice that I don't need to down change when coming to a stop. I usually start in M2. When pressing on, it's great to have both hands on the steering wheel.
2. Gear display in "S": Push the gear lever over to the left and you'll see "S1, S2 ..." etc in the dash so long as you don't do a manual shift
3. Gear Display in "M": Push the lever over and use the +/- on the gear stick or steering wheel paddles and you have a manual sequential gearbox with super fast changes. When in sports mode, full throttle up changes are awesome in terms of grabbing the gear and the noise! Also full throttle downshift make you feel like you've been launched from a catapult!
4. EcoPro: On a long run with family on board I use EcoPro which allows Coasting mode which is kind of fun in that you come off the throttle, the engine goes to idle and you feel all the transmission losses disappear and the car rolls almost (but obviously not quite!) like it has no friction.
5. Semi auto: Have it in auto but when a quick over take is needed, just flick down a couple of gears, do the over take and shortly after the 'box goes back to D. Very usefull when in EcoPro in the motorway.
6. Cruise control: If it gets disengaged (say you brake coming up to a roundabout), from a low speed just "Resume" and the car takes over including all the gear changes.Very smooth "chauffeur" mode.
7. Integration with GPS: What I really hate about regular autos is gear changes at the wrong time. I find this rarely happens in the M135i. If the tech blurb is right it's because the car knows the terrain. For example the car never up shift going down a steep hill or when approaching a bend or roundabout.
8. Relaxing mode: When the car is warmed up, in comfort mode and in D, I have to say it's a wonderfully smooth 'box. Some friends have even said my car rides like a limo. That's crazy especially as I have Eibach springs, but it is good and the gearbox enhances that feeling.
9. Cheaper road tax: Not really, I don't give a sh1t about that!
10: Fuel economy: Again, did I really get a 3.0L 6 cyl for fuel economy? Not really, but I can't deny it's a great bonus. I know the manual is good too but perhaps not on the motorway.
Not so great...
1. 8 gears is a lot and it can be tricky to know what gear you are in without looking at the display, but that's for me to master.
2. Also, unlike a manual, you can't manually go from 6 to 3. You have to go sequentially 6-5-4-3. The gearbox is designed to do "extreme downshifts" like 8-2 by holding the "-" paddle and kicking down but it's a bit violent for me.
3. Engine has to be on to get N. But that's all autos.
Overall, I took the punt because I felt this is the way all performance cars are going and if it's good enough for Lewis Hamilton it's good enough for me! I wanted to learn a new way of driving and have more options on demand.
I'd have no hesitation in buying this specific box again. I think it suit the M135i very well.
Hope that's interesting.
Paul
Disclaimer: On some cars such as Porker GT4, a traditional manual is a no brainer and totally in character. I get that. Also my other car is a manual and I love to heel and toe that I've been doing intuitively for about 30 years.
Great post. Sums up my experience perfectly.Paul CS said:My M135i was the first auto I have ever bought (I'm 4
I love it because...
1. Manual mode: Total control over the gears, but nice that I don't need to down change when coming to a stop. I usually start in M2. When pressing on, it's great to have both hands on the steering wheel.
2. Gear display in "S": Push the gear lever over to the left and you'll see "S1, S2 ..." etc in the dash so long as you don't do a manual shift
3. Gear Display in "M": Push the lever over and use the +/- on the gear stick or steering wheel paddles and you have a manual sequential gearbox with super fast changes. When in sports mode, full throttle up changes are awesome in terms of grabbing the gear and the noise! Also full throttle downshift make you feel like you've been launched from a catapult!
4. EcoPro: On a long run with family on board I use EcoPro which allows Coasting mode which is kind of fun in that you come off the throttle, the engine goes to idle and you feel all the transmission losses disappear and the car rolls almost (but obviously not quite!) like it has no friction.
5. Semi auto: Have it in auto but when a quick over take is needed, just flick down a couple of gears, do the over take and shortly after the 'box goes back to D. Very usefull when in EcoPro in the motorway.
6. Cruise control: If it gets disengaged (say you brake coming up to a roundabout), from a low speed just "Resume" and the car takes over including all the gear changes.Very smooth "chauffeur" mode.
7. Integration with GPS: What I really hate about regular autos is gear changes at the wrong time. I find this rarely happens in the M135i. If the tech blurb is right it's because the car knows the terrain. For example the car never up shift going down a steep hill or when approaching a bend or roundabout.
8. Relaxing mode: When the car is warmed up, in comfort mode and in D, I have to say it's a wonderfully smooth 'box. Some friends have even said my car rides like a limo. That's crazy especially as I have Eibach springs, but it is good and the gearbox enhances that feeling.
9. Cheaper road tax: Not really, I don't give a sh1t about that!
10: Fuel economy: Again, did I really get a 3.0L 6 cyl for fuel economy? Not really, but I can't deny it's a great bonus. I know the manual is good too but perhaps not on the motorway.
Not so great...
1. 8 gears is a lot and it can be tricky to know what gear you are in without looking at the display, but that's for me to master.
2. Also, unlike a manual, you can't manually go from 6 to 3. You have to go sequentially 6-5-4-3. The gearbox is designed to do "extreme downshifts" like 8-2 by holding the "-" paddle and kicking down but it's a bit violent for me.
3. Engine has to be on to get N. But that's all autos.
Overall, I took the punt because I felt this is the way all performance cars are going and if it's good enough for Lewis Hamilton it's good enough for me! I wanted to learn a new way of driving and have more options on demand.
I'd have no hesitation in buying this specific box again. I think it suit the M135i very well.
Hope that's interesting.
Paul
Disclaimer: On some cars such as Porker GT4, a traditional manual is a no brainer and totally in character. I get that. Also my other car is a manual and I love to heel and toe that I've been doing intuitively for about 30 years.
I was lucky enough to get a 330 GT as a courtesy car last year and that had the Sport Auto gearbox, the above sums it up pretty much spot on! My current car is a manual, but I've just ordered a 235 with the sport auto boxPaul CS said:My M135i was the first auto I have ever bought (I'm 4
I love it because...
1. Manual mode: Total control over the gears, but nice that I don't need to down change when coming to a stop. I usually start in M2. When pressing on, it's great to have both hands on the steering wheel.
2. Gear display in "S": Push the gear lever over to the left and you'll see "S1, S2 ..." etc in the dash so long as you don't do a manual shift
3. Gear Display in "M": Push the lever over and use the +/- on the gear stick or steering wheel paddles and you have a manual sequential gearbox with super fast changes. When in sports mode, full throttle up changes are awesome in terms of grabbing the gear and the noise! Also full throttle downshift make you feel like you've been launched from a catapult!
4. EcoPro: On a long run with family on board I use EcoPro which allows Coasting mode which is kind of fun in that you come off the throttle, the engine goes to idle and you feel all the transmission losses disappear and the car rolls almost (but obviously not quite!) like it has no friction.
5. Semi auto: Have it in auto but when a quick over take is needed, just flick down a couple of gears, do the over take and shortly after the 'box goes back to D. Very usefull when in EcoPro in the motorway.
6. Cruise control: If it gets disengaged (say you brake coming up to a roundabout), from a low speed just "Resume" and the car takes over including all the gear changes.Very smooth "chauffeur" mode.
7. Integration with GPS: What I really hate about regular autos is gear changes at the wrong time. I find this rarely happens in the M135i. If the tech blurb is right it's because the car knows the terrain. For example the car never up shift going down a steep hill or when approaching a bend or roundabout.
8. Relaxing mode: When the car is warmed up, in comfort mode and in D, I have to say it's a wonderfully smooth 'box. Some friends have even said my car rides like a limo. That's crazy especially as I have Eibach springs, but it is good and the gearbox enhances that feeling.
9. Cheaper road tax: Not really, I don't give a sh1t about that!
10: Fuel economy: Again, did I really get a 3.0L 6 cyl for fuel economy? Not really, but I can't deny it's a great bonus. I know the manual is good too but perhaps not on the motorway.
Not so great...
1. 8 gears is a lot and it can be tricky to know what gear you are in without looking at the display, but that's for me to master.
2. Also, unlike a manual, you can't manually go from 6 to 3. You have to go sequentially 6-5-4-3. The gearbox is designed to do "extreme downshifts" like 8-2 by holding the "-" paddle and kicking down but it's a bit violent for me.
3. Engine has to be on to get N. But that's all autos.
Overall, I took the punt because I felt this is the way all performance cars are going and if it's good enough for Lewis Hamilton it's good enough for me! I wanted to learn a new way of driving and have more options on demand.
I'd have no hesitation in buying this specific box again. I think it suit the M135i very well.
Hope that's interesting.
Paul
Disclaimer: On some cars such as Porker GT4, a traditional manual is a no brainer and totally in character. I get that. Also my other car is a manual and I love to heel and toe that I've been doing intuitively for about 30 years.
To add a bit of balance.......I wouldn't touch the auto again 
Apart from the infamous whine and replacement gearboxes/rejected cars issue, which is noted in great length elsewhere, it's good but it's not as good as people make out IMHO.
Very good and going very fast (much easier and consistent than with a manual) and at moderate speeds but not perfect at slower speeds.....a bit jerky, can be caught in the wrong gear or even out of gear in slow tight corners etc. I also found I needed to drive too quickly to feel any interaction; advice will be to drive in manual mode, but it's difficult to keep up with what gear you're in and it's really not the same.
To sum up, a car of two extremes, which sounds great but when you spend most of your time in the real world, they're largely boring.
I've driven an auto for around 6k miles and it took me a while to adjust and I can see why many like them but for me I wouldn't follow the crowd again.....
P.S. I'm finding my manual a much more involving and rounded car
Apart from the infamous whine and replacement gearboxes/rejected cars issue, which is noted in great length elsewhere, it's good but it's not as good as people make out IMHO.
Very good and going very fast (much easier and consistent than with a manual) and at moderate speeds but not perfect at slower speeds.....a bit jerky, can be caught in the wrong gear or even out of gear in slow tight corners etc. I also found I needed to drive too quickly to feel any interaction; advice will be to drive in manual mode, but it's difficult to keep up with what gear you're in and it's really not the same.
To sum up, a car of two extremes, which sounds great but when you spend most of your time in the real world, they're largely boring.
I've driven an auto for around 6k miles and it took me a while to adjust and I can see why many like them but for me I wouldn't follow the crowd again.....
P.S. I'm finding my manual a much more involving and rounded car
I need to test drive a manual but no BMW garages near me have one only autos. So now I'm torn between 3 situations.AndyR said:To add a bit of balance.......I wouldn't touch the auto again
Apart from the infamous whine and replacement gearboxes/rejected cars issue, which is noted in great length elsewhere, it's good but it's not as good as people make out IMHO.
Very good and going very fast (much easier and consistent than with a manual) and at moderate speeds but not perfect at slower speeds.....a bit jerky, can be caught in the wrong gear or even out of gear in slow tight corners etc. I also found I needed to drive too quickly to feel any interaction; advice will be to drive in manual mode, but it's difficult to keep up with what gear you're in and it's really not the same.
To sum up, a car of two extremes, which sounds great but when you spend most of your time in the real world, they're largely boring.
I've driven an auto for around 6k miles and it took me a while to adjust and I can see why many like them but for me I wouldn't follow the crowd again.....
P.S. I'm finding my manual a much more involving and rounded car
-135 manual
-135 auto
-focus RS
I hate making important decisions!
I test drove an auto M235 and bought a manual M135
Test drive was obviously stressy situation with dealer person in car etc and only out for <1hour but I was very impressed. It was also first time driving something so quick, so thinking back I'm not sure if the OMG feeling would be the same now I have had the manual M135 for a year, but at the time it was definitely OMG I'm going to lose my license fast.
I love the manual, matching revs on downshift yourself and having full control over it is great. 3rd gear does pretty much everything too due to the engines oomph it'll take you from 10mph to 110 I think without really struggling (I don't do it though).
Next car will likely be an auto though, fancy a change and can imagine it's more relaxing for doing a lot of journeys. I currently commute via train so the manual car is a treat everytime I drive it rather than a daily commute-mobile, which I think would get slightly tiring due to me being 6'3 with size 13 feet so I do sometimes find the footwell a bit cramped depending on shoe choice etc. The auto would negate this I think so hence if I stick with M135, itll likely be an auto next.
Warranty/whine is also worthy of note, I wouldnt get a used auto with my own money. Or I would 100% need an extended warranty for peace of mind. The manual seems bullet proof? might be wrong though but same one thats in the M3/4 I believe. Mine now has 9k miles on it and really loosened up now, it's great.
Test drive was obviously stressy situation with dealer person in car etc and only out for <1hour but I was very impressed. It was also first time driving something so quick, so thinking back I'm not sure if the OMG feeling would be the same now I have had the manual M135 for a year, but at the time it was definitely OMG I'm going to lose my license fast.
I love the manual, matching revs on downshift yourself and having full control over it is great. 3rd gear does pretty much everything too due to the engines oomph
Next car will likely be an auto though, fancy a change and can imagine it's more relaxing for doing a lot of journeys. I currently commute via train so the manual car is a treat everytime I drive it rather than a daily commute-mobile, which I think would get slightly tiring due to me being 6'3 with size 13 feet so I do sometimes find the footwell a bit cramped depending on shoe choice etc. The auto would negate this I think so hence if I stick with M135, itll likely be an auto next.
Warranty/whine is also worthy of note, I wouldnt get a used auto with my own money. Or I would 100% need an extended warranty for peace of mind. The manual seems bullet proof? might be wrong though but same one thats in the M3/4 I believe. Mine now has 9k miles on it and really loosened up now, it's great.
I would urge anyone to try and drive both manual and auto, especially if they are relatively undecided before placing the order.
I had only driven fast cars in auto guise, (driven not owned) c63 amg, v8 m3 etc. and then I drove an auto m135i and combined all of this to make the conclusion it had to be auto. However, following some extended drives in my dad's (same zf 8 speed) 520d msport, I realised that it can actually (for me anyway) become quite a boring drive day to day in the auto. For pushing on it is definitely quicker and easier and potentially more fun.
Then I went and drove what seems like a very rare manual m135i in my local dealership. Was suitably impressed enough to then go and order a manual. Partly down to the cost saving but largely down to the fact I think I would regret choosing the auto about 6 months down the line.
Anyway, as above, try and drive both. Both definitely have their plus points and I doubt anyone would claim unhappiness in either
I had only driven fast cars in auto guise, (driven not owned) c63 amg, v8 m3 etc. and then I drove an auto m135i and combined all of this to make the conclusion it had to be auto. However, following some extended drives in my dad's (same zf 8 speed) 520d msport, I realised that it can actually (for me anyway) become quite a boring drive day to day in the auto. For pushing on it is definitely quicker and easier and potentially more fun.
Then I went and drove what seems like a very rare manual m135i in my local dealership. Was suitably impressed enough to then go and order a manual. Partly down to the cost saving but largely down to the fact I think I would regret choosing the auto about 6 months down the line.
Anyway, as above, try and drive both. Both definitely have their plus points and I doubt anyone would claim unhappiness in either
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