Looking to Get a 645

I've got until the end of next month to get a car, and the 645 is my
leading contender. Convertible with Sport Package.

I'm having a little trouble with selecting the transmission option. I
test drove the SMG and intellectually thought it was a good idea, but I
detected a rough upshift when in the automatic mode. I thought it was a
rough engine or something. (The shift couldn't be that bad.) I read up
on the net and discovered that this is a criticism of the SMG on the
645. So, it's out.

Then I was ready to go with the manual transmission. I haven't test
driven it, but I read that the clutch was stiff and the room in the well
was cramped. I used to drive a Corvette here in the Silicon Valley, and
I must admit that I got a little disenchanted with the manual
transmission in the morning and evening traffic.

So, maybe the Steptronic is the way to go. I have always admired my
740's smooth shifts, and maybe that's where I should go. Smooth
automatic with a little bit more control in the Steptronic.

I'm open to reflections on this. And, does anybody have any
recommendations on where I can get the best deal. I've sent out
requests for quotes to 3 Northern California dealers, but I'd be willing
to drive out of the local area for a good deal. (Maybe they just can't
differ that much.)

Brian

"Brian Hardy" > wrote in message
...
> I've got until the end of next month to get a car, and the 645 is my
> leading contender. Convertible with Sport Package.
>
> I'm having a little trouble with selecting the transmission option. I
> test drove the SMG and intellectually thought it was a good idea, but I
> detected a rough upshift when in the automatic mode. I thought it was a
> rough engine or something. (The shift couldn't be that bad.) I read up
> on the net and discovered that this is a criticism of the SMG on the
> 645. So, it's out.
>
> Then I was ready to go with the manual transmission. I haven't test
> driven it, but I read that the clutch was stiff and the room in the well
> was cramped. I used to drive a Corvette here in the Silicon Valley, and
> I must admit that I got a little disenchanted with the manual
> transmission in the morning and evening traffic.
>
> So, maybe the Steptronic is the way to go. I have always admired my
> 740's smooth shifts, and maybe that's where I should go. Smooth
> automatic with a little bit more control in the Steptronic.
>
> I'm open to reflections on this.

Beautiful car, and a great choice. I recommend the 19" star spoke wheels,
not sure if they come with sport pack...
Definitely go with auto though - it suits the car's character best, and the
new 6 speeder from ZF is class leading. I drive an Alpina with steptronic,
or rather switchtronic as they call it, and with the manual override you can
still enjoy swapping cogs yourself when you want to, and leave it in D for
most of your driving, which I'm sure will be quite relaxed:-)

Regards

Snoop