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By
JOHN CRAWFORD
23 June 2008
Now this is a coupling of great power and great image! The BMW M3
convertible delivers on every level, and even holds a few
surprises for the possibly-jaded, well-heeled, performance-car
enthusiast.
When
you dial up one of the five options of shift patterns in the M3
convertible’s new transmission, and take off down the road, you
realise in the blink of an eye that this is some supercar. Fast,
smooth, fun and stylish, the M3 convertible costs around $170,000.
BMW’s
M3 models are rightly famous for their performance, handling and
appeal, and of course you expect improvements every time a new one
is announced. Whilst the latest M3 coupe has been available for a
while, the convertible version was eagerly awaited.
The
reason is the debut of BMW’s new double clutch sequential
gearbox. BMW calls its new offering M-DCT, and it has been
developed by German transmission specialist Getrag. It’s a
seven-speed gearbox which can be shifted by a stubby, sexy-looking
gearlever, or steering wheel paddles, and it costs $6900 over the
price of the conventional manual gearbox.
As
the M3 delivers the performance you expect from M cars, we should
instead focus on the new transmission. It is, in a word, awesome.
Sure VW-Audi has been offering a DCT for some time and Porsche has
just announced PDK for its new 911; but the new BMW transmission
is the first time we’ve been able to sample this new shifting
technology in a very powerful car.
The
gearbox is designed to handle torque inputs in excess of 650 Nm,
and engines that can rev to 9000 rpm! The M3 convertible’s
4.0-litre V8 produces 309 kW at 8300 rpm, and 400 Nm at 3900 rpm.
The
DCT has five different options for how smooth, or sharp, the
actual shift happens. At Setting 2, it could even be called
‘grandpa mode’ and shifts seamlessly, but at Setting 5, you
get a belt in the back when it shifts up at high revs and high
speed.
The
actual speed of the gear shifts is so fast we would defy anyone to
shift as fast or as accurately in a manual box. You can drive this
car as a sequential manual using the lever or paddles, or just
flick the lever across to the right and operate in Drive, like a
regular automatic.
This
transmission concept will hopefully make its way into more
mass-market models, and we can’t wait. It doesn’t use a torque
converter and this brings fuel economy benefits as well as
lowering vehicle weight, to help the car’s nimbleness.
The
DCT is actually two separate gear trains, with twin oil-cooled
clutches, one which fits inside the other. One clutch handles the
even numbered gears, and the other clutch looks after the odd
numbered gears. There’s a lot of electronics involved, but after
a day of driving over the testing, twisting Oxley Highway, we can
say that this gearbox is a delight to use.
BMW
says a lot of its technology is coming via its Formula One
exploits and after sampling the M3 convertible with DCT we accept
that real benefits are flowing from the company’s involvement
with the pinnacle motorsport formula.
Probably
the most impressive aspect of this car is that it absolutely
endorses BMW’s policy of ensuring its cars are true driving
machines, and it has produced another winner!
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Marque Publishing Company
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