F8X 6 MT "extra" functions?

[solstice]

Since reading the manual is suspected to cause blindness, plagues, world wars etc. I'll ask the 6 MT owners here. What non essential functions does the F8X 6 MT come with?

1. Rev. Match, we all know about his one.
2. Hill start assist? If it's there how is it activated, automatically or with a button?
3. Startup nannies? Do you need to depress the clutch or break pedal or both to start the car?
4. Anything else?

I'm now with my family in Sweden and one of the cars I drive here is my moms Peugeot 206 GTi, it's a 5 MT and hoot to whip around in town and has none of these new MT functions but I'm curious to know what extras there is on my F80 that I will pickup next week to try them out and take advantage from day one.

[SD ///M4]

Originally Posted by solstice

Since reading the manual is suspected to cause blindness, plagues, world wars etc. I'll ask the 6 MT owners here. What non essential functions does the F8X 6 MT come with?

1. Rev. Match, we all know about his one.
2. Hill start assist? If it's there how is it activated, automatically or with a button?
3. Startup nannies? Do you need to depress the clutch or break pedal or both to start the car?
4. Anything else?

2. My 2006 Z4 M Roadster and my wife's 2011 335is Coupe, both manuals, have the hill hold feature, I'd be really surprised if the F8x didn't have it.

3. You have to press the clutch to start any manual car I've driven for the last 25 years, BMW or not. Don't know why the F8x would be any different.

P.S. It's "brake", not "break". This is the most common misspelling that I've seen lately. You will break the car if you don't use the brake!

[solstice]

Originally Posted by SD Z4MR

2. My 2006 Z4 M Roadster and my wife's 2011 335is Coupe, both manuals, have the hill hold feature, I'd be really surprised if the F8x didn't have it.

3. You have to press the clutch to start any manual car I've driven for the last 25 years, BMW or not. Don't know why the F8x would be any different.

P.S. It's "brake", not "break". This is the most common misspelling that I've seen lately. You will break the car if you don't use the brake!

Thank you. It sounds like the press the clutch to allow the starter motor to turn could be a US mandatory safety feature. It something you do but it's not a nanny on all cars for the last 25 years outside the US, not even BMWs . I like that it's there since it's one less thing to worry about when my wife occasionally drive my car since our Cayenne is AT and I can see a risk that the AT start sequence habit carries over...

What about "hill hold", is it automatically enabled or do you need to activate it?

[Zero4910]

Originally Posted by solstice

Since reading the manual is suspected to cause blindness, plagues, world wars etc. I'll ask the 6 MT owners here. What non essential functions does the F8X 6 MT come with?

1. Rev. Match, we all know about his one.
2. Hill start assist? If it's there how is it activated, automatically or with a button?
3. Startup nannies? Do you need to depress the clutch or break pedal or both to start the car?
4. Anything else?

I'm now with my family in Sweden and one of the cars I drive here is my moms Peugeot 206 GTi, it's a 5 MT and hoot to whip around in town and has none of these new MT functions but I'm curious to know what extras there is on my F80 that I will pickup next week to try them out and take advantage from day one.

I have a 6MT F80 -- US spec (since last thurdays -- have about 1000km on it already!) To answer your questions:
1. Rev match -- its cool, but takes some getting used to. Throw the throttle response in sport+ and you get to heal/toe like the days of old

2. Hill assist is always on (if you can turn it off I dont know how but why would you want to). It just depends on the incline you are on. So far it seems the incline doesn't have to be very big, it's an incredible feature and works very well esp when idiots get too close to you on uphill traffic.

3. You only need to depress the clutch -- no brakes

4. Anything else -- i've noticed a fair bit of clutch noise when going from 1st to 2nd sometimes -- nothing like a bad noise but you def can hear some amplifed noise sometimes...maybe i'm just not used to the car yet...it's still been less than a week.

Any other questions just let me know.

[solstice]

Originally Posted by Zero4910

I have a 6MT F80 -- US spec (since last thurdays -- have about 1000km on it already!) To answer your questions:
1. Rev match -- its cool, but takes some getting used to. Throw the throttle response in sport+ and you get to heal/toe like the days of old

2. Hill assist is always on (if you can turn it off I dont know how but why would you want to). It just depends on the incline you are on. So far it seems the incline doesn't have to be very big, it's an incredible feature and works very well esp when idiots get too close to you on uphill traffic.

3. You only need to depress the clutch -- no brakes

4. Anything else -- i've noticed a fair bit of clutch noise when going from 1st to 2nd sometimes -- nothing like a bad noise but you def can hear some amplifed noise sometimes...maybe i'm just not used to the car yet...it's still been less than a week.

Any other questions just let me know.

Thanks! That covers all I want to know for now. Good to know about the 1st to 2nd noise as well, in case mine does the same.

[Zero4910]

It only happens sometimes. I think I just need to get used to it. Clutch engagement point is about midway up. Very solid and fun

[Black Gold]

Originally Posted by Zero4910

4. Anything else -- i've noticed a fair bit of clutch noise when going from 1st to 2nd sometimes -- nothing like a bad noise but you def can hear some amplifed noise sometimes...maybe i'm just not used to the car yet...it's still been less than a week.

Any other questions just let me know.

wonder if that's the diff or if its some chatter / noise from the flywheel?

my e46 definitely has some diff noise on the 1-2 shift, and my e9x did also to a lesser degree.

how are you enjoying the car?

EDIT : and GL with ED, solstice. I hope the car is everything you hoped for

[Zero4910]

Originally Posted by KennyPowers

wonder if that's the diff or if its some chatter / noise from the flywheel?

my e46 definitely has some diff noise on the 1-2 shift, and my e9x did also to a lesser degree.

how are you enjoying the car?

EDIT : and GL with ED, solstice. I hope the car is everything you hoped for

Enjoying the car doesn't even come close to how I feel. It's so great! I've already walked out to where I've parked my car at work and had several people just circling like vultures!

I don't think its the diff, it is defintely when I depress the clutch going from 1st to 2nd, and it only happnes sometimes like i said. Prolly just me not used to it fully.

[SteveSpy]

Originally Posted by solstice

Since reading the manual is suspected to cause blindness, plagues, world wars etc. I'll ask the 6 MT owners here. What non essential functions does the F8X 6 MT come with?

1. Rev. Match, we all know about his one.
2. Hill start assist? If it's there how is it activated, automatically or with a button?
3. Startup nannies? Do you need to depress the clutch or break pedal or both to start the car?
4. Anything else?

I'm now with my family in Sweden and one of the cars I drive here is my moms Peugeot 206 GTi, it's a 5 MT and hoot to whip around in town and has none of these new MT functions but I'm curious to know what extras there is on my F80 that I will pickup next week to try them out and take advantage from day one.

1. You know about
2. It's got it, and there is no button to activate it it is just on all the time.
3. Clutch and brake to start her.
4. You get a little indicator in the dash telling you what the ideal gear is for the speed you are currently at, which is kinda neat.

[Viking123]

Originally Posted by sspyrops

1. You know about
2. It's got it, and there is no button to activate it it is just on all the time.
3. Clutch and brake to start her.
4. You get a little indicator in the dash telling you what the ideal gear is for the speed you are currently at, which is kinda neat.

Note that the "ideal" gear is from an efficiency perspective. And it's extremely dovish, it seems like it thinks 1200 rpm or so is the "ideal" rpm. I always find myself in a lower gear than recommended even when I'm just cruising...

[Zero4910]

Originally Posted by sspyrops

1. You know about
2. It's got it, and there is no button to activate it it is just on all the time.
3. Clutch and brake to start her.
4. You get a little indicator in the dash telling you what the ideal gear is for the speed you are currently at, which is kinda neat.

try starting the car with just the clutch pushed in...fires right up. promise

[brianeck]

Just to clarify because no one has really truly "illuminated" the functionality:

Hill assist is fantastic. It is activated by depressing the brake approximately 10% or more while on a hill. This only works with the clutch depressed while in gear (hopefully you're in 1st!). It won't activate unless you depress the brake so if you're just creeping up a hill with continuous momentum and the light turns green or the spastic infront of you decides to get out of the way the car won't stop or brake on its own or anything.

Basically if you're on a hill that is steep enough to cause the car to roll back, your foot is probably on the brake anyway. Hill assist gives you 2 seconds once you take your foot off the brake to find the catch point, give a little gas, and to get moving without any worry of striking the bumper of the idiot who is hugging your butt!

If you do want to roll back and scare the people behind you just shift out of gear into neutral and use the ebrake. . . This way you can still cause a scene . I learned to drive on my 335i xdrive with hill assist, it was a great feature and still to this day I get a little nervous driving a different car without it because I'm obviously not as experienced with the ebrake method!

[wojcikgu]

I think I just need to get used to it. Clutch engagement point is about midway up.

[Jockey]

I love hill assist. Now I don't get a stinky clutch

[solstice]

Thanks again to everyone who answered! I have my doubts about much of this car but going back to an MT is my attempt of insurance that it will be ok. My mothers car that I drive now is basically a pos with narrow tires, little power, vague shift points, grabby clutch, fwd with torque steer, plastics that make a GM econo box seem luxurious and the list goes on. If it was an AT it would be an awful car BUT since it's an MT coupled with being light weight, having good steering feedback and very nimble dimensions the car is a hoot. Can't wait to get into the F80 and see what it's like with the MT, I honestly think it would be a fair bit of disappointing with the DCT since then I would compare it directly to the E90 M3. The very different transmission will offer such a different experience which I think will make it a lot easier for me to like it for what it is instead of being disappointed over what it isn't.

[unintelligible]

I have a silly question about the rev match feature. Does it only trigger if it detects you are going from a higher gear to a lower gear, or does it work all of the time?

For example say I am starting off and as I upshift from 1 to 2, I pause after clutching in and let the revs fall to idle. If I then select 2nd, does it blip the throttle to (whatever RPM)? I read the tech docs on the F80 and it wasn't clear if it only worked on downshifts so it got me wondering. Maybe someone with an F80 can try that

[Viking123]

Originally Posted by unintelligible

I have a silly question about the rev match feature. Does it only trigger if it detects you are going from a higher gear to a lower gear, or does it work all of the time?

For example say I am starting off and as I upshift from 1 to 2, I pause after clutching in and let the revs fall to idle. If I then select 2nd, does it blip the throttle to (whatever RPM)? I read the tech docs on the F80 and it wasn't clear if it only worked on downshifts so it got me wondering. Maybe someone with an F80 can try that

It works all the time, it does not care about up or downshifts.

Say, for example, that you are rolling downhill in 50 mph, press and hold the clutch in, and then start moving the gear lever around... If you press the gear lever down towards 2nd it will immediately give you a big rev blip. If you move the gear lever towards 4th it will give you a smaller rev blip. The magnitude of the blip is a function of the vehicle speed and the gear that you are shifting into.

The interesting thing is that the sensor gets triggered early on before the lever is fully into position. As a result you need to shift and pop the clutch relatively fast or else the timing of the blip is off.

[brian30tw]

Originally Posted by SD Z4MR

3. You have to press the clutch to start any manual car I've driven for the last 25 years, BMW or not. Don't know why the F8x would be any different.

Not terribly relevant, but the E36 M3 did not require you to press the clutch or the break pedal to start it. If you turned the key with the car in gear and not on the clutch, it tried to fire but just lurched forward and stalled.

[unintelligible]

Originally Posted by Viking123

...

Thanks, great post. I kind of like that. I suck ass at heel toe and often I screw up regular rev matching (either slight over rev or under rev) so this feature sounds good to me. Still get the fun of driving manual but a little smoother for passengers. Just have to find one to test drive at some point

[solstice]

Originally Posted by brian30tw

Not terribly relevant, but the E36 M3 did not require you to press the clutch or the break pedal to start it. If you turned the key with the car in gear and not on the clutch, it tried to fire but just lurched forward and stalled.

Yup and this is exactly why I asked. If you mainly drive an auto ( like my wife ) and swap into an MT it can happen that you put the right foot on the brake and fire the starter motor. It can cause bad things to happen with cars, property and people. It can also be useful in some scenarios to move a car out of harms way that doesn't start, that's why I know about it

[lewildbeast]

Originally Posted by brian30tw

Not terribly relevant, but the E36 M3 did not require you to press the clutch or the break pedal to start it. If you turned the key with the car in gear and not on the clutch, it tried to fire but just lurched forward and stalled.

If the car is in neutral it should not lurch forward!

[serieD]

Don't let the rev match spoil you! I am constantly battling my ego with this. The rev match is unreal around town. It makes trivial driving tasks or errands so much easier because you can mindlessly flip through the box. I love(d) to blip and heel toe before this but it is so precise that it's hard to beat. I am, however, making a conscious effort not to use it anymore. I wish I could have the car in efficient for it to not function, but there's many plusses to Sport Plus. The engine noise and response is impeccable. When the turbos spool it sounds like you're about to be ejected into space...