[Dennis335i]

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I just ordered a 2013 335i in black sapphire. Here are my options:

Sport Line
Premium Package
Heated Seats
Park Distance Control
Premium Sound
8-Speed Sport Auto

I'm torn between getting the Sport Automatic or the 6sp manual. The only modifications I think I would ever do to the car are the PPK and a catback exhaust system, so I wouldn't be overpowering either transmission.

I figure the 8-speed will save me about $200 per year in gas (26 mpg avg), but will probably need repair/replacing some day if I own the car for a long time. It does cost an extra $500 one-time as an option.

The 6-speed averages 23 mpg and isn't quite as fast as the sport auto, but I would have to replace the clutch periodically (how often?).

Can anyone better put this into numbers for me as far as which would be the better option? I still have another week to make changes to the configuration of the car before it is built. Thank you!

[toph]

I think transmission choice should boil down to your personal preference. You can crunch numbers to death, but in the end you have to drive the car and your driving pleasure is something only you can put a price on.

[DrivenByE30]

I cannot help you... i am biased...

[Dianajiang]

My CA highly recommended the 8sp for the sporty feel since I got sport line too. Have you tried test driving it ? The shifts are smoother and quicker for the 8sp

[fotios335i]

The 8sp sort auto is very impressive. In sport+ in can be fully manual with no intervention and my car is surprisingly fast when flogged. It felt quicker than the manual for sure. I love it. Go for it!

[Pele96]

Hi I am going 8 speed Sport Auto when I order my new 335i!

[Micleg]

I went for the 8 speed sport auto now. I am so bored of the clutch of my current E90 LCI. I had a 6 speed auto on my previous Saab and I liked it a lot. There is no way the BMW auto is worse than that one so I should be fine.

[JustinTJ]

Guess I'll post this here too:

Maybe I'm getting older and lazy, but I went sport auto. I'm tired of shifting, and after one test drive in this car I was sold.

This new auto lets me feel the road, interact, have control, use spider sense, save puppies, find leprechauns, and all of the crap excuses I used to say to justify driving a stick when stuck in traffic.

This 8 speed auto is faster and easier than the 6 manual. Winner.

[ScheerSpeed]

i've been an avid 6MT driver from day 1...

however I test drove the F30 335i with the 8-spd sport auto...

I ordered my 2013 Msport 335i with the 8spd auto

[f30_Vincent]

Lots of love in this thread for the 8spd... I guess toph gave the best advice though, its down to personal preference.

I got my Sport Line with 6spd manual. No matter what others say, I liken driving an automatic to having the car parallel park itself - no thanks, I'll do the driving.

[gerbs]

Originally Posted by f30_Vincent

no thanks, I'll do the driving.

[Robin_NL]

Personal preference it is.

I prefer her...




...not to drive my car.

But she's cute.

Cheers
Robin

[mxdirtmx]

I absolutely love my decision to switch to this awesome Auto8 from always driving around with manuals but it shifts so fast that it makes up for the lack of 3 pedals and a stick. Now there is that slight something missing with not clutching and throwing your own stick around, but the fact that I can upshift in the time it takes to push down on the paddle and release, really blows me away. No manual guy can ever push in a clutch, pull outer put of gear and port out in the next gear, then release the clutch in under 150 milliseconds like this Sport Auto 8-speed can! It blows my mind... Also the fact that I can go from 8th gear to 4th without having to linearly traverse 7th, 6th, & 5 really is astounding! I have done a 4 gear downshift in. less than a half a second... Which is even faster than my cousins Double clutch setup on his 335is! He even agreed that the Auto on my cat is faster in every way, upshifts, downshifts, and skip-shifts! He didn't BELIEVE it was a regular Sporty Auto at first.... He asked how much the DCT (double-clutch) option was on the car.... LoL! When I told him it was free, he wanted to know how I managed to get the dealer to throw that in.... Once I had him goto the transmission makers website to view the video on the tranny, only then did he believe me..... He then stated that he will also be getting a 3-series with Msport in the SportAuto8 once his lease was up in October 2012! Another one bites the clutch! This car and the transmission sells itself...

The final beauty of this transmission (& car overall) is the ease of use, when just putting along in traffic or when you want to just kick back and relax, the smooth shifting & mileage saving vehicle personas of Eco-Pro & Comfort modes are in a class of their own. I lime being able to have 4 cars in one. The drive mode rocket switch by the shifter is my friend! I could be cruising in Eco-Pro to save gas on my daily commute them just "double up-click" the driving mode rocker switch into Sport and blow past the "slow moving Nipplhead" in front of me with absolute authority, massive immediate response, insane torque & lighting fast upshifts! (Let's not forget that wicked exhaust bark between shifts.... WooooHaaaa!)

Without a doubt... Drive one... Then you will also believe!

Regards, MXdirt

[tony20009]

$200 saved is what it is. Unless you have a specific preference, in which case get what you prefer, get the automatic. You can do one thing with a manual that you cannot with an automatic: you can go directly to the gear you want to be in rather than having to pass through the gears between your current get and your desired gear. If you aren't going to race the car on a track, and/or you don't typically use your transmission to aid in braking the car, I can't see why that would matter to you.

Good luck.

Edit:
Based on what the dude in the post above says, they have resolved the linear traversing aspect of automatics, so ignore that. Sorry.

[firatsirma]

Originally Posted by mxdirtmx

I absolutely love my decision to switch to this awesome Auto8 from always driving around with manuals but it shifts so fast that it makes up for the lack of 3 pedals and a stick. Now there is that slight something missing with not clutching and throwing your own stick around, but the fact that I can upshift in the time it takes to push down on the paddle and release, really blows me away. No manual guy can ever push in a clutch, pull outer put of gear and port out in the next gear, then release the clutch in under 150 milliseconds like this Sport Auto 8-speed can! It blows my mind... Also the fact that I can go from 8th gear to 4th without having to linearly traverse 7th, 6th, & 5 really is astounding! I have done a 4 gear downshift in. less than a half a second... Which is even faster than my cousins Double clutch setup on his 335is! He even agreed that the Auto on my cat is faster in every way, upshifts, downshifts, and skip-shifts! He didn't BELIEVE it was a regular Sporty Auto at first.... He asked how much the DCT (double-clutch) option was on the car.... LoL! When I told him it was free, he wanted to know how I managed to get the dealer to throw that in.... Once I had him goto the transmission makers website to view the video on the tranny, only then did he believe me..... He then stated that he will also be getting a 3-series with Msport in the SportAuto8 once his lease was up in October 2012! Another one bites the clutch! This car and the transmission sells itself...

The final beauty of this transmission (& car overall) is the ease of use, when just putting along in traffic or when you want to just kick back and relax, the smooth shifting & mileage saving vehicle personas of Eco-Pro & Comfort modes are in a class of their own. I lime being able to have 4 cars in one. The drive mode rocket switch by the shifter is my friend! I could be cruising in Eco-Pro to save gas on my daily commute them just "double up-click" the driving mode rocker switch into Sport and blow past the "slow moving Nipplhead" in front of me with absolute authority, massive immediate response, insane torque & lighting fast upshifts! (Let's not forget that wicked exhaust bark between shifts.... WooooHaaaa!)

Without a doubt... Drive one... Then you will also believe!

Regards, MXdirt

Wow, by far the most passionate post I've read on this forum!

I agree with the previous posters on the fact that it's about how you feel while you're driving the car rather than the numbers you compare..

[Michael Schott]

I'm surprised at the unanimity in this thread. The 8AT must be a great box. However, if I were in the market for an F30 (my E90 lease has 16 months remaining) I'd definitely get the 6MT. I much prefer to do the shifting for myself. The joy of a well timed double clutch downshift and choosing the gears for yourself is something I will not give up.

[OrangeDeep]

Go with the 6 speed! I have a 2011 535xi with the 8 Spd. I would not buy another car with it again. People say it is great and it shifts so fast, but honestly I think it makes the car feel lethargic at times. There is a noticeable lag to downshift; however I have not noticed it as much n the 3 series. Bottom line, if I could have gotten an x-drive in 6mt I would have no questions asked.

[pkim1079]

the 328i has such short gearing it would be awful to keep having to shift so much when just cruising. 335 may be a lot different though.
and that girl in that video? she looks like a hag LOL

[Erik.klenke]

I thought about the Auto for about a second. Personally feel like manual still adds so much more to the driving experience.

[RPM90]

Originally Posted by Dennis335i

I just ordered a 2013 335i in black sapphire. Here are my options:

Sport Line
Premium Package
Heated Seats
Park Distance Control
Premium Sound
8-Speed Sport Auto

I'm torn between getting the Sport Automatic or the 6sp manual. The only modifications I think I would ever do to the car are the PPK and a catback exhaust system, so I wouldn't be overpowering either transmission.

I figure the 8-speed will save me about $200 per year in gas (26 mpg avg), but will probably need repair/replacing some day if I own the car for a long time. It does cost an extra $500 one-time as an option.

The 6-speed averages 23 mpg and isn't quite as fast as the sport auto, but I would have to replace the clutch periodically (how often?).

Can anyone better put this into numbers for me as far as which would be the better option? I still have another week to make changes to the configuration of the car before it is built. Thank you!

I too went through this decision. At this point I'm sticking with the sport auto in a 335i Msport. I've got until the end of the month to change my order, but so far I'm sticking with my decision.

BTW, where did you get the idea that the 6sp MT is not "quite as fast" as the sport AT?
BMW rates both trans types equally to 60.
Reviews have shown the sport AT and MT hitting 60 at 4.7, those being the quickest. There have been other tested times that have been in the high 4's and low 5's.
Overall, AT and MT are as fast as each other. The difference is that the AT should have more consistent 0 to ?MPH vs MT, unless the MT driver is very good and very consistent.

[RPM90]

Originally Posted by f30_Vincent

Lots of love in this thread for the 8spd... I guess toph gave the best advice though, its down to personal preference.

I got my Sport Line with 6spd manual. No matter what others say, I liken driving an automatic to having the car parallel park itself - no thanks, I'll do the driving.

I understand the "control" and "connection" of MT over AT.
I've been driving MT for decades.

But, I can't agree that driving an AT is like the car parking itself.
Sorry, that analogy doesn't work. I do get what you're trying to say though.
I decided to go with the sport AT and confirmed my decision with multiple test drives. I might miss MT. I may hate driving an AT BMW.
However, it's an amazing new tech AT, and test driving is the proof that this is not an AT of old.

It would have been cool if BMW would have done some things to the MT to make it better, like a better clutch feel, REAL short shifter.
Given the low take of MT in the US, and a growing like for paddle shift trans in the EURO market over MT, it's not that surprising that BMW and other makers aren't doing much if anything to improve MT's in their cars.

I still agree that there is that certain connection the driver has, or at least feels he has, when driving a MT. It'll be interesting to drive the new 335i with sport AT. I have no problem with going back to MT if this sport AT is boring.

[xugator]

I originally had the 8spd on my order but switched to 6 speed and I am glad I did. If you want a sportier feel and to feel more connected with the car, go with the 6 speed. If you want a more laid back experience then get the 8 speed

Personally, it was like 2 totally different cars to me.......i dont care how good this 8sp auto is, it doesnt have the feel and control of the manual. The manual was much more fun to drive.

To the poster above who said their CA highly recommended the automatic for the sportier feel, my dealership was the exact opposite and they said they will never understand why people opt for a sportline car and dont order the manual transmission. They said if they are ordering sportline package for cosmetic purposes, then fine but if they are ordering it for the sporty feel, then they are selling themselves short if they get the auto and it almost defeats the purpose.