[///Driver]

Firstly, thank you very much to everyone who replied. Even thou I may not reply to your comment specifically, all your inputs were appreciated and helped me immensely.

Originally Posted by Piets94

Hithere, I guess I can comment here as the M2c is my first DCT experience for about the last 6 months. Have been MT always before then. Was an easy decision for me as I kept my manual 1M for a different experience.

Interesting that several of you mentioned another car with MT. Unfortunately, this will be our one and only car. However, we don't use to commute. We will be lucky to do 5,000ml per year. I'm a motorcyclist so I ride more than that a year. So, bumper-to-bumper traffic for us is rare.

Originally Posted by Piets94

The M2c is my daily. DCT is a great trans, but the auto mode gives me the f shits. I almost exclusively drive it in manual mode 2 and love it for it...

Again, several people here commented that DCT in auto is rubbish. So many of you drive DCT like a clutch-less manual... interesting.

Originally Posted by Piets94

Took me a while to get used to the slowness of the gearbox when going from fwd to reverse and back again...

That will drive me nuts. I often have to drive forward and reverse into our garage on a busy road. I want the 1st-to-reverse shift to be quick and decisive.

Originally Posted by Piets94

Sport + also activates the additional engine cooling for track work and so it's noticeably noisier and rough running for daily duties.

Wow! I didn't know there is a feature like that. So, I guess most folks would drive around town in ECO or Sports? ...but not Sports+, right?

Originally Posted by Piets94

I mix between shifting with the paddles and the lever itself, both are fairly intuitive and comfortable to use.

If I got DCT, I would probably do that... but I might give preference to the stick over paddles. When I'm going around corners, not knowing where the paddles are would annoy me.

Originally Posted by Piets94

I haven't tracked it yet, but auto mode might make more sense on a track or for drags if that's your sort of thing. I'm glad I chose the DCT, BUT if I didn't have the MT to fall back on in the 1M I would possibly regret it.

I don't plan to track nor drag race. So, I share your thoughts.

Originally Posted by Piets94

It's a rough decision. You really need extended drive time with each trans to decide.

I guess that is my problem. I have only been able to sit in one. I have not driven one yet.

Originally Posted by DarthFader

Should something go wrong out of warranty, the DCT will be more expensive to fix.

That is my concern also. Although, someone else here said that MT has more mechanical issues, it is considerably simpler and proven technology. So it would be cheaper to repair, if out of warranty. Due to the low mileage we do and the cost of fun cars, we will keep this car way beyond 5 years. So, the potential repair bill is something I cannot ignore.

Originally Posted by DarthFader

I have manual in my M2 and DCT in my 135i which is my daily driver. For me the DCT is boring unless your going full throttle or on track. And yes I drive it exclusively in manual mode but it's not the same engagement as MT.

Interesting! It makes sense that DCT would be less involving to drive, and therefore, for some people, less fun. I believe I would share your thoughts.

Originally Posted by wood600rr

I have no regrets choosing the DCT for my situation, and if I really want a manual car I can get an S2000 or Cayman to satisfy that craving.

Hmmm... only if I could have several cars.

Originally Posted by Moflow

I don't think it's the greatest manual to ever come on a car, though it's also far from the worst.

Interesting comment. I can't say I have experienced a terrible MT car in the past. Sure, some had longer throws and others didn't feel particularly positive when shifting but I guess I adapted.

Originally Posted by Moflow

The shift quality will be familiar if you've driven many BMW manuals, reasonably accurate, longish throws and a very 'cushy' feeling, without much harshness. Despite the cushiness, there is still some feedback, but overall it feels pretty refined for what i'm used to in a sports car. Not much effort is needed to slot between gears.

Thank you Moflow, your detailed description has given me an idea of what to expect now.

Originally Posted by Moflow

There is also a hill hold feature and an anti-stall feature. You don't need to give it any gas when getting away from a stop, just slowly let out the clutch and the car will do it for you.

Really?? I had no idea such features were available.

Originally Posted by Moflow

the car will still let you rev match even with the auto rev match on. I like to double clutch my downshifts with a blip in neutral and the car will absolutely, faithfully respond to my throttle blip. However, if i don't give it enough of a blip, the engine will blip a little extra for a perfect rev match when i actually slot it into gear. If I do get it perfect on the other hand, I can't tell the car is doing anything to help me (and indeed it may not be.)

Nice! Good to know this as I also blip in neutral before shifting down a cog. It sounds like I might not need to disable the auto blip feature.

Originally Posted by Moflow

Cruising on the highway in 6th gear hasn't been a problem for me, last week I drove from seattle to portland and then back to seattle, which is at least 500 miles. The car isn't going to get great mileage no matter what, but I didn't feel like there was excessive vibration or noise from the engine while cruising at 70-80 mph.

Again, great info. In Australia, the freeway speed limit is 110kph (68mph). Except in one state in the middle of the desert.

Originally Posted by M Fifty

Oh, and: Its got a 50 litre tank and a 23mpg thirst. More road noise at 100kmh is so not the problem...

I see... I thought it would be relatively frugal just sitting on the highway at 70mph (excluding the city driving portion).

Originally Posted by akkando

At 80 mph in 7th gear the DCT doesn't annoy me with drone. If I put it in 6th it does, so maybe I would be a bit annoyed with the cruising speed noises of the MT, not sure.

Do you recall what rpm your engine was sitting on in 6th gear DCT?

Originally Posted by akkando

This is the last DCT BMW ever, only ZF torque convert auto and MT for next gen.

I didn't know that. Thanks for heads up.

Originally Posted by Moflow

It's actually quite noticeable, but I think it only happens in eco mode. You don't really drop out of boost at all when shifting gears in Sport/Sport+ even if you're shifting kind of slowly.

I actually kind of like driving in eco mode sometimes. The car feels much more "old school turbocharged" with a significant lag between when you put your foot down and when the boost starts to spool. It will still eventually scoot pretty good if you have your foot all the way down though.

Doesn't sound like the gears are well matched to the engine... having said that, if in Sports mode, it doesn't do it (turbo lag), it's just the relaxed tune so I guess that's fine.

I don't plan to fit an aftermarket tune so I want the factory tune to behave itself and I expect it to be well calibrated.

Originally Posted by Karmic Man

6MT and you will thank me for it while doing your heel and toe and double clutching on the Old Pacific highway or on the Great Ocean road

Originally Posted by SEAT TIME RULES

How long will I keep this car?
What will be its primary use? Weekend warrior/track, daily?
Traffic issues?
How far am I planning on modding it? And for what use?
How much power can the DCT handle and how long will it last?
What would a rebuild cost/replace one?
How many track/autocross days will I do per year?
How important is it grab a manual transmission German car before the option is gone?
How will I drive the DCT? In auto mode, or manual mode?

Here are my answers:
I plan to keep it for 6 to 10 years.
When we need a car. We don't drive very often. Never track or drag race.
Drive it stock... maybe diff-back exhaust (for exhaust sound)
No idea what DCT can handle.
Cost to maintain after the warranty period is a factor for me.
No track days.
Buying something (DCT or MT) before it disappears is not a factor for me. I'm not a museum collecting historical items.
No idea how I would drive a DCT. Never driven one.

Originally Posted by Davil

I feel that it suits the car a lot better than the weird hybrid manual thing that BMW sells these days.

Can you please elaborate on what you said about 'hybrid manual'?

Originally Posted by FrozenB7

It's an automatic. Years from now when everything is an EV, people will long for the learning curve that clutch pedals give to sports cars. Even if manual cars today are hardly manual, I'd rather own the end of the manual era than the end of the dual clutch automatic era.

One of the reasons why I am looking at the M2C is because this will most likely be my last internal combustion engine. No doubt EV will be everywhere in the next 10 years.