For those of you that read this months C&D review, know they G35 got dinged because of vibrations at higher rpms. They blamed the engine and said it was lacking "refinement".
The test used a manual G35S.

I am still in break-in mode, so I have not pushed my 5AT too much. I don't remember experiencing any vibrations on my agressive test drives.
So the question is:
Is the vibration cause by the engine or the manual transmisson ? Has any 5AT owners experienced these vibrations?
Since the automatic tranny is fluid coupled via the torque converter, maybe this is responsible for absorbing the vibes from the engine..
Thoughts? experiences with the 5AT high rpm driving?

 

I am not in break in mode anymore so I've been able to be a little more aggressive in my driving. I won't say exactly how fast I was going, but I will say that I felt zero vibrations with the 5AT. (btw, my rpms at the time were about 6800 )

 

hahahah. GUILTY!


If I remember correctly, when I tested the Sport 5AT back in late November, I did not experience vibrations. That car had 400 miles on it and yes I pushed it pretty hard. In fact, the lack of vibration, along with a more composed chassis were the two things that really impressed me.

 

No vibrations of any kind for my in our Sedan, we have over 3k miles on it.

 

Now that you mentiom it, I'm curious to know if C&D tested the AT last time since they never brought up any issues about "refinement". If less vibration is all that the G sedan needs, then that's not going to be a major issue for me.

 

I think they are talking about the 6mt.The vibration in the shifter handle.

 

I love my G- it is smooth all the way to 7500 rpm, but feels different than a 335 which has an especially sweet driveline. There is a difference in the feel of an inline 6 and a v-6, with the inline being mechanically better balanced. In automatic cars I think it is more a matter of sound that driveline feel because it is damped by the trans. But face it, the Bimmer is a sweet ride, C&D specializes in BMW fanboyism, and needed an excuse to rate the Bimmer higher despite its substantially higher price and smaller, lamer interior, given the general equivalence of performance.

 

No noticable vibrations while shifting at redline for me.

 

Same here. No vibrations at all.

 

hmmm

can you say biased?

 

Yes the Vibrations they are talking about are only for the 6MT cars. The Auto's are nice and smooth, When I test drove the Auto, I drove the Hell out of it on the Freeway, redlining it to about 105mph. And it was nice and smooth to redline! Now I have a 6MT car, and I do not feel the Vibes in the shifter too much, since I am still in break-in mode! But when Shifting at like 3000 rpm's in everyday driving, I do feel some Vibes in the Clutch Pedal and a little in the shifter, but thats to be expected for a Manual trans car. I don't know about high RPM's in the manual but will defintely test it at about 1000mi.! And coming from a guy that drives a Stang everyday, the G Is silky smooth compared to my Hot Rod!

 

In the 15 years prior to the 6MT I bought in December, I've had 3 BMW's and a Miata and they all had much smoother drive-trains and manual transmissions with far less vibration than the G35.

In normal driving, it's noticable, but not really irritatiing. But if I wind the engine to red line a few times in a row shifting through the gears, my left foot starts to tingle from the vibrations. I don't think I could take it for long if I was trying to race the car on a track. Fortunately, that's not why I bought it.

All told, for me, the G35 had plenty of other advantages over the 335i to offset the smoothness disadvantage. I really like the G35 styling better and I think the difference in rear-seat room is more signifcant than C&D admitted to.

 

You still drive a Stang everyday and not the G?

 

LOL, yea still drive my Superchagred Stang to work, Don't really want to park my new G on the street at work! I don't want to park my Stang either, But G is the New baby! LOL. So the G is mostly the weekend Fun CAR!

 

Vibrations here, no big deal though.