Opinion on E85 with auto and paddle shift?

[bcolins]

I am looking for a pre face lift E85. Wondering if those were available with the automatic with paddle shifters,....and what the driving experience is like with them. Did all automatic Z4s come with paddle shifters or only sport package equipped cars? Is this an entertaining car to drive,....or is the manual gear box the only way to have an entertaining Z4?

I have had my share of E30M3s, E36M3s, E28 M5 and even an M635 euro spec and most recently an E90 Sport package 6 speed manual with AC Schnitzer (sp?) package,.....and have never owned a paddle shift car,....so just thinking out loud. I'm 73 now, and don't drive as enthusiastically as I used to,...thinking the paddle shift might me a good choice,....but the shifts would need to be relatively quick.

Opinions?

[86Zed]

The E85 was available with the SMG-II sequential manual transmission on the 3.0 with sport package. It is an early paddle shift setup that responds well to being driven like a manual (throttle blip on downshift, throttle off on upshift), has been known to have more than a few reliability concerns and can be pricey to repair. That being said SMG was offered in the E46 M3 and E60 M5 among other cars, having driven both I would take it over an automatic every single time. Its present but not wholly distracting from the driving experience.

With the cars listed in your message I would think a DCT dual clutch transmission would be preferable from an operating perspective, those were not available until later BMW generations.