Built 7AT or ZF8 Conversion

phunk

Ya it is very noticeably still not as fast as the DCT. They are quick, but not in the same realm. The ZF8 is still a standard automatic transmission and it must actually physically change gears. A DCT trans already has the next gear preselected and when you "shift" it merely has to swap clutch pressures. I have the latest greatest ZF8 HP in my M Competition car, and it just isnt in the same ballpark as a DCT. I can understand why people enjoy it, but they are definitely over hyping it a little. A full throttle DCT shift, you cannot even really feel any time pass, it is as instant as your senses can perceive. With the ZF8 there is a momentary drop in power, you hear the classic "fart" sound from the shift-cut as it switches to the next gear, and then power comes back on. Nothing instant about it.

I would figure that its obvious BMW switched to the ZF8 for cost and for AWD. As the Getrag DCT does not support AWD. With each M car that transitioned to the ZF8, it happened in unison with the switch to all-wheel-drive. And to use the same base transmission in all their cars is of course very cost effective versus putting a unique and expensive DCT in just one small volume version of each model.

I think you will be best off with the VR30 7AT. From what I have seen the Q60s from AMS doing lately, it looks and sounds like they are shifting every bit as quickly as the ZF8 can. The big conversions IMHO are not going to be ideal for people who are after PnP "set-it and forget-it" packages. If you cant maintain it or make TCM updates and adjustments as needed, youll probably going to hate it. Consider that if with the 7AT, its still all controlled through ECUTEK and you can work with any tuner you want at any time, diagnostics will remain relatively OEM, and you can afford to go through a handful of them for the price of a conversion.

Standalone controllers can make the transmission perform more aggressively than the OEM TCMs are tuned. But not more refined. When switching from OEM controls of an engine or transmission and going to full standalone, you are starting from scratch, and ditching all the OEM R&D in refinement. Can you eventually make it as refined? Ya sure, if you put in the hours $$$$$$$$ and assuming the standalone software is as capable.

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