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The First Automotive Easter Egg?
automandc writes "The October dead-tree issue of Popular Science is reporting that the new BMW M3 contains what they are calling the "first automotive easter egg" in its transmission control software. Apparently, the proper combination of commands to the electronically controlled manual transmission will cause the car to rev up to 4000rpm and drop the clutch (premitting burnout, which is normally impossible). According to the article, use of the feature more than 15 times voids the warranty in Eurpoe. Other limitations of the "acceleration-assist" feature are discussed in this Car and Driver article. According to popsci, U.S. laws won't allow the warranty limitation, so the U.S. version of the software only revs to 1500rpm, but dealers will install the european software if you ask. The only other mention I could find on the web is here."
Given that the site is fairfax.com.au, I guess that's probably Australian dollars - so more like $75,000 in US money. Still not cheap, but slightly more believable.
Sorry to disappoint (and it would be a waste of a whole slashdot story), but the acceleration assist is documented in the manual.
You need an M3, and you need SMG (the Sequential M Gearbox).
Basically, you stop the car; turn off DSC, change the drive logic to (S6).
Now, hold forward the gear selector, and floor it.
When you release the gear selector you will launch. Get ready to change gear quickly, first gear doesn't last too long. The warm-up lights become "gear change indicators" and flash at you when its time to change gear.
One thing that isn't mentioned in the manual is that if you press the accelerator quickly when setting this up, then it will do a "burn out" start, but if you press it more slowly then you will get a traction controlled start.
Pretty awesome.
And yes, I own an M3.
As a hardcore BMW geek, I am really glad to see the M3 and it's very cool SMGII transmission make it to the front page of Slashdot. For more info, check out:
BMW's Flash SMGII Transmission Presentation
The Unofficial BMW E46 FAQ
I wouldn't call Launch Control an easter egg however. If you explore the BMW Flash presentation, they mention it. While BMW North America said it would be disabled on US cars, as soon as the M3 SMG came over, the first (privilaged lucky bastard) owners tried it out and it worked.
I have a new 325Ci (5 speed) and a previous genneration M3 race car that I built up from a crashed car and used parts. My only regret is that many people view Bimmers as yuppie mobiles, when in fact, they are amazing to drive, very technically advanced and probably the best overall vehicles on the road. Oh well... that feeling goes away when I am at the track or on an empty road.
Freude am Fahren
Manual transmissions are more efficient in transfering power to the wheels than automatics. This is there main advantage. Because of this they will accelerate faster and usually get better gas mileage than automatics. Plus, manuals trannys are a hell of a lot more fun to drive. Give me an stick over and slush box any day.
"I have a porkchop, you have a porkchop. I have a veal, you have a veal".
For the BMW in question, this 'feature' is documented in the owner's manual....not hidden. Hardly an easter egg. But, I'm sure some marketing guy felt enough fools would buy into it if it appeared in print.
And the injector shut-off on the Ford was on purpose, not a defect. The circa 80's XR4Ti had a turbo, and this feature was meant to allow the engine to be spun over after an oil change, so as to allow oil pressure to build in the turbo before actually firing the engine. Not documented and clearly factory designed. One of many, many unknown 'tricks' that exist in many makes of cars over the last +15 years. As an another example, the Corvette has had a very entertaining alarm system for some time now...
It's a US$49,000 car with the SMG II transmission. You are, of course, forgiven if you are refering to other currency. In the US, while an M3 is expensive, most of the people I know who own them work very hard in fairly regular jobs and purchased their M3's as a sort of 'Attainable,' 'Practical,' 'Dream Car.' Performance/$$$, the M3 is a lot better then almost every other high performance sports car.
life of the clutch (torque converter)
The SMG has no torque converter. Like on F1 cars, the SMG is a stardard manual gearbox fitted with computer controled actuators that do the same work your hand and left foot would do in a standard manual transmission. The clutch part #s for the manual and SMG M3s are the same.
Fun but, for $141,000 I want a damn 5-speed.
The standard transmission version comes with a 6 speed. The M3 CSL version (which will cost around US$150K, if it's even offered in the US) is only equipped with an SMG however.
Hey, you computer guys get to nit-pick technical details about obscure hardware, can't a car guy do the same?
I saw one (with SMG) for $53,000 yesterday at the local BMW dealer (fully loaded). I asked them about the launch assist, and they said they can get the euro software and install it for a fee.
If only I could afford even a used car...
--- At my sig, unleash hell.
That's a real feature of the transmission.
:-)
NB: the transmission in question is not a normal manual (i.e., with a foot clutch and stick). It's a hybrid auto-manual which has an electronically controlled clutch (i.e., there's no foot pedal since the computer controls the clutch entirely). The gearing is controlled by the computer or (as desired) by two paddles (+/-) along the steering wheel for up/down shift. BMW calls its version SMG (Sequential Manual Gearbox).
Ferrari and F1 cars also have this feature (similar technologies).
The acceleration assist is a genuine feature which basically tells the SMG to accelerate hard from a standstill as a special case (F1 cars also have launch control). It's a genuine feature, not an easter egg.
Cool car, M3!
Is this really an Easter Egg? It strikes me as more of a cheat code. Easter Eggs seem to be pretty but basically useless feature. They often times display the developer's names or give you some little extra bonus. But cheat codes are designed to unlock hidden potentials in the system, to circumvent rules, or basically... to cheat.
[news for me, stuff that doesn't matter]
Apparently you don't know much about these cars...
They start at $50k and go up to about $58k, and that is with the SMG II transmission (the one referred to in this artilcle).
Its called Launch Control. Its not an easter egg. Its designed into the transmission on purpose. Yes you are limited to 30 launches using launch control, but it is for the length of the warranty.
There are NO torque converters in this transmission. It is not a transmission like on the Porsche, etc. It is a fully manual transmission with a hydraulic clutch. They are not burn-outs. They are actual launches. When launching a car, it is your goal to spin the tires. So the car spins the tires momentarily then gets traction back as soon as possible.
Why would you want a five speed? F1 cars, the fastest, best handling race cars in the world, use the same type of transmission.
Ferrari has a paddle shift transmission. It shifts gears in 60 ms (If I remember correctly) and the BMW SMG II transmission shifts in something like 30 ms (Don't remember the exact number). It is humanly impossible to shift that fast with a normal manual transmission. This is the greatest production transmission on the market.
Keep your mouth shut unless you know what you are talking about.
As many people have mentioned, the article here's easter egg is actually a documented feature. A real bmw easter egg however, is in the e36 models, hold 10 and 1000 buttons on the onboard computer in at the same time. You'll then be prompted for a test number. These 'tests' can display things like litres of fuel in your tank, current speed according to computer etc, which are not normally visible.
check here for a list of what all the tests do.
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Some people are good with words, others,
I seem to remember that from about 1985
:-D
That said, part III was set in 1885, before there were any other cars to compete.
The "floor the gas to turn off the fuel injectors" thing is by design. This feature is also in GM's cars (at least those which used TBI). This is known as the "flood clear" feature. Of course, if you do this while the engine isn't flooded, the car won't start.
Apparently, when I was in USAF and the fleet had just started getting fuel-injected vehicles, airmen used to carbs were tripping this feature... so each "new" vehicle had something like "DO NOT FLOOR GAS PEDAL WHILE STARTING" on the dashboard.
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Me spell chucker work grate. Need grandma chicken.