fairly easy to learn. My wife was able to drive both my E46 m3 SMG and E60 M5 straight off the lot with no problems. You cannot stall an SMG and you do have to shift it in Sequential mode. SMG will not let you overrev any downshifts. You do have to practice to be smooth since there is a clutch so throttle tip in on start up etc will require to feather the gas just like a normal manual. Be aware though that you will be filling up quite a lot. The cruising range is pretty sad. ~150miles a tank.