That was an interesting read Brian. He is basically saying that all the SB does is amplify the throttle voltage which can be replicated by mashing the pedal down faster/further without the need for an SB. He says that the SB does not improve throttle response or speed but that if just "feels" faster.

My response to this (after having tried the SB on both my 545 and my wife's X5) would be that even if it only makes it "feel" faster than it's completely worth it to me. After all, I am not racing my car against others where the "true" speed or acceleration may be important.....I am just driving it everyday and like a more peppy car and SB does that for me....it makes it a more enjoyable drive and if that is just a "feeling" and not actual fact then so be it.

Having said that, I still insist that I am not getting the same results from mashing the accelerator down all the way without the SB installed as I do with normal accelerator travel with the SB installed. Even sitting at idle with the car stopped the RPM's just rise effortlessly and quickly when reving the engine with the SB vs. pushing the accelerator pedal all the way down quickly without the SB.

So the bottom line for me is that even though I believe the writers claims that SB just emulates the pedal being pushed faster/further (I believed the same thing before getting the SB), there must be something else involved that he may have overlooked. But even if I am wrong about that, I still insist that pushing the pedal down faster/further does not have the same effect on both the 545 and the X5 as using an SB......even if it's just the "feeling", it's enough to make me buy another one to replace the one on my 545 which I installed on my wife's X5. After all "feel" is not a small thing......that's why many of us buy BMW's instead of some other marks because of the "feeling" of confidence and the feedback from the car when driving aggressively....say on a windy road. There may be some other cars that are faster and/or handle better, but the feeling of confidence that you get from a BMW is missing in them. In the same way an SB may make little difference according to that paper, but if I enjoy the "feel" of faster acceleration and throttle response then it is worth it to me.

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rodybmw