Yes - marketing ego boost for BMW; such a numbers driven game these days.

Can't wait for a 12 speed box - then I'll feel like I'm riding my old 12 speeder pushie again ;)

That's right, the way we are going 12-speeders might be just around the corner.
I drove a Audi Q5 2.0-litre diesel with the seven-speed dual-clutch (automated manual) gearbox the other day and there were times when it just couldn't make up its mind which gear it wanted to be in. I'm sure it would have been less of a problem with a wider-spaced six-speeder.

yes .. i took a few variants of Q5 out and the DSG got its knickers in a knot a few times .. overrev here and there ... jeky at low speed etc .. it put me off even though the idea behind DSG is great ... the real thing that put me off though is when it almost tipped over when pushing around a round-about .. it the was 2.0T model as well which is supposed to be the best hanlder as its lighter in the nose compared to 3.2 petrol and 3.0 diesel ... I;m sure if I pushed the diesel it would have looked like the opening scene off the old Flintsones cartoon where Fred goes a bit carried away ordering a supersized t-bone(rex) steak :)

Yep, Audi weight distribution is all up the sh*t.

so is their pricing ;) I reckon if they could have put me on the road with 2.0T for less than 80k driveway with all the fruit I may have gone that wasy despite the handling compromises ... its interesting that the only thing the Audi dealers were pushing when comparing X5 to Q5/7 was the depreciation hit on X5's (i.e. they didnt even try to compare driving dynamics)

I mentioned to the Audi dealer that there's a wide gap between Glasses depreciation guide and real world - just try buying a secondhand X in really good nick - they are holding up very very well and dont evn get close to what the depreciation schedules suggest ..but if BMW keep introducing model changes too quickly that may change - a risk for them ...and us !

I think BMW will keep its nose ahead of Audi as long as they look after their customers when it comes to trades / swapover pricing etc .. Audi is still in the 'try hard' or 'couldnt quite stretch to BMW' bucket right now .. lets hope BMW keep the technical and styling edge going to continue that theme ...

Agree 100% that Glass's Guide is well off the mark for s/h values (Redbook is no better), and it is a real worry that BMW seems to be forging ahead with updates at an increasingly alarming rate.

with a big TQ engine, more speeds is not as necessary. But the 7 speed AT works quite well in my G37 sedan. The motor makes good power, but is not a huge tq monster, but the trans makes it work very well as a package.