i love my smg
absolutely go with the SMG.. its the best of both worlds.
first... yes, you can rev the engine by doing the hack - (put car in sport mode, turn off dsc, adjust smg to S6, hold the stick in the forward position, rev the engine to about 3k rpm, drop the stick back and mash the gas pedal) there- you've essentially dropped the clutch.
honestly though, i'm sure that doing the above isn't the best thing for your tranny but that's the closest you'll get to replicating a stick for that.
personally, my favorite is to just put the car in sport mode, turn off dsc, S6 mode it and just stomp the pedal. you get nearly identical results, plus not nearly as much wear on the transmission. the car has enough power that either way you do it you'll light the tires!!
also, smg lets you shift a few different ways, 1 being the automatic mode - love this for traffic, or just times i feel lazy. 2. you can shift with the stick - up for downshifts and down for upshifts, no moving the stick around into the H pattern but close enough feel so that it feels like you're driving a stick. lastly, 3. the paddles. this is typically how i shift the car 95% of the time. i love having them, especially when you're in some twisties, you don't have to take your hands off the wheel.. just click with the left hand to downshift when you're in a corner and for power or click on the right one to fly through the gears on a nice straight.. it just does not get any better. plus!!! lots of appeal to everyone who is lucky enough to be riding with me - it has a very big WOW factor. especially when i'm on a hill and i show them that the car will roll if i'm not on the brake - just like stick, or if i'm on an uphill elevation.. i can show them the little trick of holding the left paddle for about 1.5 seconds and the clutch engages to hold me in place... just a little touch that adds to the coolness of this thing.
also... yes. it is a 6 speed. its the identical trans used in their 6 speed gearbox for manuals, just tricked to the next level. plus, from my understanding - its supposed to be lighter than the regular manual trans.
just so much tech and coolness associated with it, visually its worth the extra dough and mechanically and ergonomically - its completely functional. i wish all cars had it. but then some of the coolness would be lost...
only question i hate when people ask me about it is... "Ohhhh!! its one of those tiptronic / steptronic transmissions right? - like the one from that pontiac grand prix commercial or (insert any manufacturers name that makes one)". at which point i have to explain that tip/step are basically automatics with a feature to shift when you want... but there is still a torque converter and no clutch... on MINE, there is a clutch.. just no clutch pedal... same as the F1 cars... i get that one a lot... and i always explain it because otherwise people's idea of the car is somewhat devalued when you lump the bmw tranny into the same category as a mass produced domestic vehicle worth less than half of my car.
i'm kinda rambling... so i'm gonna leave now... get SMG, you won't be disappointed.