I don't use the flapies on the cars we have that offer them (Mini R56 and ML) but on the Coupe with the ZF6 I keep it in sport and use the lovely big metal lever to shift manually most of the time. If I am in city traffic then I let it drive but otherwise I enjoy using the big lever. I do partly put this down to slightly odd change points on the ZF/V8 in the car which is probably due to the weight change of the Coupe over the X5.
I can see the attraction of the manual with the 4cyl engine in the Plus Four. I imagine it is a very well balanced packaged. If the cog box does have a torque limit leading to a slight down-rating of the power I don't think that it will be a big issue other than on paper. Having to use the box to drive the car is definately an enjoyable. Our Aero S2 with a manual is great, a bit like a big motorbike.
