Well I have the Sport Auto and this is not true for me. Just the other day there was a thread about a unrecognized warning message someone had received. To test my idea that it was the door ajar warning I went to my car in the parking garage, started the car, put it in reverse and started to back out. All with the drivers door open. I was trying to force the door ajar warning which I eventually got, but it did allow my to put the car in reverse and even in D with the door open.

 

Ehm, did you start backing up?
My car allowed me to put in reverse but once I was rolling it put the trans back into 'P' (with door open/ajar). Yes I have Sport auto with paddle shifter.

 

I did, but a very short distance. I'll try it again today at some point, maybe I didn't go far enough. Again my goal was the door ajar warning and I did get that...

 

I think it will let you roll back as long as your foot is still on the brake. Try going in reverse with the door open and lift your foot completely off the brake. I think that will cause the car to shift itself into park automatically. (Obviously, if you need to back up in reverse with the door open, you'll have to use two feet...)

 

That's likely the answer Rudy. I simply let the modest pull of the engine move me backwards a bit and kept my foot on the brake...

 

That issue (SAT not going into drive) has happened to me twice. Both times I started the car and sat for several minutes without putting the seatbelt on. If I recall correctly, putting the seatbelt on before trying to go into drive didn't help. Both times I simply shut off the car and restarted. All was fine (but I did have the seatbelt on and immediately put it in drive). I think my 550i needs a spring trip to the dealer for the SAT issue and the iPod playlist issue.

 

Not to hijack the thread, but tried to reverse with door open this evening and had no problem backing up with foot completely off the brake. Now I did not get up much speed as I was in my office parking garage but my car will let me back up with driver's door open...

But I will keep an eye out for the stuck in Park issue, seems to be going around.

 

Sixcard, 535xiT on the ship now. Previously a E39 525iT.
My fear is less for my life and more for my patience.
I'm hoping that Boeing spends more time on redundency and fail safes than even BMW.

The worst story I've heard wasn't a BMW. It was my friend's Saab 9. Drive by wire shifter sytarted to malfunction day 2 out of the showroom. He didn't get the car back for 2 weeks. It failed again 3 weeks later. Another 4 days in the shop.

 

Happened to me once about 2 weeks into my car. I turned the ignition off, restarted and everything was back to normal, hasn't happen since *knocking on wood* (the bamboo trim that is )

 

Did you try to accelerate or just let the idle move the car? I'll have to try it again when I think of it but I'm sure that the car switched into park by itself given a specific set of conditions...