It appears that all the people who can get to 6th in DS have 6 cyl...

 

doesnt DS start you off in 2nd gear? so when people say they are in 5th, they are actually in 6th?

 

My 530i , 2005 would not go into 6th in DS. I can tell in an instant what gear my cars are in with a tach and speedo, I'm that much in tune with things, I really wouldn't even need a tach, just my ears and seat of my pants, even though the I6's are so smooth.

Every time I went from D to DS, the revs jump and It went from 6th to 5th. It annoyed me, because you couldn't shift to M6 quick enough to avoid the 6-5-6 routine. I didn't want to tryafter a while for fear of hurting the trans with a shift-while-already-shifting type deal.

So I rarely used DS, either D or M.

Same way on my 645, DS is gears 1-5 only, at least up to 120mph it is , that's the fastest I've gone in DS mode.

 

Then there is something different in the set-up of your car from mine. It seems that others have had equally clear reactions to both these set-ups. Someone mentioned a software setting for the transmission, and maybe worth inquiring at the dealer to confirm and modify?????