This is for Manual mode. Isn't it supposed to? My E90 used to automatically go down to M2 when I brought the car to a full stop no matter what gear it was in before the stop. My 550i just stays in M3.

Time for the dealer?

Thanks.

 

My 530 drops to 2nd, hmmm , best have it looked at.

 

Mine also stays in 3rd. Probably just different software.

 

My take ... it's prob. the wonderful low down V8 torque (you could prob. get that thing moving in 5th). I doubt the transmission software will do anything that could cause harm to your drive train. The fact that you have it in 3 .. and since it CAN stop-n-go in 3rd why would it change it ... after all your are in MANUAL mode .. so it is supposed to keep you in your selection until it sees possible damage (i.e. over-rev and engine streess). Of course move into sport-auto mode and then it will re-configure for the best off-the-line time and you will see it will shift down to 1.

 

I'll have to try to accelerate in M3 from a stop again, but from what I remember 3rd gear doesnt seem to be well-suited from a stop despite the adundance of torque.

 

Yes, mine does 3rd at stop. I think it applies on V8. Let's see what other V8 owners say...

 

+1

 

Oh no .. absolutely not .. that isn't what I meant .. . I implied that since you were in MANUAL mode AND coupled with the fact that the abundance of torque won't harm the drivetrain .. the transmission WON'T shift. It is actually behaving as designed .. the transmission is letting YOU decide as much as possible (just like a manual transmission would .. ). In fact if you came to a stop in 2nd .. it would hold 2nd as well. Yes it actually expects you to remember it is in 3rd gear and downshift yourself to the appropriate gear when you slow down based on the acceleration you demand when you speed up again. There is no doubt that 3rd is not the best gear for optimal off-the-line acceleration.

Now if you move it into the sport auto mode .. and let IT decide .. it will then know what your intentions are configure accordingly. Don't you just love BMW technology .. .

On a side note I HATED the Acura's manual mode .. the damn thing kept up shifting and down shifting at will even in MANUAL mode and wouldn't hold any RPMs properly and then .. when I wanted it to hold a higher gear (for slightly reduced acceleration) knowing there was traffic in front f.. it would down shift and jerk. I wanted to rip that transmission out and shoot it.

 

SAT or Step transmission?

 

Ah OK that makes more sense. Thanks for the clarification. :-)

Kzang: I have the Step not the SAT