Hey,
When i bought my Uk 2004 530i auto, it was on 49k miles, and i'm pretty sure there was no creep - you know, when it's in D and your foot is off the gas and the car did not really move forwards.

10 months down the line and at 63k miles, I have some creep. I measured it, and basically, when my foot is on the brake, the revs are about 600, when i release the brake, the car moves slowly to about 4.5 to 5mph, and settles at about 700-725 revs.

Now, what i guess i need to know is, what is going on mechanically with my transmission over time - i mean, can something wear away over the miles, that might result in this? can i fix it? does it need fixing?
I'm planning on changing my transmission fluid soon - will this stop it by any chance?

And I don't know if I'm imagining it, but sometimes i feel that after a high speed run, say on the highway / motorway, when i come to a standstill, i think maybe i have more creep than if i had been driving slowly around town??

I know that when cold, the revs are higher, so i would expect this, but not when its warmed up.

And you may be thinking, what's the big deal? There's just something that feels wrong about the car wanting to pull away when you aren't asking it to, especially when you're having to break aginst the engine.

For info, car is serviced when idrive says, so its maintained as well as it can be.

Thanks in advance for your replies, which are either going to give me peace of mind, or stress me the hell out!

Peace.

depends on if you like radiohead or stone temple pilots or TLC

Although my car isn't an auto, I have driven many and would say what you describe is perfectly normal. All auto's creep in my experience, although I have limited experience specifically relating to BMW autos. Someone will be along no doubt with more experience and further comments.

In "D"....they all do - and are probably meant to. It's like having a manual gearbox in 1st gear.

If it creeps in neutral then it's a problem!

craigm, err....i prefer tlc myself, but not when it comes to my car moving when i dont want it to!

adentonmiller - surely its the same as having your manual in 1st gear and the clutch pressed in - which means the manual wouldnt move?? i thought the point was that the auto clutch engages (i.e equivalent of lifting your clutch) only when you press the gas??

Mine creeps all the time as soon as i lift my foot off the brake. It always has done and its a feature i actually like! :thumbsup:

Maybe.

I look at it the other way....as autos don't have a clutch pedal, the brake does double duty - clutch and brake. So taking my foot off the brake would be like taking my foot off the brake and clutch at the same time....i.e...it's time to go. Which is the same behaviour on a manual box - the idle revs will move the car forward.

If I want to stay put, then I'll put my foot on the brake, or shift into P or N.

...For what it's worth: after 28,000 miles, my 2007 M61 began to do strange things at a stop. Sometimes (but not often and usually after coming off the highway) the RPMs would creep up to 900 or so and, if I didn't pay close attention to the tach, the wagon would lurch ahead when I removed my foot from the brake. To say the least, this was scary and potentially dangerous. I contacted my dealership and was told that there was a recently released fix for this. The car went in for "reprogramming" a few days ago (it took two days at the dealer). Though I haven't had a chance to test the "coming off the highway" aspect as yet, the at stop idle seems to be a bit lower than the previous 600 RPM, there's less creep and there appears to have been a slight (but positive) change in the shift pattern.
Al T.

The "creep" you describe is completely normal. All automatic cars do that, not just BMW. One of the advantages of the creep is that it lets you move the car very slowly by lightly pressing the break, counteracting the creep. It would be much harder to do that by pressing the accelerator alone. Imagine trying to park in a garage up close to the wall, without being able to "creep" along. Stepping on the accelerator would likely cause the car to jerk forward in a much less controlled way.

We have a winner!!! :thumbsup: