The first time I was told to keep my hands off the auto tranny handle was by the owner of a sizable repair shop after he did some transmission work on my '97 528i last year. Went for a test drive after the repair job when he saw my hand resting on the shift handle, which was followed by a lecture.I have since heard the same from another shop They say the pressure of your hand while driving interferes with the normal shifting of the gears and can cause premature wear.

Anyway,I have recently started with the same bad habit on my '05 545ia. Most of the time I shift gears in manual, but at times of traffic I put it in automatic drive and continue to keep my hand on the shifter. I find the car is staying in 1st and 2nd gear much to long and finally figured it out. The pressure of my hand on the shifter was the cause. When I keep my hand off the handle when in auto drive, the car shifts normally. Not my imagination. Has occured to often to be a coincidence.
Wonder if some of the transmission problems posted may have something to do with this.
For what it's worth, check it out. Maybe my particular car is just too sensitve. Would like to hear any comments, or if anyone has noticed the same thing.

Netjazz

 

I have my hand on the shift knob pretty often, but I have not noticed what you mention. I'll see if I can get my car to shift strangely because of hand pressure and will get back to you if I notice anything unusual.

 

interesting thanks for the heads up.... I too have the same bad habit

 

Maybe, and that's a real weak maybe, an e39 might have some sensitivity, but I never noticed.

An e60? No way! The ZF auto is totally drive by wire, excluding the Park position which engages a pawl/ratchet. Otherwise, any pressure you apply is totally on an electrical switching system.

So I wouldn't worry about it.

 

Absolutely true - one can not do anything wrong with this nice piece of drive by wire technology
- but perhaps the experience is with putting it in M/S and then ofcourse gear changes are done at higher revs since you're in sports mode

 

Sorry netjazz, but I'm going to have to agree with everyone else that this is simply not true. I would probably buy this theory for a manual, but not an automatic. The only reason I could see this affecting how long you stay in 1st and 2nd gear is if perhaps you are pushing the automatic shifter slightly into neutral. This might slightly disengage the torque converter and thus confuse the cars computer and therefore keep your car in a single gear longer. That is, if you're not in M/S mode like Tommy said, which could also be the case.

 

I don't think also it can be true....although i'll have to try and see. But i doubt it. And for a manual transmission it it is, in a way, true, since the actual weight of then hand causes pressure on the (i can't remember the exact term) shaft. But for an automatic i don't think that's true since it's more electronic than mechanic.
And another thing...either way it's better to have both hands on the steering wheel, it's safer.

 

I agree with the rest of the guys - I don't think this is the issue it used to be cause the transmission is totally electronic.

This was a no no in manual cars though and I guess some early autos, where the drive was engaged via a mechanical linkage.

Main problem I have is remembering I haven't got a manual.

I've absent mindedly dropped it into nuetral a couple of times oddly though without looking for the clutch - funny how the mind works

 

Heiss5--- Sounds like you might have the answer. I notice I do have a tendency to put pressure in a forward motion when resting my hand on the shifter. That might cause a slight disengagement as you pointed out. Anyway I am taking my own advice and keeping my hands off the shifter.
Really like shifting the Step. better than just using auto. most of the time anyway.
Thanks for the response.
You can always count on this forum for some helpfull ideas.

Netjazz

 

I'm with the majority here..... it is a purely electronic shift knob....so I don't think any downward pressure can cause anything.....
maybe if you're pulling front or backwards then there might be a slight switch disconnection....... but man it is not a handle to hold on while experiencing G force while braking it is a gear shift