Wildcat

EUREKA! It worked like a charm on my '04 545. I noticed the difference immediately as I pulled out of my parking space. Back to being smooth as silk.

I thought it was Progman 25 that had initially solved my 2-1 tranny slam issues, but now I'm guessing that all they did was flash the gearbox's memory. After the update, the tranny was smooth but started to gradually go back to its old, jerky ways as I put miles on the car. This isn't a perfect fix (since it requires my input every few hundred miles), but I'll take it! Thanks for posting!

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention: I heard no noise, so apparently that's not a reliable indicator as to whether this trick worked or not.

sleepyca31

Hey guys-you definetly dont hear the noise all the time-I did mine for a second time after 2 weeks-so to answer when and how often you have to do it-I guess if you get in a rut of some "harsh" spirited driving for a day or so and then go back to normal driving-you might wanna do it. I drove hard for about 3 days and then noticed it acting up again in the harsh shifts so did it an voila-so I do not see why you would have to do it unless you notice a difference or drive different out of character for you for awhile.

I got the link from someone posting a link to this tip-than read the info and did a bit of searching and reading and indeed it is a confirmed process from bmw-why they dont know or tell us this is beyond me in a 50k plus vehicle something so simple should be on its own sheet handed to us upon purchase-ridiculous.

This iniitally was discovered on the 7ers and apperently jags and some other cars have a similar process which led to the discovery of someone with a 7er trying it and then the rest is history.

I know truly amazing how it completely smooths out the gearbox-that is a crapola feature-why the gearbox has to adapt to my crappy harsh gear changes is beyond me-obviously if I am driving and having fun and doing a couple harsh shifts out of character well its nice it can do that but that does not mean we necessarily are "Trying" to train out gear box to behave like that-yes I would elimnate the learning feature of the gearbox forsure!

Wildcat

Amen to that. Shouldn't the ultra-responsive (read: jerky) shift program be reserved for DS mode? It would seem pretty simple to me: If I want smooth and fuel-efficient, I stay in D. If I want responsive and sporty, I switch to DS. Why the need for a learning gearbox?

colejl

I love it too! Really seems to have sorted things out... Just driven for 10 minutes and the changes are definitely better timed and the revs are held for longer giving better acceleration I feel...

woody

Same experience. I was updated to Progman 25 a few weeks ago and instantly felt a difference. Like you, I thought it was the update that solved the problem. Other posts related to Progman 25 indicated that improved transmission/gear shifts would result. I guess that the improved performance was not directly attributable to Progman 25, but only a side-effect (and a temporary one at that). Unfortunately, it seems that this new "trick" will need to become a regular and recurring part of the maintenance process. Here's a second vote for the demise of adaptive transmissions!!!!

terracotta

I guess all german makes have this "re-boot" feature because I did a similiar process on my ex-E350 and it worked for only a certain period of time until the smoothness went away. I remember the MB forum people said it was just a temporary tease at best.

Wildcat

I don't have the Start/Stop button and it worked great for me. Just turn the key to the point where the electronics come on but the car doesn't start. Then hold the accelerator all the way down (ALL the way down) for about 30 seconds and then start 'er up. Enjoy blissful shifting once again.

SierraDelta

Just chipping in with another confirmation that this really works! Much smoother shifts and - most importantly - no hesitation when rolling away now. Thanks for sharing this with us.

pharding

Lomag:
Please put this as a sticky on FAQ. This is a great tip.

diveleader

It worked for me - much smoother changes over the 300 miles I did today.