Raighne

So the sports automatic added paddles, a different shifter a 'sports' button that activates the paddles and makes the throttle more sensitive and the gear changes swifter.

My question is this... in your opinion

Would this setup be total overkill (verging on redundant) for diesel engines like the 535d?

With the range of power and torque on that engine it sounds like very few gear changes are required (and more gear changes wouldn't add to the sportiness) In fact, the gears are probably used more to deliver higher economy that to squeeze out power and torque.

Do you really see yourself paddle-shifting a big diesel and country roads... I can imagine wanted to have that setup for a high-revving petrol but it doesn't seem necessary at all for a diesel.

What do you 535d/530d diesel drivers think?

jagman

The technology is great and is used in many high performance cars both road and track. Is it necessary in a BMW diesel, I'm not convinced. I hope the new transmissions are smoother than the one in my car it's been back to the dealer on numerous occasions to get it to change more smoothly and my X5 is even worse.


Anyway back to your question, I think it's a "nice" to have not a "need" to have, everybody drives hard with a different style, some use the brakes more than the transmission to set the car up for fast cornering and if you are really pushing on you don't want too many things to distract you. I agree these engines have plenty of torque and with the 535d twin turbo you should be constantly on power with limited lag, something the 530d lacks and can be embarrassing on occasions, that is when you do need to use the box.


In summary IMHO nice gimmick?????..of my pals who have these on their cars, they rarely use them and believe me they do drive their cars hard.

0700700

hopefully youll be able to improve your fuel economy otherwise id deginitely get them even for a diesel

M3>535d

Hiya

I have posted before about using the steptronic gearbox more in Manual mode rather than in D or Sport mode ,

mainly because In D mode the gearbox ( when the accelerator pedal is pushed firmly ) tends to down shift then rev up past the 4k rpm point and similarly the same

in S mode . Plus there is always that slight hesitation in during the kickdown which i don't get using the manual shifter.

The diesel's power is developed under 3k rpm and the Max. Torque is around 2k rpm so i tend to change up manually around these points.

Also the torque converter locks up at around these points as well so i can use the engines torque sitting in gear ,

rather than waiting for the gearbox to decide what gear it wants to use , and then rev past the sweet points.


Nick.


The M5 Steering wheel and paddles were almost retrofitted last year but the company that were doing the job got let down by BMW's part's dept

and so the money went elsewhere at the time ..........still on my to do list though.

aybeesea

Do you know Fernando Alonso? .

Re: the question, it's a matter of theory and practice. I'm more than happy with my current setup.

Would I be "happier" with the new transmission - BMW tells me I would be.

Would I use the paddles on a 535d? Occasionally for a change.

ABC

jagman

Yes, do you?

aybeesea

Not well enough to say that he rarely uses paddles!



ABC

Hawkwing

Are they overkill - possibly!

I'd rather BMW spent engineering effort to improve the throttle response/gear change per se, especially in low speed situations; this to reduce the delays initiated by their engine managment implementation to meet EU particle emmission controls (the reason given for my cars poor/lagging response at times) and the occasional thumping into gear - the speedier, and hopefully smoother, changes of the new transmission are welcome, it will be interesting to note their effect here - I'm not sure about the need for gizmos like the paddle shift on a normal road car though...................

jagman

Nor me as it's you making the assumption not me making the claim!!

dlevi67

If the nannying by the transmission ECU is not made less intrusive, then having the paddles is a negative, not a positive. My 535i E39's box was mostly doing what it was told to do, and as a result it was used often in manual mode. I have rarely used the 535d E61 in manual, as it keeps overriding my decisions for no good reason. Having the paddles would be even more frustrating.

If that point is addressed, then they are a welcome addition, but little more than a gimmick anyway in normal driving, given the torque spread.