El Immigrante

My car has the sport package. It has no paddles on the steering wheel and no "sport" button on the center console.

My car has the new style shifter where you just tap it up or down to get into drive, reverse, etc. and you push the "P" button for park.

Now, it does have the DTC button and the option to shift the shifter to the left (US) for "performance" driving.

Based on this, does my car have SMG? Why doesn't my car have the paddle steering, or was it an option that I just didn't know about that I could've ordered? Why doesn't my car have the "sport" button?

Last, when I move the shifter over to the left for "performance" driving, can I use it to manually control the shifting of gears by tapping the shifter up or down?

Thanks.

I'm obviously new to BMW so thanks for your patience.

m630

Hola,

You do not have smg. You have a slushbox, with the beer tap shifter...since you don't have the paddles, I'm guessing you don't have the sports AT, which was an option,btw.

You can shift yourself when you tap the shifter to the left, or you can allow the car to shift for you, but you will be in the sports program so the shiftpoints are different than when you are not in it, they hold gears longer and the pedal is more sensitive to inputs...the dash will read DS when u move the tap to the left to denote sports program, it will become M and the gear when you shift yourself, ie M1, M2 etc....

sdg1871

Based on your description, you've got Steptronic, which is what I have, and not SMG or SAT (Sport Automatic Transmission).

I don't believe that 08 or 09 550's even have the SMG as an option as BMW phased it out for non M-5 cars. If you had wanted paddles, you would have to have gotten the Sport Automatic Transmission which your ride, lacking paddles, does not have.

If you tap the shifter over the left, it will enter "DS" mode. In this "sport" mode, the car downshifts faster and holds gears longer. It is a lot more responsive that the standard "D" mode. Also, by tapping left, you access the ability to manually shift (well, manually shift to the extent that the Steptronic permits it -- it overrules your "manual" shifting if you are going to overrev the engine or put undue strain on the transmission). Manual shifting is forward and backward.

El Immigrante

Thanks dudes!

Regarding the SAT, am I missing out on something big here or is the performance similar to DS mode?

I guess I should've done a little more research before buying.

sdg1871

Steptronic people will say that there is little difference and SAT people will say there is a big difference. My personal opinion is that "DS" mode in Steptronic is very responsive but if you long to paddle shift on the steering wheel, you are SOL.

El Immigrante

Actually, it sounds there's a retrofit!

sdg1871

Yes, it would appear that way:

http://forums.e60.net/index.php?showtopic=60766&hl=

Retrofitting??

El Immigrante

Yeah, I'm going to look into it. I'm hoping someone posts and provides a contact for obtaining these parts. If anything, for the cool factor.

cleung

Hey dude,

I got nothing to add to this thread I just wanted to say that I love your sig.

El Immigrante

Thanks! Thought it would be cool to kick it ole sk00l.