I searched and found a lot of info about people having a thump or noises when going into reverse, but that's not the issue I have been experiencing.

I have an 08 535xiT LCI, if I start the car normally and then try to shift into reverse, the shifter will not move at all. I can shift it into drive and then into reverse, but not directly into reverse. Has anyone else had this problem or anything like it? It's been happening a more and more often recently.

The car has about 67k on the clock and has always been maintained by BMW when issues arise. The battery was new at the end of 2010, and I haven't had any difficulty starting it or anything else that would indicate the battery is having problems. There are no error messages in the iDrive.

 

Is the car still under warranty? Maybe have the dealer check it out if it is. Another thing you can try is the tranny reset: put key in ignition, turn to "on" position (without turning on the engine), hold throttle pedal for 25s or until you hear a "whirring" sound, start and drive normally. After this reset the car will "learn" how you drive for the next 1000 miles and shift accordingly. I doubt this will help with your particular issue, but it's free and worth a try regardless.

 

Unfortunately, it's out of warranty since 50k. I'll give the tranny reset a try, see if it helps, like you said, it's free and can't hurt.

Do you know if the reset has a different profile for each key? My wife and I drive quite differently.

 

I occasionally have the same problem when trying to move my SAT shifter into drive after starting it up after it has sat for awhile. Usually moving the shifter over to the left a little bit as I pull it back on the second try allows me to get it into drive. Only does that occasionally and only on initial startup.

 

I think it does actually have a different profile for each key, sort of like everything else in our cars, lol

 

It goes into Drive without any issue. I have tried wiggling it to the sides when going into reverse and nothing works, it's rock solid.

My wife did tell me upon returning from a recent drive that it did not do it to her, but it did to me when I dropped my son off at school. I'm guessing that it's only on cold starts but don't have any real evidence of that other than today.

 

Hmm, do you warm up the car or just hop in and drive? Even though I live in SoCal I still warm it up in the winter before driving it, want to make sure all the fluids are flowing before I take off.

 

One other thing...have you noticed any correlation to the combination of how you apply the brake before shifting? I forgot to mention that sometimes I have to take my foot off of the brake and reapply and try shifting again. I'm wondering if the shift lock device that ties into the brake pedal is sticking a bit...

 

i would guess the problem has something to do with this. on most cars the shifter wont move unless the brake pedal is depressed.

press the brake pedal harder, or mutliple times while trying to go into reverse.

 

I tried all of these options including the transmission reset and none made a change more than pjinca's suggestion of letting it warm up longer. Being in Austin, it's never very cold, so I didn't think it needed much time to get up to speed. I've started letting it get through the cat warm-up period before driving and I haven't had a problem with it since.

Thanks everyone for your ideas and suggestions, it turns out it was a steering wheel/chair interface error.