Hi everyone. Just bought a 2005 545i with a stick shift. I noticed that when I push the gas in a high gear at low rpm, the tachometer will temporarily surge to a higher rpm than the speed and gear choice would dictate, as if the car were an automatic or I had fanned the clutch. My previous BMW, an old 325, would just struggle and not really accelerate in this situation. It seems rather clever about it in terms of revving to an appropriate amount of power, so I wonder if there is some sort of automatic continuously variable secondary transmission that gives a temporary lower ratio upon accelerating. Or maybe my clutch is slipping and needs replacement.

Is it supposed to do this?

 

Shouldn't do that. Sounds like a slipping clutch.