Hello:

When I first drove my automatic 550I 2007 in the steptronic shift mode for a couple of months, I had to physically shift from M1 to M2 to M3 and so on.

Now it is automatically shifting itself much earlier than I prefer. Did I somehow put it into this mode. Can I change it back?

Thanks for the input

keyjb

 

The shift lever should move left/right between D (normal) mode and M/S (manual/sport) mode. In D, the shifts are earlier and I believe begins in 2nd gear for economy. In M/S, the shift points are higher RPM and I believe starts in 1st gear for performance. Plus, in M/S you have the manual shifting you mentioned. Perhaps, in the beginning you inadvertently pulled the lever to the left and ended up in M/S, but later are coming straight back and leaving in D.

 

Just putting the lever to the left (from normal "D") puts you in sports mode, where it will automatically change gears, albeit more aggressively

From there, once you move the shifter forward or back, it will go into a manual mode where you have to make the changes (well, for the most part--it will shift for you if you're doing anything that would risk damaging anything)