v_therussian

Guys, guys, guys, let's just all agree that a manual is a manual and no automatic - however good it might be - will never suubstitute the level of control and the edge that the manual transmission provides. I say - if you're in a position to - do not compromise on the transmission and get the manual. I've never tried SMG or M-DCT, so I can't speak of those options, but auto is always going to be auto. C'mon, we all know that!

sdg1871

For sure an auto is no MT. When you have the Step, you learn to adapt to how it works. Yes it ultimately is as nanny like as any auto so you learn to work around it.

Techno79

Ok, I decided that I really can't get on with the manual step mode of the auto box. I'm sure it's fine on the petrol cars but the diesel ones are just to annoying for the reasons I outlined in my opening post. I mean, at about 50 mph in 6th gear it will rev at ~1100 rpm. At the same speed in 5th gear the revs go up to ~1600 rpm. That is not a lot of difference at all and hardly any engine noise difference. The change is extremely smooth as it happens when the car is coasting or braking. The change is so subtle that whenever I'm driving around in 6th gear around 50 mph (a surprisingly frequent speed on my journey) I am too frequently looking down to see if it has quietly dropped down to 5th. Most of the time it hasn't but occassionally I find that it has.

All this looking down really takes away attention which makes me nervous as the attention is taken away from the road. I never expected the auto box to be as good as a manual transmission car but I never knew it would make me feel uncomfortable. The only time I do feel comfortable with manual mode is when I'm cruising at 70 mph on the motorway and I know its still in 6th. But manual mode, cruising a 70 mph is no different to being in auto so kinda pointless.

I'm not complaining about the car or the transmission as a whole because the D and DS auto modes are really sweet. I just think that manual mode is not for me in it's current form.

Some ideas on how BMW could improve it:
1. Put the current gear in the HUD (only helps if you have HUD so maybe make HUD a standard option )
2. A red light on the top of the steering wheel to indicate a downshift (may be even combine it with optimum shift functionality too).
3. Left/right butt cheek rumble pack in seat - Left rumble = downshift, Right rumble = upshift
4. Voice notification of downshift e.g. "The car has automatically downshifted for you"

...ok, so I'm jesting for some of those ideas but I really like the butt rumble pack idea

ali-cap

It Is a diesel, leave it in D or if you are horny : S . use the manual only for ice and snow .
We are talking TOURQE not high revs or red-line.

Richard in NC

I have gotten the extra downshift from the SAT at times. A gear display in the HUD would be a good idea. Overall, I like the SAT a lot, even though its not the same involvement as a manual. OTOH, I probably am a faster/better driver with the SAT. I never could master heal/toe with a 6MT.

Now I have the DCT in the Z4 35i. It is a very impressive transmission. It's smoother than the SAT around town, and more responsive in full sport+ mode. I've not driven it enough to learn when it downshifts, etc, nor how it handles near redline.

DD_545i

I wonder whether a tranny reset is in order. If the car was not bought brand new by the OP, then it's trained itself to the previous owner's driving style and might need re-training. If it keeps downshifting to 5th at 50mph and you keep re-upshifting, then surely (don't call me shirley) it should learn from your constant fighting against the downshift.

Techno79

That's a very good point and something I will give a go. There may be a chance for me to like manual mode afterall

Phantom Mark

I have driven with the Step mode both on the track and road, the trick IMHO is to let the car downshift for you and do the upshifts yourself, unless you wanna drop a cog to overtake something for example and prepare to pull out etc........ie you should only command a downshift when you think the car is not smart enough to forsee a coming manoeuvre.

v_therussian

I'd say, that's not a bad idea at all!

Techno79

Ok, I give up. Tried the tranny reset and there's a definite change to the gearing to indicate it has reset but it hasn't helped one bit with the manual mode. All I know is that in a manual transmission car, I never need to look down at what gear I'm in. In the 525d auto with manual mode, I am frequently looking down to check. I doesn't matter whether this is an issue with the steptronic transmission or myself, I don't think it is safe to have attention taken away from the road to check what gear I'm in and therefore I will not be using it in future.

Oh well, at least I gave it a go. I'm happy for everyone that does get on with it but this is a personal preference and I just don't like it. But as I mentioned before, I love the lazy (auto) mode and it does what it needs to 100% of the time


Yes but that split second is still attention unnecessarily taken away from the road ahead. It's not just the fact that you are looking down a few degrees, it's also the massive change in focal distance which is probably a bigger factor. At least with the speedo I can reasonably predict the speed even after 10 seconds since the last glance. The gear can change at any point while driving around ~45 mph and thus the frequency of checking it is so much more than checking the speedo. This could easily equate to an extra couple of feet on the braking distance if I look down at the wrong moment...that could be all the difference between a near accident and an accident. A very sobering thought.