OH YA! thats exactlly what i do!!! (not the SMG) I tried the left right left right technique but I dont like it... I just tap it to the left 2-3 times and if it moves I know its in neutral...

 

LOL!
Sweet.
Friends who ride with me always trip when I do it, but none of them drive stick so I wouldn't expect them to understand.

 

1. start the car
2. sit and reflect
3. decide i really don't want to go to work today
4. shut down the car
5. give it one more longing gaze
6. stay home and watch tivo'd top gear and the office (bbc)

 

Yeah, got the BT phone, but such a long commute that it really drains the battery if I don't plug it in.

 

Rudy, you actually use the sliding armrest? I'd have to say that is the MOST annoying "feature" of the car (more than foglights, SMG-auto mode and even mudflaps ).

If mine is not locked in the rear-most position it just keeps moving back and forth.
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It locks in the forward-most position too. I use it every day and, as I said, its part of my routine. Slide it forward after releasing the parking brake, slide it backward before applying the parking brake. (If BMW would have designed it a little better, there wouldn't be any need to slide it all the time but since the parking brake hits it, I've adapted to the poor design and now everything happens subconsciously...)

 

Great responses, Guys!

Let's see, good points about unlocking the car. I have the annoying beep turned off so it just flashes and whirrs a bit...WTF is the whirring?

I, too, yank the armrest forward (even though it always is max forward).

In my 2001 530i/5, I always, always "waggle" the shifter to be sure it's in neutral. hehe, I noticed wifey (since it is her car now) does the same thing...Good Girl!

Lets assume you turn off the car and the main screen is in Entertainment mode and the minor screen is in Nav (North facing) mode.

Upon going thorugh your normal routine of starting the car, I think if you pull down for a couple seconds (after hitting the lawyer-ese accept), it will go back to the mode in which you such the car off as I outlined above. I do this every morning and it goes right back to where it was when I shut the car off. Try it and see.

Oh yeah, I put on my seat belt before driving off, too. Just feels weird not putting it on anymore...barely think about it.

 

(1) Fasten seat belt
(2) Insert key and turn to position 2.
(3) Slap SMG into N from D (I always turn off the car in D)
(4) Step on brake
(4) Crank
(6) Drive
I normally leave iDrive alone unless I want to play with NAV.

I use the steering wheel buttons for a lot of iDrive functions, especially entertainment.

 

and "dionk! doink! doink....."

'cos you guys all forgot about belting up

 

You got me too

 

I just do pretty much what u guys have been doing. However, couple of important steps for me :

a. Always dust my car
b. Check if my new car is running low on gas and NO money in my walet, then drive in my fuel efficient Mazda Protege... ...good thing is its a Manual one