I've encountered a problem where my shifter 'lags'. When I want to put it in drive from Parking, it takes about 4 seconds, sometimes it even doesn't puts it in Drive. I've been to a mechanic, he says the problem is that the car doesn't recognize the shifter, like it's not even there. He said he will call someone up and gather some info about, he hasn't called yet, but I wanted to ask for your advice. Maybe some of you have encountered with problem like me? I have bmw e61 2007.08. model.

I have shifter like this (taken from different post on this website):

 

That's the sports shifter.. so if your car did not come with it, it's very likely whomever coded it.. didn't do it at all, or didn't do it right.

 

I bought the car few months ago and the shifter was already there. It was working fine until winter came and then the car started showing his bad side, but most of them have been repaired..

 

If you could, take a picture of what you have specifically.

 

I have excactly the same shifter. Often I can't change gears from parking, like the shifter is stuck and when i try to put it in parking from drive, no errors show up, but notification 'beep' (or what it's called) sound pops up and doesn't change in to parking, I have to put it in neutral and then in parking. Transmission has been checked and everything is fine with it, no errors. I guess shifters electronic is faulty or something with the wires.

 

Well, that shifter you posted is an LCI model + the sport button, which E61's didn't come with from the factory ( well, I'm unsure if they did over in Europe )

IMG_2522.jpg Photo by pootang | Photobucket the left is pre-LCI ( 08 and earlier ) and right is LCI

Nice thing is, these are all digital, so if you can find a used one ( shifter assembly ) it's virtually a plug'n'play.

The concern comes in if someone did coding like mentioned before.

 

Understood.. The problem is that I dont't even know where to buy one in my country, i've looked up a lot of e61's like mine on so called craigslist, but none of them had this shifter. I guess I'll have to look deeper with my mechanic in this. Thanks for help.

 

Your build date should be LCI so the shifter should not have any compatibility issues. Regardless of coding, the shifter is plug n play. Coding/flashing is necessary only to get the sport button working and enable paddle shifters. I installed mine and used it long before flashing and coding.

Does your Sport button work? Do you have paddles in the car? Have you checked wiring within the console to confirm a good connection? Has your mechanic recorded CANBUS communication when he attempts to actuate the shifter?

 

My cars registration date is 10.12.2007. I have steering wheel paddles, which do work. Haven't checked console..