Friends,

In what position should I put Steptronic when stopped at longish traffic lights?

When I had a manual box, I used to shift to neutral, and if need be hold the car with the brake. Now that I have Steptronic, I wonder if staying in D when stopped may somehow damage it. Should I shift to P, and then shift back to D when the light turns green? Staying in D resembles staying in first gear with the clutch depressed, which is a no-no in the world of manual boxes.

The manual seems to be silent on this point. Maybe, it's a non-issue?

 

Pressing break during traffic lights is how autoboxes work. You won't damage it.

 

My penny's worth:

on the former 5 series (E39) this was definitely an issue as keeping your foot on the brake allows for heat differences between the part where the calliper is and the rest. I was told that keeping the calliper to the disc in due time makes the disc 'warp' (sorry for my english, I mean that it's not flat any more) which in turn makes the car vibrate heavily under braking.

I now brake untill well before my predecessor and put it into 'N' without keeping my foot on the brake. At green, tick on the brake while putting it in 'D' and start accellerating. OK for traffic lights but really annoying in traffic jams, as here you constantly brake. Although that's not after very hard braking so the discs should not be too hot.

however: if any idiot hits your car from behind and you are not stopping your car from hitting the car in front of you: you're partially guilty of the accident (the part to the car in front) and this is an insurance issue (in Europe anyway).

also: what about the hand-brake after a long ride. I know the rear brakes are less used and therefore less heated up but don't they have trouble when parking it with the handbrake on in a cold night after an 'intensive' trip?


I'd be interested to learn how fast these discs cool down. As braking when very hot may cause problems, but how long do they stay hot?

 

IMHO, on longer wait put it in 'N' and put the handbrake on.

If you hold it on the footbrake you get the following

1. You dazzle the driver behind with your brake lights - not nice.

2. The torque converter is doing the job of the clutch, disconnecting the drive. You would never hold a car on the clutch for a long period, torque converters can wear as well.

3. It is so easy to get distracted whilst waiting, change a CD or something and accidentally relax the pressure on the brake. The car will then creep forward either into the junction or into the car ahead.

When a pause becomes a wait, use the brake!

 

Thanks to all who have replied, especially KAF. It's been helpful.

 

If this is such problem, I wonder why it's not mentioned in the owner's manual. Also, I think my SA would have mentioned something about it. He's been very upfront on several other items. I leave mine in drive and haven't experienced any problems. I'll report back if I do.

 

Nobody is claiming it's a problem.

Just mechanical sympathy and courtesy to other road users.

If you have a manual shift, the book does not say 'Do not wait at lights with the car in gear and the clutch held down'

But everybody knows that is a quick way to ruin the release bearing.

Torque converters are built of stronger stuff, but can still wear.

It does not warn you not to drive of cliffs in the handbook, but I guess most people work out for themselves that is not a good idea.

 

The only thing I would like to add is that if you can put the auto in N or if you have a manual gearbox and are pressing down the clutch, you can quickly release the brake if you spot in the rear mirror that you are going to be hit from behind.

Depending on the situation this could avoid whiplash injury, but you don't want to be pushed in to an intersection with heavy traffic.