down hill assist on 330i ?

[jfh]

just went down a pretty good hill.
only going 20-25mph (it's a residential street), started picking up speed, as soon as I touched the brake the car downshifted to where the RPMs were around 3500 andthe engine kept slowing the car down. I touched the gas and it kicked
back up a gear with the tach around 2200.
My wife said it's done this before on this hill.

Is this part of the DSC?


thnx
jfh

 

[DrivingTopless]

It's not the DSC, rather the ATC (Adaptive Transmission Control). The owner's manual gives an overview on how it works. You seem to have found it on your own. I find it is more apparent when the gear selector is in the S D mode, but i'm sure it operates in the regular D mode as well.

From owner's manual:

For vehicles with automatic transmission*,
Adaptive Transmission Control
(ATC) makes the optimum gear selection
based on a number of factors. In
this process, it considers your individual
driving style as well as current
driving conditions.
ATC recognizes your personal driving
style from the positions and movements
of the accelerator pedal, deceleration
when braking, and lateral acceleration
through curves. ATC makes the appropriate
selection based on various shift
characteristics, which range from comfort-
to performance-oriented.

In order to include driving conditions in
its calculations, ATC registers curves
and both uphill and downhill gradients.
For example, if you maintain speed
through a curve, the transmission does
not shift up.
On uphill gradients, it shifts up only
when the engine speed increases in
order to make more efficient use of
power reserves. On downhill gradients,
ATC shifts down when the speed of the
vehicle increases and the driver must apply the brakes.

 

[jfh]

Thanks - I didn't get a chance to check out the owners manual yet.
It's a great feature. It really gives you much better control of your speed,
especially on the short or not too steep downhills where you wouldn't shift
it yourself.