Steptronic...

Z

Zeratul

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I dont get it. Everyone is saying how u can be a total idiot and still be able to drive in manual(steptronic). When i first found this feature on my 325i. i was going all over the world in manual( i didnt upshit or downshit or anyshift, i let the car do it for me) the car was constantly reving very very high (above 5 or even 6) after a few days of this my car suddenly came to a halt(COMPLETELY) now if im mistake this is a very dangerous thing. (the thing was i was only going 20 or 30 MPH when the car halted) after those 2 exact experiences i noticed i should stop using manual cause im fuc*ing up the engine.

I then learned the proper way of driving the car in manual (wait till it revs around 2.5 or 3 and upshit, and wait till it revs below 1 1/2 or 1 and downshift). Imagine i was on the highway driving it like that while doing 60 or 70 and the car came to a complete halt. I dont know i think you cannot torture the car by "Casually" driving it in manual, you might as well just leave it in auto and drive it normally.

Cause this be a defect on my car? i really doubt it tho. Thank you.
 
MyHarley

MyHarley

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I"m a little confused too.........those of us that have steptronic........we do upshift/downshift while in manual.............while in sport, we let the computer do the shifting..........[???1]
 
Z

Zeratul

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....

Ye i figured your supposed to do the shifting yourself, i see posts saying the car can do it for you but i really dont think its a good idea since it revs too high too fast. BTW what do you mean by Sport? what exactly is sport you mean that button, i dont think i have the sport button.
 
F

Felicia68

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So, I'm guessing you don't know how to drive a manual? It's the same concept in terms of learning the feel of when you should shift minus the actual clutch. You're lucky you didn't screw up your engine or transmission at all. Just keep practicing and you'll get it down. It doesn't sound like anything is wrong with your car. I'm no expert but I can only assume that the car stalled due to torque curves but I'm no mechanic!
 
lpquick

lpquick

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I agree with you Felicia68, What I think we all mean by foolproof is, even in manual mode the car will not let you over rpm in any gear. I don't think driving in manual mode without shifting is such a good idea. Thanks for trying it out and letting us in on how things worked out!
 
J

JC7727

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Whats so hard with steptronic, yes the whole point is that you control when the engine shifts. As far as how high I shift, depends on how fast you want to go. Normaly I shift at 3,000 - 3,500. i shift the highest in 1st gear. You can downshift, it dosne't cause damage to your engine, it is designed for it. I downshift at 2,500, but it depends how fast I need to stop.

Jimmy
 
Z

Zeratul

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O!...I See... So When that "S" Appears that means the car can automatically use the car in a manual way... i think? Cause i have a 2001 325i and i noticed when i go to m/s it goes to "S" then i downshit or upshit and it goes to a gear in "M". So tell me what exactly is sport and how do you use it.
Thanks.
 
J

JC7727

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For my car, to enable Sport Mode , u move the shifter to the left in D. THe disaplay reads "s". Now you are in sport mode, the only difference is it shifts at higher rpms. The redline also increases in sport mode to 6,500. Basically the engine shifts higher, and wastes more gas. It meant for aggressive driving.
 
mscoins

mscoins

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Zeratul said:
O!...I See... So When that "S" Appears that means the car can automatically use the car in a manual way... i think? Cause i have a 2001 325i and i noticed when i go to m/s it goes to "S" then i downshit or upshit and it goes to a gear in "M". So tell me what exactly is sport and how do you use it.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
D = transmission shifts automatically at "normal" rpms
S = transmission shifts automatically at "higher" or "sportier" rpms
M = allows you to manually shift gears
 
A

archang3l378

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The steptronic on the car will also automatically shift when it goes midway inside the redline. I think that's a safety measurement built in to the engine management system. My car do that when I went to race my friend's 2003 330xi. I have a 2000 328i. But as far as placing the car on manual and not shifting at all, that's really bad for the car since it'll redline on every gear on the way up. The car does downshift for you when you slow down and when you're stopped.
 
codex57

codex57

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#12
mscoins said:
D = transmission shifts automatically at "normal" rpms
S = transmission shifts automatically at "higher" or "sportier" rpms
M = allows you to manually shift gears
Click to expand...
Yup. In my car, the display looks like this:

D = just has a "D" Car upshifts around the 2800 rpm mark. I don't do a thing.
S = display shows "S D" Car upshifts around the 3500 rpm mark. I don't do a thing.
M = display starts off "S D" but once I move the shift knob, it changes to "M X" The X being whatever gear I'm now in. On my 2003, if I move the shifter up, it upshifts so if I'm in "M 3", it'll turn into "M 4".
 
shawnmattar

shawnmattar

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#15
You are right in saying that the manual is idiot-proof. Unlike a true manual, the system decides if you're going to 'hurt' the engine by being in the wrong gear and shifts to compensate. You can test this by shifting to 5 and then coming to a completely stop - the system will downshift to 1st.

Maybe you lucked out and got the M3 version....
 
B

BMV23

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nono...he doesn't have SMG. Here's the thing, the car won't let you beat against the redline if youre in manual mode unlike regular MT cars. It basically will shift it up for you so you don't damage the car in that way. AND it won't let you mis shift by dropping it into too low of a gear where your RPM's will go past redline either. Lets say youre giong 80 mph, it's not gonna let you got into 2nd gear cuz the rpms are way too high for your engine, whereas theoretically you could make that mistake with a regular MT. Now wat youre doing by shifting it to manual and just not shifting at all is abusing the system. The reason is because youre keeping your car at high revs ALLLL the time. I can imagine you driving and your revs are maybe at 5000, yet you don't need any more speed so you cruise at that speed....but since youre in manual mode it dones't upshift by itself because youre not at the "dangerous redline" yet. However, youire keeping your car at constant high rpms which is STILL bad for your engine. You don't want to be constantly putting your engine under such stress, which could expain your problems. If you wanna drive sporty and don't want to shift go to "S" or sports mode. What this does is create a sporty feel by trying to hold the rpm's high when the car thinks you need it. But if youre not keeping your foot on the throttle for awhile, it will still upshift the gears so that youre not constantly riding at high rpms. What this mode does is take away the restrictions on the throttle that normal drive mode has. Drive mode adapts to youre driving style so that if youre a reserved driver, it will upshift at low rpm's so youre drive is more smooth. When you go into sports mode, it disables that feature so youre car is more raw and sporty and keeps the higher revs. Hopes this helps out. Please stop driving it in manual without shifting for your car's sake. The idiot proof system was not meant for that at all.
 
U

undien717

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#17
What BMV23 said is completely correct. In an automatic transmission, there are 3 modes you can set the car to.

D- This is Drive Mode. It is engaged by pressing on the button on the lever and bringing the lever all the way down. A "D" will appear in your gauge cluster to tell you that your car is in Drive Mode. This mode will change the car’s shift points depending on the way you drive. If you drive hard all the time, the car will adapt and start shifting at a higher rev. If you drive steadily and calmly, the car will adapt and shift at a lower rev.

S- This is Sport Mode. To engage this, simply pull the lever one notch to the left while in Drive Mode. An "S" will appear on your gauge cluster, telling you that your car is in Sport Mode. In this mode, your car will always shift at a higher rev for a sportier feel. When you're at a high rev (around 5k RPM) and you let go of the throttle, the car will hold that gear for a short time instead of shifting.

M- This is Manual Mode. It is engaged by pushing the gear lever up or down while in Sport Mode. An "M" will be displayed on your gauge cluster to tell you that you're in Manual Mode. The gear that you’re in is displayed next to the “M”. You push the gear lever up to shift up and you pull down on it to downshift. Although your transmission will shift for you when you have held the gear near redline, it is not safe to wait for your transmission to do this. This is merely a safety precaution and shouldn't be used as a method of shifting. Continuing to do this will only damage your transmission. Your transmission will also not allow you to shift down to a gear that will harm the transmission. As BMV23 has stated, if you're traveling at 80 mph and you try downshifting to 2nd gear, the car will not let you do this because if your car were to do this, it would be revving well beyond its redline. Instead, the car will probably shift to 3rd gear.
 
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