[MMVI]

BMW can I sincerly ask that you consider a programming change to the Auto box.

I use the paddles a great deal. I engine brake, set the car up for a corner sequence and often just call upon the changes when I want them quicker than the mostly wonderful Auto considers but this drives me crazy.

When you paddle you understandably enter M mode. I feel however that M mode lasts too long and that the change back to D could come a little sooner, but and this is the heart of my request, "when you come to a stop whilst in M the system should revert to D".

I have not been able to establish how long M mode lasts but if for whatever reason you have come to rest and you resume whilst within the countdwon the effects are terrible. Typically moving off in M pushes the engine straight up to high revs (awful in my 520d MS).

I cannot see any practical reason why M mode should remain in play under these conditions if I wanted to hold a gear I would either have put it in sport before I was tinkering or paddle down engaging M once more during my accerleration. If any readers paddle a lot I am sure they know exactly what I mean.

I understand that paddling infers an element of sport mode but this is a little clumsy and either an intermediate M mode setting softening/shortening the delay between the return to D after a paddle and definately a return to D as a result of coming to a stop whilst in M would be welcome.

[MMVI]

Doh... Since writing this I have realised that it does do exactly what I asked for and changes to D when you stop. So yes I should have a bit of egg on my face but this still remains a problem and I will explain why. You have to come to an absolute dead stop for the switch to occur. Even the slightest continuance of roll causes results in the box staying in m. With the effects resulting that even after 2.5 years with the box I can't get used to. So I need to change my request.

Can bmw please change the programming so that it changes back to d perhaps when a combination of situations are in play. The indicator on or been on just previous to the reduction in speed to "very low" or after using engine breaking then creep/roll. Ie some form of intelligence to guess manual is likely no longer needed. I think it would be easier to paddle again after moving of. ( if I needed it) rather than to have the clumsy rev surge after negotiating the hazard or object I just slowed down for.

[Boss330]

Originally Posted by MMVI

Doh... Since writing this I have realised that it does do exactly what I asked for and changes to D when you stop. So yes I should have a bit of egg on my face but this still remains a problem and I will explain why. You have to come to an absolute dead stop for the switch to occur. Even the slightest continuance of roll causes results in the box staying in m. With the effects resulting that even after 2.5 years with the box I can't get used to. So I need to change my request.

Can bmw please change the programming so that it changes back to d perhaps when a combination of situations are in play. The indicator on or been on just previous to the reduction in speed to "very low" or after using engine breaking then creep/roll. Ie some form of intelligence to guess manual is likely no longer needed. I think it would be easier to paddle again after moving of. ( if I needed it) rather than to have the clumsy rev surge after negotiating the hazard or object I just slowed down for.

A programming like you suggest would drive me crazy... It would go out of M mode when I didn't want it to!!!

However when I use M mode I always put it in Sport or Sport+ and pull the gear lever over to M/S. That way I am in control. When I don't want to be in M mode any more I just push the gear lever back to D...

[gspannu]

Originally Posted by Boss330

A programming like you suggest would drive me crazy... It would go out of M mode when I didn't want it to!!!

However when I use M mode I always put it in Sport or Sport+ and pull the gear lever over to M/S. That way I am in control. When I don't want to be in M mode any more I just push the gear lever back to D...

Agree. When I want to use the Manual Mode, I 'want' to use the manual mode - I do not wish the car to use its own intelligence then. And as the OP has said, I just slide the gear lever to M/S whenever I want to override the car's controls.

I absolutely agree that it would drive me nuts if the car decided to shift to D (from M/S) automatically; the whole essence of having a manual mode is somewhat lost then.

As for the previous post about the car revving to higher rpm when starting (from a stop position), I guess you need to be quicker with your shifts - is that not why you switched to manual mode anyway - to be able to shift yourself.

[HighlandPete]

I agree with the comments that if the gear change strategy was any more complex, (or compromised) it would be hard to know exactly where you are in manual/paddle mode.

Originally Posted by MMVI

When you paddle you understandably enter M mode. I feel however that M mode lasts too long and that the change back to D could come a little sooner, but and this is the heart of my request, "when you come to a stop whilst in M the system should revert to D".

I have not been able to establish how long M mode lasts but if for whatever reason you have come to rest and you resume whilst within the countdwon the effects are terrible. Typically moving off in M pushes the engine straight up to high revs (awful in my 520d MS).

...

I understand that paddling infers an element of sport mode but this is a little clumsy and either an intermediate M mode setting softening/shortening the delay between the return to D after a paddle and definately a return to D as a result of coming to a stop whilst in M would be welcome.

Clearly (from experience) there is no fixed time for staying in manual, when using the paddles in full auto (Drive) mode, before it returns to full auto again. I've found it depends on how you are driving, the more aggressive you drive the longer it holds, clearly other parameters such as 'cornering', and 'gearhold' influence the timing of the return to auto mode.

Seen this on many occasions over the same drive, trying different styles, the return mode varies due to driver inputs, speed of cornering and deceleration rates.

I have one village where if I paddle down change at speed (an aggressive approach) it will stay in the manual mode until I reach my junction, and just as the OP says, moves off from a rolling start, still in the manual mode. Approach the village in a relaxed mode and paddle down change, before I've approached my junction it has reverted back to auto.

I see nothing wrong at all with how it works, we as drivers are the ones instigating the control strategy by our inputs. It is detecting (to a degree) our intent, will support our manual intervention much longer if we are giving contrary signals to what it would work with in full auto mode.

Personally I think BMW have got it pretty much in the right place. Copes well with the occasional manual intervention in full auto mode, and also supports our intentions for more aggressive intervention and control.

HighlandPete

[SonicEndeavor]

+1. The length of time the transmission stays in M mode depends on what you're doing. If you downshift and don't touch the accelerator it will go back to D fairly quickly, but if you accelerate, the transmission will stay in M. I actually like the way it's programmed. If I want more control, I move the shifter to the left.

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by SonicEndeavor

I actually like the way it's programmed. If I want more control, I move the shifter to the left.

Same here, we can use the shifter for more control.

The other thing to note, we can break the temporary paddle M-mode intervention, by flicking the shifter to M/S and back to D. I've tried that in my village example (in the previous post), back to D before my junction.

The other approach is to make the forced down changes with the shifter in M/S mode, (or a mix of paddles and shifter) and then flick back to D ready for the junction.

Plenty of options, if we move from fully automatic.

HighlandPete

[MMVI]

All good points but have none of you experienced the spin to the red line when moving off after you have come to a near rest, which in a diesel is terrible.

I use the paddles all the time, and I will sometimes use them for engine braking when for example approaching a junction but if you don't dead stop and then make the turn and are still within the M mode countdown I often find that the engine spins up to noisy high revs.

I entirely get that when in M you know this and it is because what has been asked for but.. if you have just come to a halt and for example turned or resumed and you were in D it is very unlikely that you would wish to be bothered paddling up from rest hence my thinking. Also if it was back in D and I wished to resume M I would just paddle once more and be back in that mode or of course keep your foot in in which the system should hold for longer which may suffice.

I find the unplanned spin up frustrating and sometimes embarrassing. I passed a cyclist the other day, I happened to be in M due to paddle use and very nearly but not quite (we are talking yards per hour here) stopped, but as I passed him my engine maxed out and I am sure that he thought I was an impatient arse revving my engine in frustration for him causing me a delay which was not true.

I have noticed that when negotiating a junction you will often not come to a complete dead stop and hence switch back and I genuinely believe that at these speeds a switch back is more appropriate than not.

interesting to see everyone's thoughts though.

[SonicEndeavor]

Yeah, the programming assumes that if you're engine braking heading into a corner that you're doing it in order to be in an optimal gear to rocket out of the corner. You just need to be ready to upshift quickly coming out of the corner if you want to keep the revs down. I agree, it can be a bit disconcerting if you think the transmission has switched back to D.
Other manufacturers program the paddles so if you pull on the paddle and hold it for 3 seconds it cancels M mode, which is a nice feature.

[Boss330]

Originally Posted by MMVI

All good points but have none of you experienced the spin to the red line when moving off after you have come to a near rest, which in a diesel is terrible.

I use the paddles all the time, and I will sometimes use them for engine braking when for example approaching a junction but if you don't dead stop and then make the turn and are still within the M mode countdown I often find that the engine spins up to noisy high revs.

I entirely get that when in M you know this and it is because what has been asked for but.. if you have just come to a halt and for example turned or resumed and you were in D it is very unlikely that you would wish to be bothered paddling up from rest hence my thinking. Also if it was back in D and I wished to resume M I would just paddle once more and be back in that mode or of course keep your foot in in which the system should hold for longer which may suffice.

I find the unplanned spin up frustrating and sometimes embarrassing. I passed a cyclist the other day, I happened to be in M due to paddle use and very nearly but not quite (we are talking yards per hour here) stopped, but as I passed him my engine maxed out and I am sure that he thought I was an impatient arse revving my engine in frustration for him causing me a delay which was not true.

I have noticed that when negotiating a junction you will often not come to a complete dead stop and hence switch back and I genuinely believe that at these speeds a switch back is more appropriate than not.

interesting to see everyone's thoughts though.

I still think that the feature you request would be more annoying than how it is today.

As was posted above, if you downshift manually (while in D mode) that usually implies that you are downshifting for corner and want to be in manual mode and keeping that gear as you accelerate out of the corner again. You, the driver of the car, have decided that you want to use the manual shifting mode for a reason. It is then also reasonable to say that the same driver also should be able to follow that up by either manually shifting up or know that the same gear will be held for a while (it is programmed so that it stays in the chosen gear as long as you are engine braking and when you start using the accelerator again it switches back to D after a while).

With my driving style, this is never a problem. I either use Sport and manual/M-S mode or I keep it in D and normal mode. While in D and normal mode I tend to very seldom use the manual downshift function, as I don't really see any point in doing that in city traffic...

But that's me...

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by MMVI

All good points but have none of you experienced the spin to the red line when moving off after you have come to a near rest, which in a diesel is terrible.

...

I have noticed that when negotiating a junction you will often not come to a complete dead stop and hence switch back and I genuinely believe that at these speeds a switch back is more appropriate than not.

interesting to see everyone's thoughts though.

No issue spinning up a 535i, (best bit ), but see what you mean with a 4-pot diesel.

I gave my car particular attention today, to what I'd illustrated with down changing as I approach a village. It's definitely the style of approach which I'm sure is interpreted as you are "part way" though a manoeuvre, so holds the manual function. As I see it, we need to override the function if we don't want the follow through, before it reverts to D. The gearbox needs a further command.

As I've said, so easy to break the manual mode with a flick of the stick to M/S and back, no gear change is made, but reverts to D ready for the junction.

HighlandPete

[MMVI]

I use that stick left right trick too. I wish I had that engine