[daixloxbmw]

i have a 335i with steptronic. i drive 99% in manual mode except in the rare occasions when i am eating or on my phone.

so anyway, has anyone experienced accidentally double downshifting from 3rd -1st?

heres the scenario, i am cruising in 3rd and i have to slow down to ~20 mph. so naturally i downshift to 2nd. however, occasionally the transmission will automatically downshift to 2nd after it reaches a predetermined rpm, probably around 1k. so when i manually downshift during this time, the transmission is already automatically downshifting to 2nd, so now my manual downshift is accidentally going into 1st.

so now my car rev matches to a high rpm and lurches suddenly. which is embarrassing and it can be misinterpreted as being cocky because it kinda looks like im trying to rev my engine.

has anyone else experienced this?

i know some of you will just say downshift from 3rd to 2nd earlier but it just seems like the predetermined threshold for an automatic downshift between 3rd and 2nd is set at i higher rpm than other gears.

btw, i have owned a '00 323i and '01 330i for 8 years before my 335i and all of them are steptronics and used in manual mode 99% of the time. i have never had any problem with the transmission stepping in to override my shifting.

surely this is happening to other steptronic drivers...

[samps]

It has happened to me. I just make sure to downshift before the car does for me. Either that, or just use brakes in 3rd if you're not sure if the car will shift down to 2nd for you.

I had a bigger problem with getting used to the backwards shifting compared to my E39. Forward was shift up for me in that car!

[daixloxbmw]

yeah i had to break that habit too since i was used to that on my previous e46's.

when i decelerate slowly, it doesnt happen often since i can usually manually downshift before the transmission does it automatically. however, if i am cruising in 3rd on a traffic jammed highway, then the car in front of me suddenly slams on the brakes hard, then the double downshifting occurs. even if i downshift at exactly the same time as hitting the brake pedal.

this probably happens about 2-3 times per day on my daily grind to and from work on I93.

[e90AW335i]

I have done it before as well. The easiest thing to do is to let the car downshift when you are just slowing down, there is no need to do it manually. The only time I downshift is when I am about to go on the throttle but not WOT. I do this since I am not going to press far enough for the kick down, but want to be in the upper rpm range.

[Joonsup]

if you forget to downshift just let it do it on its own and at the stop switch the gears back to D1. It'll prevent that lurch you get when you're going from 2 to 1

[daixloxbmw]

but thats the thing, i didnt FORGET to downshift.

i know to downshift, but sometimes the over-intrusive AI in the transmission beats me to it and downshifts to 2nd before i do it. this causes me to unknowingly downshift from 2nd to 1st when it was my intention to downshift from 3rd to 2nd.

[Joonsup]

Originally Posted by daixloxbmw

but thats the thing, i didnt FORGET to downshift.

i know to downshift, but sometimes the over-intrusive AI in the transmission beats me to it and downshifts to 2nd before i do it. this causes me to unknowingly downshift from 2nd to 1st when it was my intention to downshift from 3rd to 2nd.

ahh icic. i dunno when the optimal time to downshift is when slowing down but i usually downshift when the rpms go down to around 2k and for me at that rpm the computer has not downshifted for me. When have you been downshifting?

[e90AW335i]

Originally Posted by daixloxbmw

but thats the thing, i didnt FORGET to downshift.

i know to downshift, but sometimes the over-intrusive AI in the transmission beats me to it and downshifts to 2nd before i do it. this causes me to unknowingly downshift from 2nd to 1st when it was my intention to downshift from 3rd to 2nd.

You dont NEED to downshift when just stopping. The car will always do this by itself.

Why get an AT if you are always going to shift.....

[daixloxbmw]

i am NOT stopping. i was merely slowing down from ~30 mph to ~20 mph which only requires 1 downshift from 3rd to 2nd, which is my intention.

but the intrusive transmission is causing me to double downshift from 3rd to 1st which is not my intention. theres no reason to be downshifting to 1st at ~20 mph unless you are planning to haul some @ss... which i am not trying to do in a traffic jam.

[getInline]

Originally Posted by daixloxbmw

i am NOT stopping. i was merely slowing down from ~30 mph to ~20 mph which only requires 1 downshift from 3rd to 2nd, which is my intention.

but the intrusive transmission is causing me to double downshift from 3rd to 1st which is not my intention. theres no reason to be downshifting to 1st at ~20 mph unless you are planning to haul some @ss... which i am not trying to do in a traffic jam.

Then don't let the revs drop below ~1100, because this is when the car will shift for you.

[daixloxbmw]

in normal driving, i never let it drop to 1k rpms.

however, in sudden panic situations, sometimes even manually downshifting and stabbing the brake pedal simultaneously at 1.5k rpms will trigger a double downshift. it almost seems like the transmission will downshift again while i have already manually downshifted.

my theory is that manually downshifting at 1.5k rpm and braking hard will trigger the first downshift, but during the milliseconds it takes for the transmission to actually downshift will result in the rpms dropping below the ~1k rpm threshold which triggers the second downshift.

i am positive that i have manually downshifted above ~1.5k rpm during hard braking and induced the double downshifting. under normal cruising/rolling off the gas pedal, the tach will drop a tad below 1k rpm before any induced downshifting occurs.

again, i have driven a steptronic e46 for the past 8 years and never had an issue with this. i suspect the closely geared 6-speed steptronic has a much higher rpm threshold compared to the old 5-speed unit and therefore much more sensitive to rpm ranges.

[Driver72]

Originally Posted by daixloxbmw

but thats the thing, i didnt FORGET to downshift.

i know to downshift, but sometimes the over-intrusive AI in the transmission beats me to it and downshifts to 2nd before i do it. this causes me to unknowingly downshift from 2nd to 1st when it was my intention to downshift from 3rd to 2nd.

If you are in 3rd and let the car slow down to a point where it's about ready to bog down and the ECU shifts it down to 2nd for you.... YOU forgot to downshift.

As other's have said, let the computer downshift it for you, or if you insist on downshifting each gear yourself, do it at the appropriate rpm/speed/time.

As others have said, when slowing to a speed where I'm about to stop, I let the computer just downshift it into 2nd for me.
I then almost always just take off from 2nd (even when I come to a stop) and all is good. If I need or want M1, I just click it to that gear before I start to accelerate out. But to be honest, in 70% o my driving I'm in D mode anyway to save a bit of gas.
And when I am in DS I let the computer shift if 70% of the time.
I only use the paddles (or occasionally the gear knob) to shift when I want a particular gear, or am driving in the canyons or so forth.

Why ALWAYS use the paddles for just normal everyday driving???

[JL330i_UT]

why did u get an auto if your always gonna drive it in manual?
perhaps get a stick next time...

[daixloxbmw]

if i downshift at 1.5k rpm... how is that considered forgetting and how is that bogging down the engine?

so if 1.5k rpm is too low, what do you suggest i downshift at then?

i chose steptronic because i like to control the gear i am in all the time, i just dont like to use the clutch to do so. as i mentioned, i drive in 2 hours of stop and go traffic on I93 everyday.

[daixloxbmw]

so the problem is that i did NOT forget to downshift but the car thinks perhaps i did forget and downshifted for me which causes the double downshift.

this would not happen if the car did not have a high threshold to trigger this.

[darkphantom]

Originally Posted by JL328i

why did u get an auto if your always gonna drive it in manual?
perhaps get a stick next time...

it's fun and no fiddling with the gears if you're in stop-n-go traffic which I must admit it fun at times too....but such a gas guzzler...haha

[benyl]

A better question is why the car never automatically downshifts to D1. Why is that always a manual shift when stopped?

[Driver72]

Originally Posted by benyl

A better question is why the car never automatically downshifts to D1. Why is that always a manual shift when stopped?

Probably a gas saving measure.
But to be honest, starting off in M2 is effortless with this car and this gear box.
Keep in mind, if you have a manual, your final drive ratio is taller so starting off in 2nd for the manual is a bit more bog prone.
Even in M2 under 1/3 throttle, you will accelerate away from a light as fast as or faster than your average car on the street.
M1 is so aggressive, that even 1/4 throttle has you taking off a bit quicker than you may want.

What's more annoying to me is if you are in DS mode the transmission will not shift into 6th gear by itself, even when on the freeway.
Once you hit say 70 mph in DS mode, it should upshift to 6th to save gas.
Otherwise, you need to manually do that, but then you are in manual mode full time, or flip the gear shift lever over to D mode.

Still not a big deal, but no reason not to have 6th gear upshifts in DS mode.
They can just have the more aggressive shift pattern for DS mode, but still use 6th at freeway speeds.

[purplewidow]

from second to first happens at 27-30mph.. just pay attention.. it's not too hard.. i engine brake in 1st all the time... i am not doing it to annoy people. i too drive 99/5 in manual mode and in 14k miles i have never accidentally shifted into first!!! NEVER!!!!!!!!