[Master Deep]

Hey guys,

I was talking to a friend at work who is studying to be a mechanic, and he told me that downshifting w/ the tip is bad, even though the E90 rev matches everything. He said smoething about the torque converter spinning at different speeds and that its really bad for the tranny to be downshifting while coming to light and using engine braking to slow down versus the brakes.

I have always been downshifting as I come to a light till I get to M2. Then i use the brakes to roll to a stop and then put it in M1. The M3 to M2 downshift always sounds awesome too and is seamless (like 4k rpm). But is my friend right or wrong? I don't want to kill my tranny.

Thanks,

Sunny

[DasBlitz]

Is your friend going to be a BMW mechanic? If not and if he has never used or seen how a BMW step tranny works, not sure if he is reputable.

Secondly downshift as you please. Do you really think BMW would make it so it fucks up? We are talking about the version(auto) that the general public uses. It's fool proof to an extent.

[f30er]

i know its not the same, but a few years ago, i was driving my friend's new passat (i think ~'02-'03) and it was an automatic with the upshift/downshift options. i started using that and after about 15 minutes of driving in the city, it started smelling like something was burning...i popped it back into auto and it went away....since then i've been a little hesitant with using the step modes on any car...

[tl9015]

Just wondering who prefer's BMW's upshift (shifting down) and downshift (shifting up) over the other car's opposte upshirt (shifting up) and downshift (shifting down)

[BMW F22]

Originally Posted by zameergill

i know its not the same, but a few years ago, i was driving my friend's new passat (i think ~'02-'03) and it was an automatic with the upshift/downshift options. i started using that and after about 15 minutes of driving in the city, it started smelling like something was burning...i popped it back into auto and it went away....since then i've been a little hesitant with using the step modes on any car...

this made me

to the OP- Whenever I take the car to highway 9 I upshift and downshift the car ALL THE TIME. No damage to the engine, tranny, or anything. Your friend should be kicked in the nuts for making such a statement.

[SES_D]

Can anyone comment on the correct way to use Steptronic? i.e. shifting? like, when to shift up from M1 to M2 at what RPM and when to downshift?

[LOLrance]

I drive in Manual mode 99.999% of the time. Hell, if anything breaks, thats what my 4 year, 50,000 mile warranty is for.

[BMW F22]

Originally Posted by SES_D

Can anyone comment on the correct way to use Steptronic? i.e. shifting? like, when to shift up from M1 to M2 at what RPM and when to downshift?

Well you should upshift before redline or else the car will do it for you. As for downshifting you should add another few thousand RPM to whatever RPM you're at. The computer wont let you downshift if downshifting will redline the engine. If I have to downshift I usually do it at around 3500 RPM (this should put the engine at about 5500-6000 RPM in the lower gear.

[Whoopsy]

Originally Posted by zameergill

i know its not the same, but a few years ago, i was driving my friend's new passat (i think ~'02-'03) and it was an automatic with the upshift/downshift options. i started using that and after about 15 minutes of driving in the city, it started smelling like something was burning...i popped it back into auto and it went away....since then i've been a little hesitant with using the step modes on any car...

The car you are talking about is a VW!! That's the reason why something like that had happened. Remember VW is a few steps below BMW and in a proper car nothing like that is gonna happened. You can't possibly compare a VW to a BMW.

[nusevad]

Originally Posted by BMWE90

Well you should upshift before redline or else the car will do it for you. As for downshifting you should add another few thousand RPM to whatever RPM you're at. The computer wont let you downshift if downshifting will redline the engine. If I have to downshift I usually do it at around 3500 RPM (this should put the engine at about 5500-6000 RPM in the lower gear.

+1

Depends on your driving situation, normally when i drive using the step. in normal daily driving i would change M1 to M2 close to 3K rpm, just to get a nice little burst of torque. If you feel like spirited driving just floor it before redline and shift, and do the same with each gear.

[chbrules]

Can anyone comment on BMW's SMG transmission? I always wondered if it's different from the Steptronic in terms of it upshifting or downshifting for you automatically. I'm assuming it doesn't and is simply a real clutchless manual?

[LOLrance]

Originally Posted by chbrules

Can anyone comment on BMW's SMG transmission? I always wondered if it's different from the Steptronic in terms of it upshifting or downshifting for you automatically. I'm assuming it doesn't and is simply a real clutchless manual?

Their is a full auto mode on SMG. As far as how the SMG feels and drives, i can only comment on SMG II because i never drove a car with SMG III (m5,m6). I can honestly say i prefer my steptronic over SMG II atleast. With SMG II, the shifts were jerky (yes even in s1 or s2) and i hated the bucking issue when at low speeds in 1st gear. From what i have heard from friends that owned m5 or m6's, SMG III drives very differently from SMG II. Supposedly the shifts are much much smoother.

[calle_enell]

Think about this:

When driving in auto-sport mode, the Steptronic downshifts itself as soon as you step on the gas a bit (same thing in Auto-Normal mode) It also downshifts as you are slowing down providing some engine break.

Manual mode is nothing but an electronic command to shift fed in by the driver, the shifting mechanichs itself is exactly the same as in Automode. So, you can shift the box day and night in Manual mode. If you try to do anything that would hurt the gearbox, the computer will not allow you to (i.e 2 gear in 100mph).

[achien]

Originally Posted by Master Deep

Hey guys,

I was talking to a friend at work who is studying to be a mechanic, and he told me that downshifting w/ the tip is bad, even though the E90 rev matches everything. He said smoething about the torque converter spinning at different speeds and that its really bad for the tranny to be downshifting while coming to light and using engine braking to slow down versus the brakes.

I have always been downshifting as I come to a light till I get to M2. Then i use the brakes to roll to a stop and then put it in M1. The M3 to M2 downshift always sounds awesome too and is seamless (like 4k rpm). But is my friend right or wrong? I don't want to kill my tranny.

Thanks,

Sunny

I have been driving the '03 X5 (Auto) in manual mode and I never had any problem with the transmission.

But I understand your friend's concern. From the old school mechanics, the torque converter takes in a lot of "heat" when downshifting as the variance between engine speed and drivetrain generates heat.

If the dissipation of this "heat" is not performed well, it will damage the torque converter (a.k.a. part of the Auto-tranny).

I believe the technology BMW uses already address this potential problem by having better auto-tranny oil-cooling technology.

[Master Deep]

Ah thanks a lot guys. Makes a lot more sense now. And to the other poster,

I like how BMW set up there shifter where upshift u pull back and downshift u push forward. It fits the motion of the car. During acceleration u get pushed back and during braking u move forward.

I'm a porter at Toyota and everytime i gotta move the manumatic cars down the street to the other lot i always get confused because it is the opposite. Actually I think like every other car company makes it opposite of BMW.

[Alpine]

Originally Posted by Master Deep

Ah thanks a lot guys. Makes a lot more sense now. And to the other poster,

I like how BMW set up there shifter where upshift u pull back and downshift u push forward. It fits the motion of the car. During acceleration u get pushed back and during braking u move forward.

I'm a porter at Toyota and everytime i gotta move the manumatic cars down the street to the other lot i always get confused because it is the opposite. Actually I think like every other car company makes it opposite of BMW.

Call me crazy, but the e46's had it the 'backwards' way, too. at least mine did. As in, to upshift you push forward and to downshift you pull back. But I definitely agree, having it the e90 way is much better. [I also had a Mazda 6 as a rental one time, and it was the e90 way, too]

[sambonator]

Originally Posted by Master Deep

...I like how BMW set up there shifter where upshift u pull back and downshift u push forward. It fits the motion of the car. During acceleration u get pushed back and during braking u move forward.

I'm a porter at Toyota and everytime i gotta move the manumatic cars down the street to the other lot i always get confused because it is the opposite. Actually I think like every other car company makes it opposite of BMW.

I personally like it the other way... push forward to go forward or faster, same as on a plane's throttle. Pull back to slow down, just as you'd pull back on the reigns of a horse, or throttle down.

[!Xoible]

Originally Posted by Master Deep

Hey guys,

I was talking to a friend at work who is studying to be a mechanic, and he told me that downshifting w/ the tip is bad, even though the E90 rev matches everything. He said smoething about the torque converter spinning at different speeds and that its really bad for the tranny to be downshifting while coming to light and using engine braking to slow down versus the brakes.

I have always been downshifting as I come to a light till I get to M2. Then i use the brakes to roll to a stop and then put it in M1. The M3 to M2 downshift always sounds awesome too and is seamless (like 4k rpm). But is my friend right or wrong? I don't want to kill my tranny.

Thanks,

Sunny

Rev matching supposedly matches the speeds of tranny internals as well, so your torque converter should be spinning at the same speed.

I dont know how to explain this in terms of auto.

[calle_enell]

While on this topic.

-Are there any way to go from Manual mode back to Sport-Auto without first going back to normal Drive and then back to Sport?

[jmonier]

Originally Posted by Alpine

Call me crazy, but the e46's had it the 'backwards' way, too. at least mine did. As in, to upshift you push forward and to downshift you pull back. But I definitely agree, having it the e90 way is much better. [I also had a Mazda 6 as a rental one time, and it was the e90 way, too]

My 2002 325 E46 is NOT like that.

[RiXst3r]

Originally Posted by l4wr3nc3

I drive in Manual mode 99.999% of the time. Hell, if anything breaks, thats what my 4 year, 50,000 mile warranty is for.

+1

[dme330i]

Originally Posted by Alpine

Call me crazy, but the e46's had it the 'backwards' way, too. at least mine did. As in, to upshift you push forward and to downshift you pull back. But I definitely agree, having it the e90 way is much better. [I also had a Mazda 6 as a rental one time, and it was the e90 way, too]

My e46 in manual mode shifts up by pulling back and downshifts by pushing forward - just like my e90.

btw - I use Manual mode very frequently - not necessarily to optimize up shifts, but to maintain control of what gear I'm in.