330i Autobox question

[curdman]

Picked up my first ever BMW 330CI MSport 2004 in the week and love it. Iv noticed next to the auto lever the following....

P,R,N,D are there, but it has these indication symbols aswell + - M/S what is this? If there somthing to do with the autobox how is it used?

Thanks in advance from a dumb newbie!

[Blue Oval84]

When in D, if you click the stick over to the left the box enters "Sport" mode, this holds the gears longer for better acceleration.

If, whilst in Sports mode, you push the stick up/down, the box enters tiptronic mode and you get manual selection on the gears (by continuing to push stick up/down accordingly of course!)

Pulling stick back to the right will slot it into standard "D" again.

Edited by Blue Oval84 on Saturday 28th January 19:09

[slippery]

It's also worth knowing that in 'D', the car will pull away in 2nd unless under wide open throttle, while in Sport it uses 1st gear.

[Twin Turbo]

Do ALL the autoboxes have steptronic? I'm currently looking at 330i and 530is and assume they all do (unless it's an SMG box in the case of some 3s)

[curdman]

Thanks for the replies, much appreciated. I take it moving the lever across can only be done when the vehicle is stationary?

[essayer]

curdman said:

Thanks for the replies, much appreciated. I take it moving the lever across can only be done when the vehicle is stationary?

No, anytime

[Luca Brasi]

Twin Turbo said:

Do ALL the autoboxes have steptronic? I'm currently looking at 330i and 530is and assume they all do (unless it's an SMG box in the case of some 3s)

Yep.

[Fox-]

Twin Turbo said:

Do ALL the autoboxes have steptronic? I'm currently looking at 330i and 530is and assume they all do (unless it's an SMG box in the case of some 3s)

They don't all have it, no, but all the 330i and 530i Autos do.

Avoid SMG like you would the plague. It's not the same as the system in the E46 M3 and its absolutely not worth the almost certain bork hassle.

[sparks_E39]

Fox you will probably know, I'm sure I read some early E39's had standard non steptronic auto boxes?

[sparks_E39]

Oh in Sport it won't engage top gear on the motorway.