Behind the gas peddle there's a switch.  If you depress the peddle all the way to the floor the switch is closed and the auto transmission is supposed to "kick-down" a gear or two.  It's very handy for overtaking or anywhere you'd like a quick burst of speed.

On my car, the kick-down doesn't always happen when the switch is closed.  I'd say it'll work about 50% of the time.  Sometimes I go to overtake, floor the peddle and nothing happens.

Was wondering if there's actually a fault there ?  Is this kick-down *always* supposed to happen or is it normal for it to not happen sometimes because the brain decides it's not a suitable time to shift down a gear ?

Just wondering if there's actually something wrong with it.  Bently manual says jack s**t - yet again.

Has anyone experienced this or have the low-down here ?

Thanks.

Kickdown should override everything else-if you're ambling along in a high gear and floor it suddenly, it should at least kick down 1 gear, ususally 2 or 3.

You should have the 5-speed auto on your 1995 520i (P-R-N-D-4-3-2), so kickdown should be dropping you at least 2 gears-sometimes 3. Even in sluggish winter mode my 1995 E34 525i Touring will always kick down.

Are you sure the switch is closing fully? Sometimes it can happen that you when you apply full throttle, the throttle cable has been set in such a way that it opens the throttle plate fully before the kickdown switch has closed fully. If you apply more pressure to the accelerator pedal, because you are already at full throttle you may not be able to push the pedal down far enough to fully close the kickdown switch.

Check your throttle linkage first. Also check by the kickdown switch to make sure there's no carpet obstructing the switch, and check the wiring coming from the switch to makje sure it's not damaged at all.

Hope this helps!

Alex

Well it's usefull to know that it's always supposed to happen anyway.

There are no obstructions to the switch or anything - I can feel the switch "switching" when I depress the pedel full - like an extra "notch" when the pedal is applied after full throttle.

I'm thinking dodgy switch then at this stage.  Must test it and see if it needs replacing.

-if there is a switch under the throttle pedal, there usually isn't a kickdown cable. Not sure on this one, but I agree there should be some kind of kickdown action going on......

Maybe the wires have come off the switch. This is quite common. On Citroens they had the brake light swicth in the same style, and they were always coming adrift....

cheers

Will check out the connections on the switch - if it ever stops raining.

Next time I buy a house it's gonna have to have a garage !

From what I can see there is only one cable attached to the throttle body and that's the accelerator cable.

I don't think this kick down function is mechanical - seems to be purely electronic from what I can see.  When the switch behind the peddle is depressed a signal is sent to the control unit to step down a gear or two.  Further than that I have no idea how it all works - the (useless) Bently manual doesn't even mention the kick down function.

The EH switchable autos, both earlier 4-speed and later 5-speed had a purely electrical switched kickdown-you won't find a kickdown cable on these variants.

The earlier 4-speed autos came in both electronic switchable and non-switchable mechanical versions. You can easily tell which one's which as only the switchable box had the switch for selecting E, S or M (winter or manual) modes, along with the kickdown switch under the accelerator pedal with the wires coming from it.

Only the non-switchable boxes without the 3-mode Economy, Sport and Manual settings will have a kickdown cable running from the throttle body down to the autobox-you only have the 1 operating mode with these boxes.

All 5-speed autos were switchable and, I think, most or all E34's with the 4-speeders were switchable as well.