Can someone explain to me how these work? 99% of all the e39 540's I look at have these boxes, Manual one are like rocking horse sh*t! Is there a drastic difference in performance? How do you change gear with no clutch pedal in manual mode & at which point does the auto side of it take over? My old mans got an Auto E36 & kick down is delayed even in sport mode, would a steptronic box eliminate this delay?

TIA

Dean

Iv'e got the steptronic too in a 98' 523, it's weird being able to use it like a manual, but I'm still very wary of Bm auto box's in general.

But what I tend to do is if going up hill (even slightly) if in auto it'll change down but then I put into "manual" and it goes back up into 4th. Mainly because I know if it was a proper manual it would go up the hill no problem, that's my only real gripe auto's in general.

So I guess because of their weight compared to a manual box and this changing down even on the slightest of hill's (imo) you use more fuel. But driving a auto in traffic.....you can't beat it lazyness...

i think you either love them or hate them

i've tried ordinary ones, ones with the paddles and i've tried the alpina switchtronic - to me they all feel like a cross between fairground bumper cars and a games console

Hope this isn't a daft question but how would I tell if a cars got a step/tiptronic box? Most of ones I see are advertised as auto's with only a few saying step/tiptronic transmission specifically. From what I can make out from online pics most cars have P N R D & thats it? My old mans E36 has got 123DNRP, Does that mean they are step/tip boxes or just standard Auto's? One last one, Do all E39's have foldiong rear seats? Seen one advertised with it & its gotta be a must as we've had many an awkward drive home from DIY/Garden centres etc in our current E36 due to lack of folding seats.

Thanks,

Dean.

Stone-IslandV8 wrote: I've got to admit I miss a proper manual box.

Me too, but most driving is fine with the auto. Accross the back roads I would love to have a manual. No such thing as a Auto Rally car now is there

Mick

All the E39s are steptronic autos.  Sellers will advertise them as either auto or steptronic but as far as E39s go, they are the same thing.

If I feel I can be bothered I will drive mine in manual but 99% of the time it is in D.  The only thing I don't like about mine is the +/- are the wrong way round.  Change up + is towards the dash but later models this is t'other way round, change up + is pull the stick towards the handbrake.  Being in manual mode you can't manually shift it into top gear which is 5th + torque converter lock up.  The box still does this manually. 

If you do buy an auto, take it to an Automatic Transmission Specialist for a service.

Don't believe the BMW hype of 'sealed for life' oil.

Get it serviced for a cost of £120-150 inc VAT and you will save yourself the potential big bill of when it all goes pear shaped!

Andrew

Andrew Rolland wrote:  Being in manual mode you can't manually shift it into top gear which is 5th + torque converter lock up.  The box still does this manually.

I can and do in mine, although I need to be around the 40 mark to get to 5th but the min it drop's to about 35ish it's back to 4th again..

Andrew Rolland wrote: All the E39s are steptronic autos.  Sellers will advertise them as either auto or steptronic but as far as E39s go, they are the same thing.

So they do exist but are rare,i think there is a picture of one in my James Taylor book of the five series,i will have to check.I think the car i see also had foreign plates but i can't confirm that.

Maybe they were only available on the continent?

What I meant was that you can change from 1st to 2nd, 2nd to 3rd, 3rd to 4th and then 4th to 5th by moving the stick.  You can then see the numbers 1 to 5 (S) appear in your display but you are not in top gear. 

All of these speeds have a degree of torque converter slip.  There is however one more road speed which is 5th gear and torque converter lock up which eliminates torque converter slip giving a direct drive from the crankshaft to the 5th gear gear set.  This is like having a 6th gear as you can count and feel the 5 gear changes between all the speeds.

You cannot manually make the car go into 5th gear with torque converter lock up.  Once you are in 5th gear, the only way to get the car to go into 5th gear with torque converter lock up is either to go faster and it up shifts itself or move the stick back over into D and you will then feel the change up.

T'is all oily good fun

Andrew

Yup you are quite correct Jamie, I forgot about the poverty spec 520i auto. They are standard autos.  Haynes manual talks about them.  I'm pretty sure it is only the 520i, the bigger engines had the better steptronic auto.  Or did the steptronic come in after a year after the introduction of the E39???? As in only the really old N and P reg ones.....Hmmmm I cannie remember!

Andrew

Andrew Rolland wrote: Yup you are quite correct Jamie, I forgot about the poverty spec 520i auto. They are standard autos.  Haynes manual talks about them.  I'm pretty sure it is only the 520i, the bigger engines had the better steptronic auto.  Or did the steptronic come in after a year after the introduction of the E39???? As in only the really old N and P reg ones.....Hmmmm I cannie remember! Andrew

I am also pretty sure it is the poverty spec 520i's that had the std auto,it looks funny without the steptronic!!!

Andrew Rolland wrote: The only thing I don't like about mine is the +/- are the wrong way round.  Change up + is towards the dash but later models this is t'other way round, change up + is pull the stick towards the handbrake.  Andrew

Andrew, Its quite easy to change the way round the +/- are. PM me if you want details as I have a doc somewhere on it. I keep meaning to do mine but never got around to it.

Cheers Dave

But I am quite happy with the 'wrong way round' of the older shifts, I have seen the posts on here on how to swap it about.

I test drove a 530d with the shift the other way round from mine and the salesman commented on how well I was able to shift the gears manually.  He says all the punters don't bother with the manual shifting on test drives but I wanted to give it some beans and it was on a twisty country road  

Andrew