# Steptronic Shifting



## BIMMER4LJ (Aug 4, 2004)

Just got my ride 3 weeks ago. Silver Gray, 04, 330i, ZHP, Steptronic, Black Leather, Silver Cube, Xenons, Moonroof, and HK. I love it! Such an awesome car!!! 

My question was regarding shifting in the manual mode. When I bought the car and asked the salesman about shifting in the manual mode, he said to just "play around with it, you will figure it out". I have been shifting when it seemed like it ts the right time, and everything seems o.k. I was wondering if anyone could give me a more difinitive answer (speed or rpm) regarding this.


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## HW (Dec 24, 2001)

it gets boring after a while. the novelty wears off quickly. just put it in drive.


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## jeffreyslc (May 27, 2002)

BIMMER4LJ said:


> Just got my ride 3 weeks ago. Silver Gray, 04, 330i, ZHP, Steptronic, Black Leather, Silver Cube, Xenons, Moonroof, and HK. I love it! Such an awesome car!!!
> 
> My question was regarding shifting in the manual mode. When I bought the car and asked the salesman about shifting in the manual mode, he said to just "play around with it, you will figure it out". I have been shifting when it seemed like it ts the right time, and everything seems o.k. I was wondering if anyone could give me a more difinitive answer (speed or rpm) regarding this.


I'll try to give some suggestions. Of course, it depends on how you are driving. The first thing you need to learn is dealing with the time lag from when 'you' shift and the car shifts. You need to allow about a half second. The delay seems shorter if driving aggressively.

When driving grandma style, start out in 2nd, up-shift around 2KRPM. Use 5th for 40MPH or higher. On down shifting, you could let it do it on its own, but I usually down shift when she drops below 1500RPM.

Moderate driving start out in first, up-shift in the 3 to 4 KRPMs, down-shift in the 2.5KRPM range.

Aggressive driving, start out in first, then pedal-to-the-metal :thumbup: , let her up-shift on her own or do it around 5.5 to 6KRPM. Down-shift in the 3.5KRPM range. When hitting turns aggressively I like to slow down and get into the gear I want before entering the turn, keep her in that gear until exiting, then down-shift and accelerate out. 

It really boils down to the power-band of the engine. If you are wanting alot of acceleration on hand, try to keep the RPM's in the 4 to 6KRPM range. Grandma style is in the 1 to 2.5 KRPM range. Otherwise, keep her in the 2.5 to 4KRPM range.

Sorry for the long post and hope this helps, and I have a 330xi so the gearing is a little different.

Oh, I almost forgot the most important tip! Say you are in 5th and need, or want to, down shift to 3rd, or the lowest possible gear quickly. If you try and use the shifter, it takes WAY TOO long. Stomp on the pedal to engage the kick-down mode. For some reason, this will down-shift multiple gears quickly. In manual mode you can't just down-shift two gears quickly. You need to wait for it to down shift one, then do the next down shift. At least that is how it is on my 2002 model.


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## atlau (Jul 1, 2004)

HW said:


> it gets boring after a while. the novelty wears off quickly. just put it in drive.


Agree... here in Australia, insurance companies call it "semi-automatic" How can it be semi-auto? It's either Auto transmission or it isn't... When I had my old C180, you can drive it like a manual anyway, just shift down or up...


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## dynosor (Jul 15, 2003)

*Put in Sport mode (4) and leave it there*

I got a manual, but have driven BMWs with autos sport mode and that seems way more responsive.


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## OBS3SSION (Oct 1, 2002)

HW said:


> it gets boring after a while. the novelty wears off quickly. just put it in drive.




I drive my Step in manual mode 99.9% of the time. There's no novelty to it. You either like to be in control of what gear your in or not. I like driving a manual, but I'm not good at it. At my wife's request, I decided to get the Step. Driving in "drive" mode is absolutely awful. I only wish the SMG was available when I ordered my car.


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## atlau (Jul 1, 2004)

Question - does it use more fuel in M mode than D? How about S D mode?

With fuel prices hitting almost A$1.20/L, its... not cheap...


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## asb2002 (May 29, 2002)

atlau said:


> Question - does it use more fuel in M mode than D? How about S D mode?
> 
> With fuel prices hitting almost A$1.20/L, its... not cheap...


That was going to be my question.... my instinct is yes, because when I am doing the manual shifting, I tend to drive more aggresively. Meanwhile, I can only get 18mpg in pure city driving even when I'm trying to conserve as much gas as possible (driving slow and coasting)!


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## andy_thomas (Oct 7, 2002)

atlau said:


> Question - does it use more fuel in M mode than D? How about S D mode?


S D will generally use more gas than D, as the engine revs higher and acceleration is stronger (if it isn't why use S).

In manual mode, you may well be shifting gears at roughly the same time that the gearbox would if left to its own devices, in which case economy would be about the same. I usually use the steptronic function to force a downshift whilst braking before a corner (the autobox is supposed to do this but usually doesn't, unless the car is pointing downhill). I then use it to shift back up. I put it back into D when the corners are over.


> With fuel prices hitting almost A$1.20/L, its... not cheap...


Sure they're cheap. It's over A$2.20/l round here...


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## OBS3SSION (Oct 1, 2002)

I get about 21.5 MPG (US) overall average. And that is with about 90-95% surface street driving. As I said earlier, I use manual mode almost exclusively... and I certainly don't drive like a grandpa.

I'm getting gas for about $1.9X per gallon.


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## Rich_Jenkins (Jul 12, 2003)

Very interesting discussion; I had a 325 step loaner for a service, tried the "manual" mode and just could not figure it out. Glad to hear it works for some! Enjoy!


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## atlau (Jul 1, 2004)

andy_thomas said:


> S D will generally use more gas than D, as the engine revs higher and acceleration is stronger (if it isn't why use S).
> 
> Sure they're cheap. It's over A$2.20/l round here...


Hahahaa... heard it's very hefty to pump in London... I've always wondered why...
For us, our make up is generally 50c excise (Federal govt suppose to put it back into roads, but generally don't) 50c refinery, and about 10c to SHELL or the company about about 10c to the station owner... apprently they generally make more money selling Coke and milk than they do fuel...


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## ironxcross (May 29, 2004)

I can get better mileage in M since I can keep it in 4th or 5th when D would keep it in 3 or 4...but usually I'm driving aggressively in M and my fuel consumption suffers. I don't think it gets boring..I like being in control.


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## patnak1 (Jun 28, 2003)

Be careful not to overrev before shifting during break-in period. The engine wants to be revved but you must be patient!!! :thumbup:


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## Frank Rizzo (Aug 2, 2003)

If you practice you can really shift hard while upshifting. 

Rev to about 6k in first gear whilst under full throttle, shift to 2nd - but back off the throttle while shifting - the trans shifts almost immediately. Reapply full throttle and keep going. It shifts HARD this way....
If the the road is wet, you'll get DSC warning flashing at 40mph!

(I wish I got a manual)


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## bimmer chick (Sep 7, 2004)

jeffreyslc said:


> I'll try to give some suggestions. Of course, it depends on how you are driving. The first thing you need to learn is dealing with the time lag from when 'you' shift and the car shifts. You need to allow about a half second. The delay seems shorter if driving aggressively.
> 
> When driving grandma style, start out in 2nd, up-shift around 2KRPM. Use 5th for 40MPH or higher. On down shifting, you could let it do it on its own, but I usually down shift when she drops below 1500RPM.
> 
> ...


jeffreyslc,

this is great info! I was searching for how to use stepronic mode, and found this to be very useful. I have some quick questions: should you always go back to first gear when stopped at a traffic light? that is, should it always be in first gear when starting out? Also, when turning corners, how much do you reduce your speed by? Sorry if the questions are dumb, but I've never driven a standard (gotta learn) so I lack the knowledge.

thanks.
bimmer chick


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## yamato (Feb 11, 2003)

jeffreyslc said:


> I'll try to give some suggestions. Of course, it depends on how you are driving. The first thing you need to learn is dealing with the time lag from when 'you' shift and the car shifts. You need to allow about a half second. The delay seems shorter if driving aggressively.
> 
> When driving grandma style, start out in 2nd, up-shift around 2KRPM. Use 5th for 40MPH or higher. On down shifting, you could let it do it on its own, but I usually down shift when she drops below 1500RPM.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the tip. One thing that bothers me is during downshifting for slowing down, should I release the gas totally or keep giving it gas until the shift is completed? I don't like the 'jerk' when I downshift, as it seems imply wears in the gearbox.


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## italia550i (Mar 25, 2002)

yamato said:


> Thanks for the tip. One thing that bothers me is during downshifting for slowing down, should I release the gas totally or keep giving it gas until the shift is completed? I don't like the 'jerk' when I downshift, as it seems imply wears in the gearbox.


Here is the perfect tip for you to avoid the "jerk." When you are going into a turn and you want to get into a lower gear, go ahead and shift and then during the lag time before it gets into gear go ahead and blip the throttle. This allows the revs to get up higher so that the shift takes place a lot more smoothly. i use it on the track and in spirited driving with great results. It is similar to heal-toeing in a manual. Give it a try, good times. :thumbup:


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## yamato (Feb 11, 2003)

italia330i said:


> Here is the perfect tip for you to avoid the "jerk." When you are going into a turn and you want to get into a lower gear, go ahead and shift and then during the lag time before it gets into gear go ahead and blip the throttle. This allows the revs to get up higher so that the shift takes place a lot more smoothly. i use it on the track and in spirited driving with great results. It is similar to heal-toeing in a manual. Give it a try, good times. :thumbup:


Thanks. I was thinking about the same thing and tried a few times but unsuccessful. I convinced myself it was beyond humanity to do so. Since you can do this, I got to try again. :thumbup:


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## yujini (Sep 8, 2004)

Sorry a noob to this forum.
I've never driven a 330 ZHP steptronic.
Isn't the steptronic automatic? You can actually drive it in manual mode?
Then why would anyone choose a ZSP with SMG?

Just trying to decide whether to get a 330ci ZHP or 330ci ZSP with SMG.
Seems like u cant get SMG with ZHP.


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