When you drive, the driving style is 'learned' by the software and each time you move off from stop, it applies this knowledge against set values.

Measurements particularly crucial are the throttle pressure and speed of depression from stop. For economy reasons, start off is usually in 2nd gear as otherwise stop/start traffic would be horrendous.

If, on the other hand the trans detects greater pressure/speed of throttle depression, it selects a different set of values (gear shift points) and selects a more aggressive mode, meaning it will select 1st gear.

The four main modes are Extreme economy, Economy, Sport and Extreme Sport. Sport is selectable manually by moving the trans lever into S and XS is when you use the manual trans. There is also a Hill climb/descent mode and towing settings.

The problem seems to be in the fact that there is so many values and decisions that the computer must measure/compare that the time taken (typically 0.75 of a second) impacts on the drivers' sense of motion/driveability as a jerk/slam/delay as you are still pressing the accelerator whilst it is thinking.

Check for a software update as they have been refining these responses, but the reality is that it is all down to your driving style. Drive conservatively and you will eventually end up driving around in top gears all the time. It is a deliberate (and regrettable) feature of BMW economy requirements for their marketing.

As an aside, my wife has a very heavy driving style from the lights. She just plants the foot and goes, whereas I tend to be more conservative. Consequently when I jump into her 3.0, it fairly leaps off the line all the time.......

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