X3: xDrive Transmission – Poor Driveability – Always Hunting for Gears

Dear Friends,

I recently purchased a new 2007 X3 3.0, xDrive, 6-speed automatic transmission. I’ve only driven it ~500 miles. I love the car, but, to me, the transmission is very difficult to deal with at low speeds. When accelerating or decelerating, the car is balky, surges, and seems to be ‘hunting’ for the right gear. I have two other BMW’s – a 2002 530i with 5-speed auto trans, and a 2003 M3 with 6-spd manual, so I’m familiar with BMW’s. It’s so bad, that I need to drive in the Sport Shift ‘semi-manual’ mode to enjoy the X3.

Here’s my assessment.
· The X3’s All-Wheel Drive causes some drive-train drag that makes it decelerate faster than a RWD car.
· The X3’s first gear is very low. I could pull a stump with it. It wants to shift out of 1st very quickly, so I’m getting a gear change at maybe 5 mph. In manual mode, I typically start from a stop in 2nd gear, and then get a smoother acceleration.
· With 6 speeds, the computer shifts through the gears quickly, for best gas mileage. Unless the car is under a load (like going up a steep hill) it wants to get to 6th gear by about 30mph. With that slow speed and high gear combination, any acceleration causes the car to down-shift, then up-shift again, so it’s constantly going down and up, down and up… Putting the trans in ‘Sport Shift’ automatic mode helps some, keeping it in lower gears longer.

My questions:
· Is this normal?
· If not, I’ll take to the dealer for a check (but I bet it’s normal)
· Can the dealer re-map the computer controlled transmission, for improvement?

Thanks. I appreciate any feedback.

Doug