What gear is your X in exiting a slow corner?

[jditom]

Originally Posted by CGSTL

Also, can you look on your service sheet and post the firmware version that was used to reprogram your tranny?

This is what is on my invoice.

Reprogrammed ECS control unit as per SIB 240106
6100009.70

I will drive it around town this weekend and let you know about what gear it is in around corners at 20 mph.

[X5Jay]

Originally Posted by jditom

This is what is on my invoice.

Reprogrammed ECS control unit as per SIB 240106
6100009.70

I will drive it around town this weekend and let you know about what gear it is in around corners at 20 mph.

Thanks for the info & looking forward to your next report!

[withidl]

I've got a 2001 4.4i 5 speed, but the logic is the same whether 5 speed or 6 speed.

Drive - Upshift ASAP when throttle is lifted for fuel efficiency. Also puts fewer revolutions on engine which equates to less wear.

Sport - Upshifts later, downshifts earlier, holds in gear with abrupt throttle lift for running the "twisties" using engine compression braking; consumes more fuel.

Manual - Will start off in selected 1st, 2nd or 3rd gear. On my 5 speed with Dinan software will hold in 5th gear down to about 36 mph, then auto shifts to 4th; in 4th down to about 20 mph, then auto shifts to 3rd which will be held to a stop and restart. Used for manual running of "twisties" or towing.

Bottom line for neighborhood - Use Manual mode 3rd gear, i.e. start off in 3rd gear, as I do in neithborhoods from stop sign to stop sign; less power (shouldn't be racing through a neighborhood anyway) but never shifts AND gives you engine braking to stop signs. This won't hurt the transmission as the torque converter compensates (works like the old Buick "Dynaflow" slush box of years ago).

[X5Jay]

Very interesting withidl - thanks for the insight!

It just seems to me that a simple software change could fix these little annoyances. Does the Dinan tranny software fix these things? (yea, I know they don't have it for the 6 spds yet, but does it help on the 5 spds?) How hard would it be to modify the code to say something like "when you hit 25 upon deceleration, downshift to 3rd!"? The car's got all those sensors & such...

[jditom]

Originally Posted by X5Jay

Very interesting withidl - thanks for the insight!

It just seems to me that a simple software change could fix these little annoyances. Does the Dinan tranny software fix these things? (yea, I know they don't have it for the 6 spds yet, but does it help on the 5 spds?) How hard would it be to modify the code to say something like "when you hit 25 upon deceleration, downshift to 3rd!"? The car's got all those sensors & such...

Dealer called and said the tranny software upgrade went fine but they are working on my blue tooth so I won't get it back until Friday.
Will report in when I do.

[X5Jay]

Originally Posted by jditom

Dealer called and said the tranny software upgrade went fine but they are working on my blue tooth so I won't get it back until Friday.
Will report in when I do.

Thanks - much appreciated!

[Jeremy]

X5Jay - for past few days while driving through my neighborhood I've been trying to pay attention to gear position as I have not previously noticed any symptoms akin to yours. The end result is that my X doesn't seem to run that way. Interestingly though, my 5 series does the same thing as your X. It is something that has long annoyed me.

[LVR]

Thanks for the courtesy X5Jay.

Having spent some time on other forums I have a better understanding of why the transmissions do what they do.

Every time you start from a stop, the throttle depression speed and depth of travel is assessed against the previous start, and the values generated over a period of time (the learning ability), and then the mode required is selected.

XE extreme economy
E economy
S sport (M S)
XS extreme sport (manual 1-6)

The learning ability can be a PIA if you are a conservative driver as you invariably end up in XE most of the time.

As I have heard mentioned a number of times elsewhere, the Vanos is not the quickest to respond anyway and the fact that it needs throttle input before it decides what to do when comparing so many variables means we suffer the 'caught in the wrong gear' problem.

Going around a corner it then takes readings from the DSC and brake pressure and sets these against the established values to again determine what mode is required.

If it senses light acceleration it drops into XE and we are finding it bogging down when IMHO it should hold the chosen gear and mode until the car has reached a cruising speed.

I think XE should not come on until the car has been cruising at a constant speed for a period of time rather than as soon as you come out of a corner.

On the upside, it appears it is all reversible and easily solved. The solution appears to be DRIVE IT LIKE YOU STOLE IT and it learns a whole new way of operating.

One of the E60 owners on the other forum is so into performance of his car that he has been doing numerous timed runs 0-60mph. He has found that the values generated by your driving style (regardless of mode) can affect the performance by up to half a second in the timed run. He discovered this because they are struggling with transmission slam and went in for a software upgrade, causing the car to be slower. Hard driving has seen the car return to its' normal times.

In other words, regardless of the mode the car is in (including manual) the car does everything against the learned values stored over a period of you driving it.

If you punch it out of corners, it will learn to select the mode giving you the best performance for that point...... the catch is ya gotta keep doing it!!!

[CGSTL]

I have battled this issue all the way up to the ZF engineer level. BMW is very protective of their CAFE (gas mileage) figures that they refuse to do any reprogramming on my 05 4.4i tranny. Please see my earlier threads on this topic.

I have had many software upgrades and still nothing. Works as designed and they refuse to fix it. And yes, mine stays in 4th gear around corners until I hit 17MPH - I measured this very specifically with the ZF engineer in my X with me. Mufflers shaking (bogging) and everything.

SO, I called Dinan and they said they would custom program me a new 3rd gear shift point that would kick in at about 22MPH, rather than 17. If in sport mode, 3rd kicks in at about 22 or 23MPH and it feels fine around corners. Down side is once you get to your driveway the SP mode engine braking will jerk all your pasengers into airline crash position.

Dinan said they will finally be done cracking the entire code for the 05 X in Spring, which will enable them to tweak the shift point without killing any other integrated engine management system. I plan to call them back in April to revisit this issue. Estimate cost: $800. This shouldn't have to play out like this....

Any other suggestions too put some leverage against BMW to fix this bogging down / shift point issue?

And yes, I've had my adaptive tranny software switch reset and I drove it like I stole it for about two weeks. No help

Thanks for listening to a re-rant.

Chris

[X5Jay]

Hey, thanks for testing Jeremy - much appreciated! What year & model is your X?