X5 3.0 Steptronic Question

[hopz]

I love the Steptronic! I live in the mountains of Utah, near Park City. As I leave the house I have a long, 1.5 mile or so downhill drive to get to a main road. I like to leave the tranny in 2nd all the way down to save brakes.

the first question is... does this have any deleterious effects? Engine is usually cold at this point.

What about shifting into Steptronic mode while driving- does one need to let off on the gas, or just shift the sucker? What about downshifting to help slow down on long mountain stretches.

Is there a trade-off between brake wear and transmission wear that needs to be considered ?

[twm67]

It's a lot cheaper to replace pads and rotors than it is to replace auto tranny clutch packs. Ask me how I know!!!

[Thunder22]

Originally Posted by twm67

It's a lot cheaper to replace pads and rotors than it is to replace auto tranny clutch packs. Ask me how I know!!!

exactly, wearing out your motor/tranny to save $200 in pads/rotors isn't such a good idea.

[vinuneuro]

Your tranny fluid will boil if you do it long enough. 2nd gear would prolly keep the rpms pretty high, and you wanna do this on a cold engine?

[cimbro]

I HEAR THAT IF YOU USE EVERYTIME THE GEAR WITH THE MANUAL FUNCTION (STEPTRONIC) YOU WEAR AND TEAR THE GEAR, SO SOMEONE SUGGEST ME TO USE IT IN DRIVE AND NOT CONTINUOUSLY CHANGING BY HAND. IS IT TRUE?
DOES HAVE THE STEPTRONIC WEAR AND TEAR IN THE TIME?
DOES HAVE IT SOME PROBLEMS AFTER THE 100.000Km?
THANK YOU TO EVERYONE

[4.6is Ryder]

Steptronic was engineered for shift on the fly. That won't be a problem. But riding second gear will be. Does your X have hill descent control? That's a much better alternative than second gear...........Phil

[pepatrick]

Yes...I love the argument to down shift because it saves the brakes. I would much rather replace the brake pads than the transmission any day of the year.

Philip

[JCL]

It's a matter of degree, IMO.

I would only worry about the clutch packs when shifting into a lower gear (particularly if the revs were not well matched, for example). I wouldn't worry about the clutch packs wearing once the lower gear is fully engaged. I would worry more about additional engine wear, but let's keep it in perspective.

I drive down a steep 3.5 km (approx 2 mile) hill every morning. The engine is close to being stone cold at that point, I have driven 2 km. I use 3rd gear, every day, to save having to ride the brakes all the way down the hill, and I have no worries about additional engine wear. The engine revs are low at the speed I travel, and there is just enough engine braking to save constant brake application. I wouldn't do it in second gear, unless I was going slower. If the engine revs were low enough, ie I wanted to drive slower, I would do it in second. If the engine is screaming away, particularly when cold, then absolutely, no doubt, go with the maxim that brakes are much cheaper than engines.

The steptronic is there for a reason. Used judiciously, particularly when towing, it increases control and conserves brakes. Use it at every stop sign or traffic light, and you will find yourself paying for transmission repairs much earlier than you should.

[4.6is Ryder]

I've never heard that. Personally, I only use it to get in and out of a traffic crunch on the freeway. Second gear is cool when you leave a light at a slow speed. The torque is incredible. It's a good way to show the aggressive demeanor of the X. Once it's dropped into 3rd gear at freeway speeds, hold on baby!!!......Phil

[withidl]

Once the engine is at OPERATING TEMPERATURE, use the steptronic manual mode just as you SHOULD an actual manual transmission. When shifting to a higher gear BACK OFF THE THROTTLE until engaged (the computer will de-throttle the engine between shifts, but a little extra help doesn't hurt). When shifting to a lower gear "FEATHER" OR "BLIP" THE THROTTLE so as to rev the engine to meet the lower (but higher rpm) gear (the computer will NOT 'feather" the throttle on a down shift).

It will take some getting used to because you have to anticipate the delay between when you move the shift lever vs when the transmission actually executes the shift; practice makes perfect.

The transmission is constantly being up and down shifted by the computer as you accelerate and decelerate so shifting manually actually doesn't put much, if any, additional wear on the transmission.

I personally move back and forth between full auto, sport and manual mode. If I'm accelerating from stop llight to stop light I will start off in sport mode but shift to 3rd using manual mode to hold the transmission in 3rd for engine braking to the next stop light. Coming off a highway exit I will down shift ("feathering" the throttle) to 4th, 3rd and sometimes 2nd for engine braking. The transmission is going to do the same down shifting as you approach a stop and if you "feather" the throttle it smooths the down shift out and minimizes wear.

I've pulled a 31 foot 8,300 GVWR travel trailer for over 22, 000 miles with my 2001 4.4i S/P, ALL OF IT IN MANUAL MODE and currently have over 64,000 miles on the transmission with no problems except a leaking "torque converter radial seal" (see my post "100 Ata-Boys") which was NOT related to any load or shifting stresses (the seal carries no load and was either defective or damaged at assembly).