Steptronic question
 

OK, now that Ive figured out the wonders of the steptronic, I have one last question. Say I put it in sports mode and move it to gear 1. If I drive without changing the gears, will it auto change, or will it harm the engine?

It will upshift automatically when it gets to redline. Obviously, this isn't the best for your engine and will increase your fuel consumption by a lot and cause you to get oil changes every few thousand miles.

I was under the impression that it will downshift for you, but not upshift.

It does both.

Agreed - And I imagine it would be one hell of a drive...

I've read on E46 forums that steptronic is idiot proof, and can neither receive nor harm your car...

On a sidenote, I thought it shifted right below the red line (500 below)... maybe I was wrong

If you have drove the stick shift before then you would know what to do in sport Manual drive, it does harm your car if you don't drive properly, that's why there is an AUTOMATIC shift is available for you. If you plan to keep this car for a long time then shift it at 3000 rpm when up shift or down shift, don't let your engine pull above 3000rpm that would consum more gas and torqe. Before shifting let off your foot from gas pedal for a sec in that way prevent from wear and tear your gear teeth.

Thanks for correcting me. I assumed it worked the same way as my G35c, but I guess not ;)

Actually I find it rather annoying. I was coming down some very steep hills in the lake district in UK so I picked 1st but as soon as the revs got up a bit it would change. As it was a very steep hill it would launch itself forward as it changed and I had to get back on the brakes the rest of the way down. This change was no where near the red line I would guess at just over half revs. Also changing down to slow down invariably does not work as it won't. The display goes down a number but then immediately back up again.

I did try DSC and this worked fine but again used the brakes a lot and keeps it too slow for on road.

John

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***Steptronic & SMGII Paddle Shifters***