Anyone else's X5 shift very hard; 1st shift on cold engine?
 

My car shifts very hard & will jerk the car a little, only on the first shift on a cold engine. The slower i'm going the harder the jerk, so I have to leave my driveway in a quicker-than-normal fashion to prevent the hard jerk. After two-three blocks, there's enough heat/pressure to allow for more-normal shifts.

Anyone?? anyone??

Mark

Check to see if you leaking any ATF from the pan or anywhere else? Low ATF can cause these symptoms.

not a drop, not sure how to check either.

this is pretty common, at least to be more firm. I dont know about HARD but a delayed/firm shift is pretty common when cold. Mine does it first shift or two.

Just curious... how many miles on your trans?

Have you tried driving away in "sport mode"?

Have you checked/replaced the trans fluid, ever?

One other test would be to stick it in manual mode, hold 1st gear for a while as you leave home, that should get the fluids moving a bit. From there, switch back to "D" and see if your first up-shift still sucks.

yes, my X5 does this. So does my '12 F150 and both of my K5's. First shift or two are harsh, then the fluid warms up. At least that is what I tell myself.

Same here... cold mornings..first gear revs to a bit higher RPM's (to warm up) then shifts with a mild jerk.

Not too cold in CA but i have same problem, sometimes its very hard shift but only from 1 to 2 thinking about replace transmission fluid soon hope its helps.

lol i just tried driving off in sport mode cold and 1st gear sounded like i was racing down the drag strip before it shifted!

Pretty sure it's temperature related. It takes longer for the ATF to warm up and expanded, thus the hard shifting. There is no way to check the ATF level.