Driver Modes....

[Stuno1]

So a few questions here.

1. When you are in manual will the car auto shift up/down at any point or are you in complete control?

2. When is sports mode I know the car holds revs longer and throttle is more responsive but what happens if you play with the shifter paddles? Does it switch to manual mode?

3. Same as question 2 but for regular and snow modes?

Stu

[stevet]

1. In manual you are always in full control.

2. If you use the paddles it switches to manual temporally.

3. Same as sports mode.

Hope this helps :)

[Stuno1]

Thanks for the reply. Will it shift for you if it is in sport/snow/normal mode and you temporarily use paddles?

[MrW]

1, It will only change down if the revs drop below a minimum (tickover level) but won't change up...you will hit the limiter, but in effect gives you full control and at speed extremely rapid response. By fare the best paddle system I've driven.

2, It doesn't switch to manual mode just because your in sports mode, it just does as you said, and turns the TCS down a bit. if you use the paddles in Drive it remains Auto but allows you to set the maximum gear, i.e. you can force it to go down but not up.

3, same.

[MrW]

Something else to note, in sports mode the box will still make its way up to 8th gear, which in my experience is very different to other Autos/Dual clutches. In my wifes 630i if you click sport then at normal cruising speeds 50-70 the box drops down one from top even though you maybe cruising at that very moment. This is great in the F because you can have it in sport without screaming down the motorway in an unnecessarily low gear, but still have an additional responsiveness when you need it. It is a fantastic gearbox.