E34 Auto Gearbox

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   My mate has an 1993 E34 530i V8 with the switchable auto box with S/E/W modes. The other I was out with him in it & with his foot flat down ie gunning it he could hold the gears in 2, 3 & 4  in both S & E modes? I was confused as I didn't know you could do this with the auto boxes. Is this safe to do? Car basically became a manual without the clutch as you could change up & down between gears 2-4 at leisure. I'm after an E34 now & have my sights on a nice looking 540i Auto. Am I correct in thinking that having the car in drive means auto changes & putting it in 2-4 means you can change or hold the gears as you want to whilst in motion? Early form of steptronic?
Thanks.
Dean.

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328i Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member I Joined: 03-August-2004 Location: West London Status: Offline Points: 134	Post Options Post Reply Quote 328i Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: E34 Auto Gearbox Posted: 21-February-2007 at 16:44
	My mate has an 1993 E34 530i V8 with the switchable auto box with S/E/W modes. The other I was out with him in it & with his foot flat down ie gunning it he could hold the gears in 2, 3 & 4 in both S & E modes? I was confused as I didn't know you could do this with the auto boxes. Is this safe to do? Car basically became a manual without the clutch as you could change up & down between gears 2-4 at leisure. I'm after an E34 now & have my sights on a nice looking 540i Auto. Am I correct in thinking that having the car in drive means auto changes & putting it in 2-4 means you can change or hold the gears as you want to whilst in motion? Early form of steptronic? Thanks. Dean.
	2001 540i Sport, Silver, Black Leather

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jamie (e39)528i Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Really Senior Member II Joined: 03-January-2005 Location: chafford hundred essex Status: Offline Points: 1093	Post Options Post Reply Quote jamie (e39)528i Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 21-February-2007 at 17:25
	Hi, the late e34's have AGS which is an adaptive gearbox which learns your driving style but it is not a steptronic system. As for the holding gears question,an auto will do this, as you are locking the gearbox into the gear selected,however the steptronic boxes on later E39's will shift up/down to safeguard the gearbox. Hope that helps.

BeemaBoy Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Really Senior Member II Starting a Collection Joined: 25-October-2004 Location: Johannesburg, South Africa Status: Offline Points: 927	Post Options Post Reply Quote BeemaBoy Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 21-February-2007 at 17:36
	My E34 auto will change gear if I have selected either 2,3 or 4. I can hold it as far as 5500RPM in E mode and right to the red line if in S mode... It will only shift up one gear though...so for example, if I leave the selector in 2nd, it will rev to the red line and then change to 3rd gear but will not change from 3rd to 4th gear even at the red line... I would think if the car does not change when it is bouncing against the red line, then something is wrong with the autobox computer, because that would be seriously damaging the car... I have a 95 525I, so maybe the 540I gearbox has a different computer? BB
	87 E30 320I 95 E34 525I Auto, Executive Package, Arctic Silver 98 E38 740I Steptronic, Silver

Andrew Rolland Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Moderator Group Go away rain Joined: 19-August-2004 Location: Scotland Status: Offline Points: 6579	Post Options Post Reply Quote Andrew Rolland Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 21-February-2007 at 17:56
	Dean It isn't an early form of Steptronic but just a way of manually limiting the highest gear the tranny will shift into. I am assuming that it has something like PRND321. My Senator had this. Putting the stick into say 2 means you only get first and second gear. The autobox will change up to third only if it overloads i.e. max engine rpm. Having the stick in 3 means you get first. second and third gears only. If having the stick in 2 and then moving it to 3 will mean the tranny shifts up but only into 3rd gear until again max engine rpms are achieved. The same applies to down shifting if pulling the stick back from D into 3. Tranny will only shift down from say fourth to third when the engine rpms and propshaft rpms are compatible. Andrew
	Be exclusive and drive a Petrol 5 Series! Current '13 62 F10 535i MSport Auto Previous '04 04 E60 545i SE Auto '03 53 E60 545i SE Auto (Stolen) '98 S E39 523i SE Auto