Are all Autos like this?

[Ming]

I have an E89 20i with the 8 speed ZF auto box. Wanted an auto as I struggle with my left ankle and it's the first one I've owned, although I have driven a couple of others some years ago.

Now, in normal driving it's perfect. My problem is very slow speed manoeuvring like when I'm parking on an incline. I always thought that in Drive the car wouldn't roll back, but it does quite a bit. If you give the throttle a press there's too much grunt going to the wheels and I'm in danger of bumping into the car in front or behind. Seems it's difficult if not impossible to have the same control you get by holding the car on the clutch biting point. Doesn't help that you can't release the electric handbrake unless you're pressing the footbrake, so as soon as you move your foot to the accelerator it's already started to roll.

Now - are all automatics like this or is it just mine? And if it's a common thing, how do you smoothly parallel park on a slope?

[Jollyjoiner]

Can you try and use your left foot on the brake and release that as if your releasing a clutch pedal, than can sometimes make your manoeuvers a little smoother.
I used to use this method in an old Granada I used to have.

[Ming]

I'll have a go but I don't have much feeling in my left foot, hence why I chose an automatic. I drove a F-Type Jag a few years back and that had an 8 speed auto and I can't remember it being as bad as the Zed when parking in tight spaces.

[mr.tourette]

dont recall having issues like this in any auto, car shouldn't roll back at all in drive I'm sure

[Ming]

Does it in drive and reverse. Maybe 3 or 4 feet before it holds, then when I touch the throttle it's like nothing happens then I get a big push of acceleration. Very difficult to be smooth with it when an incline is involved.

[IRD]

That doesn’t sound right to me. I had an 8 speed auto on our 330d and it was easy to park etc. Currently I have 3.5is DCT which is not quite as smooth to manoeuvre. But neither seem as bad as yours is.

[ColinBR]

Definitely not right.

[mr.tourette]

something is not right, shouldn't move back 3 or 4 inches never mind feet

[Silverstar]

These new autos do roll back in drive but the E89 have an auto hold feature meaning you have few seconds before the car starts to roll back. If yours is not auto holding there must be a fault somewhere. I have tested this in my older ZF 6 Speed auto on a steep hill and it holds fine.

[Smartbear]

These new autos do roll back in drive but the E89 have an auto hold feature meaning you have few seconds before the car starts to roll back. If yours is not auto holding there must be a fault somewhere. I have tested this in my older ZF 6 Speed auto on a steep hill and it holds fine.

Auto hold wasn’t fitted to the 2.0 range.
Rob

[Tinker15]

Like others have said this shouldn’t happen. I drive two automatics my 6 speed E89 and a 8 speed Jaguar XF and neither display the symptoms you describe.

[Pbondar]

How many miles has the car done?

When did you first notice this?

[Jasonn]

My biggest bugbear with my 20i is the lack of hill start (it's a manual) - I've got it in my X3 manual, but it's a royal pain in the a**e with the electronic hand brake - really miss the old fashioned cable type - it's the only thing that irritates me about the zef

[Silverstar]

These new autos do roll back in drive but the E89 have an auto hold feature meaning you have few seconds before the car starts to roll back. If yours is not auto holding there must be a fault somewhere. I have tested this in my older ZF 6 Speed auto on a steep hill and it holds fine.

Auto hold wasn’t fitted to the 2.0 range.
Rob

That is odd why did BMW do that? Another reason to get the 3.0 then

[Smartbear]

These new autos do roll back in drive but the E89 have an auto hold feature meaning you have few seconds before the car starts to roll back. If yours is not auto holding there must be a fault somewhere. I have tested this in my older ZF 6 Speed auto on a steep hill and it holds fine.

Auto hold wasn’t fitted to the 2.0 range.
Rob

That is odd why did BMW do that? Another reason to get the 3.0 then

Less weight (better handling)
Rob