Stupid steptronic question from a newbie

[troggs]

Finally, picked up mine. And apparently the joy of driving blew some of my brain out, as I have two probably stupid questions.

First one is about steptronic - you shift the lever to the left, and transmission goes from D mode to SD mode, and shifts gears for you; fine, so you shift gears manually once and it goes to manual mode, giving you gears m1 to m6, and does not shift automatically anymore (at least does not shift in reasonable rpm range, which I did not dare to exceed due to the break-in period), which is exactly what one would expect. But, the question is, how the hell are you supposed to stop in the manual mode (say at traffic light) without going out of manual mode back to D or N? I mean there doesn't seem to be a N in manual mode at all...

Second is related to unpleasant discovery which my previous car was completely oblivious of - apparently some highways here have stretches made of concrete blocks, and sometimes combination of uneven joints, length of the block and short z4 wheel base results in one damn-hold-your-lunch-down ride. Fortunately, that combination doesn't seem to occure often. On a beaten asphalt with potholes and cracks all around the ride feels normal, as long as they are irregular. The question is, if I get tired of that, would changing rft to conventional tires be of any help? I've seen posts indicating that hard ridges of rft tires contribute to the stiffness of the ride, but I am not exactly sure if it is the stiffness itself that creates this particular problem.

Thanks

 

[Kurts05Z4]

Finally, picked up mine. And apparently the joy of driving blew some of my brain out, as I have two probably stupid questions.

First one is about steptronic - you shift the lever to the left, and transmission goes from D mode to SD mode, and shifts gears for you; fine, so you shift gears manually once and it goes to manual mode, giving you gears m1 to m6, and does not shift automatically anymore (at least does not shift in reasonable rpm range, which I did not dare to exceed due to the break-in period), which is exactly what one would expect. But, the question is, how the hell are you supposed to stop in the manual mode (say at traffic light) without going out of manual mode back to D or N? I mean there doesn't seem to be a N in manual mode at all...

Second is related to unpleasant discovery which my previous car was completely oblivious of - apparently some highways here have stretches made of concrete blocks, and sometimes combination of uneven joints, length of the block and short z4 wheel base results in one damn-hold-your-lunch-down ride. Fortunately, that combination doesn't seem to occure often. On a beaten asphalt with potholes and cracks all around the ride feels normal, as long as they are irregular. The question is, if I get tired of that, would changing rft to conventional tires be of any help? I've seen posts indicating that hard ridges of rft tires contribute to the stiffness of the ride, but I am not exactly sure if it is the stiffness itself that creates this particular problem.

Thanks

The Steptronic is after all an "automatic" transmission so it's not going to stall at a stop in manual mode. No clutch, just the ability to shift it manually if you want. So, just downshift to 1st at the light and take off like normal going up through the gears. Or, flick the shifter back to regular drive and then back to sport mode drive (automatic shifting) and continue. The transmission computer is quite forgiving and won't let you do anything that can hurt it.

As for the RFT's. Here's my two cents worth. I ditched mine after a couple of thousand miles and haven't regretted a second of it! I swear I could feel the shadows on the road with the RFT's. Every little crack and bump was felt. Tremendous improvement all the way around with conventional tires compared to the RFT's. Ride quality improved, handling improved remarkably, and road (tire) noise was even a bit less. The Goodyear F-1s aren't exactly a soft riding tire but they are a vast improvement over the RFT Bridgestones.

 

[flyboyaj]

Can't comment on Steprtonic as I know nothing about it except that it got on my nerves in the 335i I drove during the "Drive for the Cure" last year.

The RFT's are definately to blame for your troubles. There is a TON of discussion in other threads so I won't repeat it all here. Just search for RFT or Tramlining. Also suggest you look up Tramlining on google or dictionary (i'd be kewl and post links but it's early and I'm feeling a bit lazy today). When you are on roads like that you definately want both hands on the wheel. I drove WLH's car once (he has F-1s) and the difference is astounding. The only reason I won't ditch my RFT's is cause I'm an uber-conservative analytical cheap-o and my stupid brain cannot justify ditching perfectly good brand new tires (I also turn my shower soap into hand soap when the bar gets too small for the shower). Any normal person would and should ditch the RFT's as soon as they can afford to, and don't worry about getting a flat and not having a spare- that's why they invented insurance, cell phones, and flat bed trucks. That's my opinion, anyway. Hope it helps! 8)

P.S. There is no such thing as a stupid question, only stupid people who don't ask questions.

P.S.S. Welcome to the Forum, BTW!!! There have been so many newbies lately that I haven't been able to keep track... have you introduced yourself in the newbie section yet?

 

[IMZ4N]

troggs,

First welcome to the forum.

With the stepronic when in sport drive ( shifter kicked over ) the trans shifts just as you say. Once you have manually shifted through the gears, the trans will not up shift on its own unitl you reach red line ( normal ) , when you come to a stop sign the trans will ( in mine an 04/ 5 speed trans ) will automatically drop you down to M2, requiring you to then up shift as you say. What I do , as you say, is to kick the shifter back to normal and then back to SD, as I know it that is the only way. I do this quite often in the curves depending on how close together the curves are. If the curves are close together I just shift manually. If you have straight aways for a good distance I kick the shifter back to normal and then back to be ready for the next set of curves. I hate tring to downshift into netural. You must have an 06 or newer car as you have a 6 speed trans. I do have one thought for you with a steptronic. If you like spirited driving in the curves, I think you will find that at times you will want to down shift before entering a curve ( as to power through the turn ) and not be able to down shift. I had that issue quite often. I replaced my stock air filter with a high air flow filter and cured that issue. I replaced mine with a HP reuseable filter ( before you ask, they do not produce one for your newer car yet). The next best thing is a K&N filter which they do have. That bit of extra air flow made such a difference in the way the trans shifts.

RFT's,.... Get yourself BMW assist or AAA ( or the like ) and ditch the tires :!: If it was me, I would suffer through the set of tires while you learn your car and when it's ( about 25-30 K miles )time to replace them with new ones ( all 4 ) get a real tire. I know what you mean about the expansion joints in concrete hwys. It's like you hit a resonant frequency with the Z wheel base and being on a bucking bronco bull. I also carry a plug kit and a compressor. Your car will always like blacktop better ( more grip when warm, as long as it is dry :!: ). The worse feeling is to be going through the curves and come to a real sharp unexpected turn and come up on the stiff side of those RFT's ( not good ) IMHO.