Strange Problem With 95 325i

[webster19]

I just purchased my first BMW . 1995 325i, 52,000 miles, automatic (I know, I know)

Car is great except for one issue. When driving on a level road under steady throttle the car runs great. When you encounter a hill, and increase the throttle slightly to maintain speed, it feels as if the car cannot decide which gear to be in and the RPMs will fluctuate between 2500 and 3000. If you apply more throttle, the appropriate gear kicks in and all is fine. If you run under full throttle, the gears shift smoothly, no hesitation.

Anyone ever had this problem? Any suggestions?

[theruss1an1]

Try new tranny fluid and filter. WOW great catch on the car. 52K miles. And with the auto you know the engine was never over reved. You going to swap in a 5 speed sometime?

-Serge

[bad man working]

It sound like adaptive gearbox control (AGS) this will try to hold the higher gear as long as possible to give better comfort and economy this is standard just drive it a bit harder if bugs you

[94BMW325i]

I think it might be normal because my 94 325i does the exact same thing. So I just give it a little more gas up to around 3000 rpm then it stays there, or give it more gas, so the car downshifts and goes to about 4000-4500 rpm's and I go fast up the hill :P

[4evrwyntr]

This is normal. The economy computer like to shift at the high 2800 to low 3200 range when driving normally. If you use the kickdown feature, this extends to shift near 5200. Throw it into sports mode, and this lengthens the normal shiftpoints to around 500-1000 RPMs higher than normal... with kickdown you'll shift at 6500-6800RPMs!

Unfortunately, that means there are soft spots in the gear changes, typically around 20, 40 and 70 mph (depending on the car, give or take 5-10mph). If you find yourself feathering the throttle around 2700 rpms at 40 mph, the gearbox will get confused, and indeed, it will feel like it doesn't know whether to shift or not.
Help it out. Ease off the gas, and it will kick it up a gear. Pressing down will either downshift, or rev you higher to about 4000 before you change.

It's all kind of complicated, but if you used to drive a stick, you will begin to figure out what the car wants in time.


... there I go again, making things more complicated than they really are... But driving an automatic is indeed more than just flooring it... if you're gear-searching, that is. Did you know if you the right spot in the rev range, you could actually do a healthy 2 gear downshift in an automatic? Gruesome.