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How do I drive this 325is automatic?

1K views 9 replies 7 participants last post by  bigred318 
#1 ·
Hi, I got this 94 325is with a 95 engine in it a month ago. It's an automatic. The guy who sold me the car told me to push the M botton when the car hits about 70 mph on the high way, but he appears don't know anything about it.

So my question is what is the M botton for exactly? When should I use it? Do I need to use it at all? What about the 1/2/3 gears, do I need to use them at all with the M botton?

thanks!
 
#2 ·
heres what you do:the a stands for automatic, you put it in drive and the car shifts for you. press the m button and put it into the 1st gear. then the car wont shift for you untill you hit the redline. when you get to like 3k rpms or something you can shift to the next gear by moving the shifter to 2. this is supposed to simulate a manual transmission.
 
#3 ·
the 3 man is exactlly right. it's more like a sport shift transmission. you should use m all the time if you want a little more power but yea it's not as fun as driving a manual but hey at least you shold be happy you still have a bmw
 
#5 ·
I,ve never noticed any diff at all between just running between 1-3 in a mode or running between 1-3 m mode also there is a huge lage between gears in a or m when shifted manualy.I have to move the shifter at around 6K inorder to have the trany shift by 6.5K,also the computer wont let you down shift manualy intill the car slows enough for the lower gear (which is to slow to wait), by manuay shifting gears gas milage is worse, and there is no overdrive (which adds alot of power in automatics), and you have a verry good chance Of redlining, which is bad for the engine. just let the auto trany do the work it dose a good job. the only reason you should use the gears manualy is in adverse conditios such as ice,snow,mud,or going down steep hills.
speed and power wise I would win in full auto compared to manualy changing gears guaranteed
 
#7 ·
yeah it does kind of hurt your gas milegae, i have a 318is auto (with a 325 or 328 manual on the way soon) yeah yeah two bimmers! but yeah it does kind of hurt the mileage. and the lack of overdrive is fun if you want to drive fast and get good pickup from an auto, but for the most part we have an auto gotta drive it like an auto
 
#8 ·
Hey everyone. Everything you said about the tranny was true except for the overdrive. Overdrive in any transmission BMW or anyone else is for optimal fuel economy at high speed (usually 45-50 and above) and quieter operation of your vehicle in that same situation. The overdrive gear is the fourth, fifth, or sixth gear in the transmission depending on what transmission you have. Overdrive is geared the same or in most cases below 1rpm. For example for every one revolution the wheel turns your overdrive could turn at the same rate which allows the engine to do less work or otherwise known as a 1:1 gear ratio. When you take a vehicle out of overdrive or shift a non steptronic automatic transmission out of the D position you're only allowing the tranny to use 3 instead of four gears. The vehicle seems more aggressive in normal drive but it's really not, you're just giving it an extra gear to shift into so you feel like you're going faster but you're really not. Check out a Car & Driver or even a European Car magazine issue and look at the specs of any vehicle they test. They usually list the gear ratios available in the car's tranny and you can see the the final gear 4th, 5th, or 6th is the lowest number. Just a little food for thought Check out my website and let me know what you think. Later! B) My Webpage
 
#9 ·
Hi guys, thanks for the help. So what exactly is the best way to drive this tranny? From what I gathered above, I should leave it at A mode and I should put the gear in "3" when drive in the local areas and shift it to "D" when I go over 60mph.
thanks.
 
#10 ·
exactly that is what i do with my car start off in the 3 and when i hit about 55 put it in drive, and city driving is totally 3rd. Also you have to get going real fast, (pulling out in front of someone you can put it in 1st then 2 then 3 but you wont get to much for power, or so it seems to me so yeah 3rd has pretty good punch for an auto

David
 
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