[andymj]

Since having the 340i one thing I've felt was .. well I wont' say "wrong", but I'll say "not as expected" was the power delivery when you stamp on the loud pedal. Its always been ... too jerky .. lots of revs, lots of jerking (oo-er), and then power .. bundles of it (the latter bit is good by my ;o) )

Today driving home I decided to see if I could work things out. So I popped the gears into Sport mode (gearshift to the left) .. and doing about 70mph / 2000 revs, and being in any gear 4th, 5th 6th, 7th or 8th - if you activated the kickdown, the gear drops to 3rd, goes to about 7000 revs. So you can see if you floored it .. you've only got a small amount of acceleration before your changing gear again.

So .. when doing 70mph / 2000 revs .. why change to 3rd ??? Sure, it may be offering the most amount of power at that exact time, but given the jerking, and then it has to change gear again, milliseconds later, it just seems crazy.

Anyone else see this ?

[330Stevie]

You need to go sport + to stop it or just don't use the bottom small ish section of the pedal where it clicks.

[Rich9600]

I think you do best if you don't 'stamp down'. I've had the 8AT in a 30d and a 40i and it seems to respond much better to a more progressive accelerator application.

A full kick down block shift has lots of drama, but I'm not convinced it's significantly faster than a more controlled power application. Especially in winter with out the grip to exploit that instant hit if go... Then, it just goes into the rear brakes...

[1966-TR4]

Originally Posted by Rich9600

I think you do best if you don't 'stamp down'. I've had the 8AT in a 30d and a 40i and it seems to respond much better to a more progressive accelerator application.

A full kick down block shift has lots of drama, but I'm not convinced it's significantly faster than a more controlled power application. Especially in winter with out the grip to exploit that instant hit if go... Then, it just goes into the rear brakes...

Agree with this, I have stopped using the full blown kickdown in my 330D as it seems to drop 1 gear too many leading to a lot of revs and then a sudden change up, without any appreciable extra performance.

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by andymj

Since having the 340i one thing I've felt was .. well I wont' say "wrong", but I'll say "not as expected" was the power delivery when you stamp on the loud pedal. Its always been ... too jerky .. lots of revs, lots of jerking (oo-er), and then power .. bundles of it (the latter bit is good by my ;o) )

Today driving home I decided to see if I could work things out. So I popped the gears into Sport mode (gearshift to the left) .. and doing about 70mph / 2000 revs, and being in any gear 4th, 5th 6th, 7th or 8th - if you activated the kickdown, the gear drops to 3rd, goes to about 7000 revs. So you can see if you floored it .. you've only got a small amount of acceleration before your changing gear again.

So .. when doing 70mph / 2000 revs .. why change to 3rd ??? Sure, it may be offering the most amount of power at that exact time, but given the jerking, and then it has to change gear again, milliseconds later, it just seems crazy.

Anyone else see this ?

I don't understand why it is jerky in any mode.

As has been mentioned we can have block changes and to add, we can make them quite brutal, but why not try a 'more gentle' kick-down?

Yes I'm serious, accelerator application is part of why we have the more severe block changes. BMW have used a feature called 'kick-fast', how fast we apply the accelerator is measured against threshold values in the gearbox control unit and makes the appropriate changes. So we can control (to a degree) how many down changes the gearbox makes, even during a kick-down.

[MrChumley]

+1 (to Rich9600)

Mine's a 428. If I want a bit of oomph I just drop a couple of gears with the flappy paddle and accelerate smoothly.

[djcowlin]

Rapid application of the throttle works for me. No need for kick-down.

[SkyJawa]

Yup, smooth progress means never click the proper kickdown button.

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by MrChumley

+1 (to Rich9600)

Mine's a 428. If I want a bit of oomph I just drop a couple of gears with the flappy paddle and accelerate smoothly.

You obviously don't want too much oomph.

I have tried all the down change combinations in my 535i. Kick-down definitely has its place for instant and decisive overtakes. But how I kick-down will depend on the circumstances. I will do it in normal Drive mode, if it isn't too urgent. Flick the shifter to M/S and back to Drive if I simply want to break the drive adaption and have a gearbox 'awake' for a faster response in traffic flows, or flick the shifter to M/S for the fastest response. Then judge the accelerator application, particularly on road speed. Too fast at low speeds and the block change is hard and fast. More gentle and just a gear or two down and less drama. Higher road speeds may require a bit more speed to accelerator application, for kick-fast to be instant and the appropriate block change.

Paddles (I find) are much slower, even in M/S position, unless you work down the gears in preparation, if you want instant punch for a tight overtake. I personally don't like sitting in a low gear for an overtake, which may never happen. On roads I know, kick-down serves me well for that 'snatched' overtake.

Plenty of different ways to experiment.

[1966-TR4]

I believe if you pull and hold the downshift paddle it will also block change down

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by 1966-TR4

I believe if you pull and hold the downshift paddle it will also block change down

I don't have that feature on my car, for those in later models which do have it, a good alternative to kick-down.

[225]

Originally Posted by HighlandPete

I don't have that feature on my car, for those in later models which do have it, a good alternative to kick-down.

i alsways found holding the left paddle puts it in 2nd even at 40 odd mph.
Agree about using the paddles for a quick downshift or sport plus for really getting on and able to floor the pedal. the main issue with that is there is rarely enough empty road in front to utalise it!

When you do get to wind them up to 7k though it is worth every penny of optimax flowing out of the fuel tank!

[Pablo68]

Odd, because the 240i does not do that. I guess they have tuned the gearbox differently

[t5pilot]

"When you do get to wind them up to 7k though it is worth every penny of optimax flowing out of the fuel tank!"

That has to be quote of the week. Love it!

[SkyJawa]

What's optimax