A and M settings for transmission

[lrg122]

Hey
I was wondering what the "M" and "A" settings are for on the side of the shifter of Auto 5 series. What do they do? Thanks

Alex S.

[dacoyote]

Hey
I was wondering what the "M" and "A" settings are for on the side of the shifter of Auto 5 series. What do they do? Thanks

Alex S.

A is the true automatic....
M is a sports shift style mode..... where you need to shift the car through each gear, you also lose overdrive...

[632 Regal]

A is Automatic mode

M is manual mode for creeping out of ice you would start off in say 3rd gear

dropping into a lower gear will change the shift settings, this is called sport mode.

[Kalevera]

Never start the car from a dead stop in M3 (or M3/M4 with the 5 speed auto). Quick and easy way to buy a new transmission.

best, whit

[lrg122]

Im just curious as to why you are not supposed to start in M3/M4 from a dead stop. I wouldnt think BMW would allow you to be able to harm you transmission like that. What does it do?

[Rus]

Im just curious as to why you are not supposed to start in M3/M4 from a dead stop. I wouldnt think BMW would allow you to be able to harm you transmission like that. What does it do?

I believe this is not advised because when in manual mode, the transmission does exactly what it is told (such as downshifting, upshifting, and selecting gear per the lever position disregarding its pre-programmed settings). So if you have it in 3 or 4 in manual mode at a complete stop, it will proceed to move in 3rd or 4th gear, putting a lot of stress on the drivetrain. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

[joshua43214]

I believe M stands for mud as in mud and snow. this is the setting used when driving on slipery road conditions, where you want full controll of the shifting. Starting in 2nd gear is safer on ice, and by shifting manualy, you can take advantage of rear wheel drive on decel with better control. the "sport" settings on BMW's locks the car out of a higher gear and cause it to shift more aggressively on later models, so S3 will allow 1,2,3 shift but not 4,5. The models with sport had a 3 position switch with S being acheived by pushing the button straight in rather than sliding it. BTW, the slider switches go bad alot from disuse on many cars, my advice is don't touch it unless you want manual shifting of an automatic.

[Javier]

The only difference between E and S is that S won't allow Overdrive (4 gear in 535i) and will set up-shifting to higher RPM.

Manual is to emulate a manual shift car, no clutch of course, nor overdrive either. It comes handy when starting over ice.

I guess that Torque converter will develop excess heat if car makes frequent starts on 3rd.

Javier

Edit: If my memory serves me well, in 520ia you have a snow flake symbol instead an M in the selector.

[Alexlind123]

http://servo.postverket.us/alex/transmission.jpg

http://servo.postverket.us/alex/selectpr.jpg

On my car, the switch only has "M" and "A" positions. "S" mode is achieved by simply levaing the switch in "A" and moving the selector lever to "3".

[Traian]

Darn, I do not have this 'M' switch you speak of either. Just a snowflake. Engaging the flake starts the car in 2nd, and makes very slow, low-rpm shifts.