Don't know man. I had a Saab 9-5 and it was shifting slower than my 07 or my 08 G. Don't forget the tranny learns your driving also just like the ECU.

 

That is true for a 9-5 maybe, but the 9-3 is an entirely different animal. I certainly like the speed of the shift and firmness, but the lack of converter clutch lock up in the gears is totally unacceptable. Makes the entire experience feel slushy. this is a significnat advantage of the 3 series 6-speed auto where the converter clutch is 99% of the time engaged right after take off in all gears and only briefly releases during a shift. Makes the 3 series auto much more dynamic.

 

I am not sure what u are talking about and maybe u can educate me on the "converter clutch" thing, but BMW auto is useless when it comes to connecting with the driver. It shifts for you when it reaches redline and i have crashed a 2004 ZHP because of that reason. While doing a low speed slide, the stupid thing shifted to next gear and i could never regain control of the car. Same thing with my car. 1st gear WOT and a slight tire spin will make the car shift because it will reach redline without gaining any speed. I would take G35's auto over the Bimmers any day.

 

for some reason my car's faster in D than DS lol

 

Maybe you need to experiment with DS a little more lol

 

Your saab is a chevy malibu though.



BMWs autos are wierd as hell. After driving a G, you get in one and its shifting down to go up a gear, and its all backwards and wierd.

I just left it in D for the rest of the test drive.

 

Sorry, I know this is an old thread, but... when I use the DS mode I can manually shift through the gears. Somehow though, by the posts I get the impression that the DS mode is supposed to shift automatically at higher revs. Mine doesn't shift on its own. Does my DS not work properly or am I doing something wrong?

 

In order for it to shift automatically, you have to not up or down shift as that will enable Manual Mode. So just slide it into DS and if it says DS on the display (not a gear number), you're good to go and it'll hold those revs longer and rev-match on the downshifts.

 

When I slide the shifter to the right I get a 1 not DS on the indicator on my dash. I have never seen the DS everyone is talking about.

 

Treach, thanks for your help. Decided my DS does not work. Pretty disappointing. Will look into having it repaired. Feel like I'm really missing out!