[BayEmVay]

1. Is the transmission idiot-proofed so that if you accidentally hit the "P" park button on the shift lever while at high speed it would not throw the car into park and blow the transmission up?

2. Since the transmission is electronically-controlled, how do you put the vehicle in neutral if the battery were dead and it needed towing?

[BarryJI]

Re. your first question, I suspect that selecting P while moving engages the brakes, stopping the car before damage occurs to the gearbox. I have absent-mindedly put it in P when the car had almost crawled to a halt, but not quite, and it brakes itself to an abrupt stop. It'll do that if you ignore a warning and try and drive off with the trunk lid or a door slightly ajar, too.

[alexc93]

It will not even acknowledge that you hit the P button if youre going over a certain speed, I think.

[Killramos]

The door ajar thing is probably the stupidest feature ever.

The worst part about it is the car doesn't even tell you why it wont engage a gear. Just says "secure vehicle against rolling". Maybe a "drive gears disabled while door ajar" would have been a more intelligent message...

One time i was trying to casually back it up a driveway to get off the street and the door was a bit ajar and it wouldn't let be grab forward or reverse and kept beeping. I was about 5 minutes or cursing from putting it on a flatbed to the dealer...

The thing that makes me the most angry about this is say the door sensor breaks ( because electronics break all the time) the car just became undrivable. Say the sensor breaks while you are driving? I bet the genius programmers would actually put you to a full stop in the middle of the highway with no easy way to move the car off the road...

Also in before "if you had a manual this would never happen" trolls.

/rant

And if the battery died, from reading, i believe you can remove the trim and manually engage neutral. Not the best solution though.

[sstarrx3]

Originally Posted by Killramos

The door ajar thing is probably the stupidest feature ever.

The worst part about it is the car doesn't even tell you why it wont engage a gear. Just says "secure vehicle against rolling". Maybe a "drive gears disabled while door ajar" would have been a more intelligent message...

One time i was trying to casually back it up a driveway to get off the street and the door was a bit ajar and it wouldn't let be grab forward or reverse and kept beeping. I was about 5 minutes or cursing from putting it on a flatbed to the dealer...

The thing that makes me the most angry about this is say the door sensor breaks ( because electronics break all the time) the car just became undrivable. Say the sensor breaks while you are driving? I bet the genius programmers would actually put you to a full stop in the middle of the highway with no easy way to move the car off the road...

Also in before "if you had a manual this would never happen" trolls.

/rant

And if the battery died, from reading, i believe you can remove the trim and manually engage neutral. Not the best solution though.

Ok...if the door was ajar, could you not see the indicator on your dash of the little car with the door open lit up?

[Killramos]

Sure you could see that but i have never owned a car before where the door being ajar prevented you from putting the car in gear, not even something that came to mind. The little light that says my headlights are on was lit up to should i have surmised that that was a factor in why my car wont go into gear?

Its a pretty indefensible point. The dash message doesn't give you any indication that that the slightly ajar door is the reason why your transmission seems to be having a brain fart.

[ABPReader]

.

[BMWCOREY125]

To put the trans in neutral, you have to go underneath the car and there is a screw lever that once you screw the lever up, the trans will be in neutral

[Stockholmarn]

I wonder what happens if you open a door at highway speed... Anyone want to try?

[augerpro]

I opened the door the other day while moving and it didn't do anything

[3.0L]

Originally Posted by augerpro

I opened the door the other day while moving and it didn't do anything

Oh good, a volunteer! Would you please try selecting Park while booking down the highway?

[MG 228i]

I was just thinking about question 1 on my way to work this morning...
but I didn't try it.

[3.0L]

And BTW, "R" on the selector is for Race. Right?

[pdubb]

Selecting 'P' While moving will only give a warning on the dashboard saying "vehicle must be stopped to engage P"
Or something along those lines.

So press away at slower speeds, it'll give you the warning.

At higher speeds I think it does nothing.

P

[2+3=5]

Originally Posted by 3.0L

And BTW, "R" on the selector is for Race. Right?

P 4 passing?

[alexc93]

I had a loaner 328i one time with the 8 speed auto and was curious too (driving 6 speed all the time the technology had me curious) and again i'm 99% sure nothing happens

[ibimmer954]

I actually never hit the 'P' button. There's never a reason to! You're in drive, pull into a parking spot, stop, press the button to turn the car off. That's it. It'll go into park automatically.

It you leave auto stop/start on, the engine will already be off when you stop in the spot anyway.

[RPM90]

Originally Posted by Killramos

Sure you could see that but i have never owned a car before where the door being ajar prevented you from putting the car in gear, not even something that came to mind. The little light that says my headlights are on was lit up to should i have surmised that that was a factor in why my car wont go into gear?

Its a pretty indefensible point. The dash message doesn't give you any indication that that the slightly ajar door is the reason why your transmission seems to be having a brain fart.

When I first got my 2013 335i I wanted to move it a bit while looking at something that was low and out of sight with the door closed and I didn't want to hit it. So I opened the door while in still in D intending to just slowly roll the car back a bit. NO!
It rolled a bit and slammed to a halt when I opened the door.
You can't even open the door so you can avoid something that is on the ground and out of sight if you want to move your car.
Wonder how many people just open their door while at speed that necessitated BMW to implement that "security" feature?

[Rainbird]

Originally Posted by RPM90

When I first got my 2013 335i I wanted to move it a bit while looking at something that was low and out of sight with the door closed and I didn't want to hit it. So I opened the door while in still in D intending to just slowly roll the car back a bit. NO!
It rolled a bit and slammed to a halt when I opened the door.
You can't even open the door so you can avoid something that is on the ground and out of sight if you want to move your car.
Wonder how many people just open their door while at speed that necessitated BMW to implement that "security" feature?

Your BMW will let you open your door if you have fastened your seat belt

[ABPReader]

.

[Zooks527]

Originally Posted by Rainbird

Your BMW will let you open your door if you have fastened your seat belt

This. Buckle your belt, put it in gear, and open the door while creeping along. I did it last night in mine.

This prevents you from running yourself over the way my neighbor's father did one time. He reached into the car through the open door while the engine was running and dropped the car into reverse by accident. The car backed up, the open door knocked him down, and the front wheel rolled over him. The car then hit the back of the garage and stopped while still on him. He survived, but he spent some time in the hospital as a result.

[david.orr]

WTF