[stewie]

Hi all,
First - background. I'm on my second 335 sedan, MT, which is all I've been driving for the past 10 years. Lease is up soon and so I'm test driving options.

Need AWD, and so an MT M240i is unfortunately not an option for me (as awesome as that would be). So I took the car out for a spin recently and was surprised at how long the AT took to downshift on hard acceleration from slow speed. Now acceleration from a stop was awesome, but if I was coasting at a lower speed and put my foot down, the car took a second or so to respond.

So I made sure it was in Sport, not Comfort, because I thought that might have something to do with it. Nope, same hesitation. Almost like the car was not totally sure what I wanted to do when I put my foot down.

So I was a bit discouraged, because everything else about the car is pretty sweet. I like the speed in the nice small package. But this transmission leaves me wanting (yes, I know I can use the paddles, but that's not the point).

The question I have for the group of experienced owners here is whether this is a noticeable issue with this car, or whether it eventually corrects itself as the car "learns" that you're an aggressive driver. Or is it just a function of turbo lag?? Which would be surprising, since I've not experienced this with either of my turbo'd BMWs to date.

Any thoughts from the group here would be appreciated.
Danke!

[Dylan86]

Any chance the transmission is limited to it's "break-in" period? I've driven ZF8 M235's and the gearbox works very well. I almost went with a RWD ZF8 combo until I stumbled across my deal, the 8spd is a great choice for most.

D

[Maynard]

I've noticed some lag, but mainly when replicating a 'rolling start' - i.e. very slow, then full acceleration, usually in traffic when jumping into another lane and gunning it, or when a light changes and you are already rolling slowly towards it. I'm in a 228, so I assume more noticeable lag than in the 240? I've planned to spend some time teaching myself to use the paddles properly, perhaps with a bit of brake loading - I believe that if you pull in the downshift paddle and hold it in, then it will automatically downshift to the lowest gear, but I'm not in practice of doing that yet.

[kdog26372]

Exactly as Manard says. This was the case with my X3 with the auto tranny as well. Never had this issue with the 135i and old tranny. I believe it's either this tranny, or perhaps this tranny along with the xdrive that is causing the pause you are talking about. It's hit/miss. Most often when a rolling stop and then punch it, sometimes it will briefly pause. Also the case when cruising in a lane at say 35, change lane and punch it and it will sometimes pause which is pretty dangerous actually, sorry to hear same issue with the 240i as it's the most annoying thing about this car.

[XutvJet]

Lots of gears and a lot of torque equals an ECU and transmission ECU figuring out the best gear for acceleration and safety. From lower speeds, all automatics (when in auto) mode will hesitate a bit. The newness of the car probably had something to do with it too as the transmission ECU will learn your driving style.

Why do you "need" AWD this go around?

[Sypher]

I find that if you try to let the transmission do all the thinking, there is certainly some lag in it. When you throw it in to manual or use the paddles, it much more responsive.

[ianp622]

Note that in addition to the Sport mode shifting changes, you can also push the shifter to the left to get an even more aggressive shifting. May be something to try.

[BEM-S4]

Originally Posted by ianp622

Note that in addition to the Sport mode shifting changes, you can also push the shifter to the left to get an even more aggressive shifting. May be something to try.

This. The car really comes alive in "sport / sport" mode.

[MikeG12]

My 228 M Sport is the same, and my wife's new X1 is even worse. Combination of tranny delay and turbo lag. It's tricky to even pull across intersections with the X1.

[USA-RET]

Originally Posted by ianp622

Note that in addition to the Sport mode shifting changes, you can also push the shifter to the left to get an even more aggressive shifting. May be something to try.

Exactly, moving the shift lever towards you, you'll notice the transmission immediately grabs a lower gear, touch the gas and you'll a nice response.

[Transfer]

In Sport/sport+ automatic I'm never complaining about downshift speed or logic so I guess it works for me. Driving in manual mode is certainly the ticket though and is what I do 80% of the time.

[msej449]

I read the OP as a from-manual-to-auto issue and would make some observations, based on my own transition. Apologies in advance if I'm stating the obvious. Principally that you can't expect the auto to read your mind. When you drive a manual you're usually looking ahead and judging the gear and revs for your next stretch of road, this is especially the case into a corner.

So for example, going into a corner in 5th, you're looking ahead, judging that you'll need to be in 3rd on the exit, clutching, up-revving, and shifting to 3rd. through the corner then de-clutching on the exit to the corner, and waiting to shift to 4th and upwards on the exit straight.

Unless you have a very high-end car with satnav integrated with the auto, then the auto sees nothing of the road ahead. So whilst it may change-down because you're braking, it probably won't maintain higher-than-required revs through the corner so as to be ready for acceleration on exit. Even in Sport, it's going to be sub-optimal compared to what you would prefer. It may well hesitate to change-down as well, to avoid hunting.

What I found is that the intelligence of the auto was sometimes counter-productive, because I got used to it doing stuff for me pretty well in most cases. But then sometimes, it wouldn't do what I would have liked it to. When I looked at my driving, I wasn't doing change-downs as diligently as I should - I had basically got lazy. I'd begun to imagine that it could predict exactly the right change-down and rev matching because I could see the road ahead. This struck home particularly on mountain hairpins.

So a couple of points: First, try completely by-passing the auto using manual changes all the time. As if it wasn't there. If your problem persists, then I'm not sure what the solution is. But you may find that you re-program yourself to better understand when the auto can be left to do its thing, and when you have to intervene.

Second, are you sure you absolutely need xDrive? I had it on my previous 330d Touring and had to give it up on my M235i because in the UK, you can't get the 3L engine plus xDrive. I've just come back from driving in snow in the Alps, with narrower winters on, and it was OK. I reckon I'd have to use the chains for very steep/icy situations, but otherwise it behaved much better than I anticipated. I got a set of Spike Spyders Auto Sport quick-fit chains which only take 30 seconds to mount.

[stewie]

Thanks for all the feedback! Very helpful.

First of all - yes, I'm absolutely sure I need xDrive - my previous car was RWD and while that is fine for 98% of winter driving, the 2% found me stuck several times, especially when needing to get started on an incline. No more of that for me!

And yes, the shifter was moved to the left - the salesperson made sure of that.

Really interesting to hear that I'm not alone in experiencing this. It seems to be something that is particular to the BMW implementation, because I did not experience the same degree of lag with either Audi or Mercedes autos I drove. On such a sporting car as the M240i, I was frankly very surprised.

[BEM-S4]

If you're looking at Audi and can swing the $ the RS3 will be here in 6 months. I've driven the previous generation and if you like the S3 you'll love the RS3. I had a deposit down to get the first one at the dealer but a perfect storm of selling my M235 coupe, getting an xDrive vert for a smoking good deal and the upcoming M2 GC (deposit down on that one too) and I pulled my RS3 money. BMW will be better on the track but the Audi is a really really solid option for those that need AWD.

[mburg]

Interesting. I have a 228 xdrive 8AT. With the 'shifter' clicked to the left, I do not get the lag described, even if not in Sport mode.

[msej449]

I had an A3 Sline 2.0L turbo and the suspension on that was terribly hard, and very low. I grounded it a number of times. I think that the S3 and RS3 suspensions are even lower? So I wonder if it would be right for snow, with such limited ground clearance? You could delete sports suspension on some of the performance A3s (to raise the clearance) but I didn't think this was an option on the R/S3 and anyway isn't really in tune with such a powerful setup.

And I can see that if you're going to be on snow/slush for protracted periods in the winter, then xDrive is just going to give you that extra traction. But even then, it's not magic and won't completely guarantee being able to cope with extremes of incline or deep slush etc. Wouldn't you still need chains handy just in case, albeit you may only need them rarely? As mentioned, I'm not thinking here of ordinary roads, however snowy, but those odd situations e.g. a steep drive out of a parking lot; when you park and get snowed-in between a line of other parked cars; ice; etc.

[stewie]

msej449, chains are not legal where I live.

BEM-S4 - yes! I've got my eye on the RS3 and have an Audi dealer with an eye out for more details for me (they're not taking deposits yet).

Having said that, For not much more than the expected cost of the RS3 (or a loaded up M240i for that matter), I have really taken a shine to the C43 AMG coupe, which somehow feels both more refined (in comfort mode) and more sporty (in sports+ mode) than either the M240i or 440i.

I still enjoy the overall "feel" of the BMW over either of those other makes. Hard to explain, it just feels like it fits me better.

[BEM-S4]

Originally Posted by stewie

msej449, chains are not legal where I live.

BEM-S4 - yes! I've got my eye on the RS3 and have an Audi dealer with an eye out for more details for me (they're not taking deposits yet).

Having said that, For not much more than the expected cost of the RS3 (or a loaded up M240i for that matter), I have really taken a shine to the C43 AMG coupe, which somehow feels both more refined (in comfort mode) and more sporty (in sports+ mode) than either the M240i or 440i.

I still enjoy the overall "feel" of the BMW over either of those other makes. Hard to explain, it just feels like it fits me better.

If you don't mind a sedan vs coupe may try to find a 2016 leftover C450 if $ savings is of a concern for you. That's the same thing as the current C43 that was rebadged and last I looked available for really good deals. This was in the fall though no idea what inventory or deals are like now.

[USA-RET]

Originally Posted by stewie

Thanks for all the feedback! Very helpful.

And yes, the shifter was moved to the left - the salesperson made sure of that.

Really interesting to hear that I'm not alone in experiencing this. It seems to be something that is particular to the BMW implementation, because I did not experience the same degree of lag with either Audi or Mercedes autos I drove. On such a sporting car as the M240i, I was frankly very surprised.

Actually surprised you experience this. I cross shopped the Audi TTS before buying the M240i. My reason for selecting the M240i over the TTS was due to the lag I experience while test driving the Audi.

I was driving a 2015 Mini MCS w/ a JCW tune. I wanted to buy another car that was playful, like the Mini in traffic. The MCS in sport, and shifter in M/S, each time I'd "blip" the throttle, I get bounced around in my seat (car was responding to each of my throttle inputs).

Doing the same in the Audi, only returned an engine rev, no movement of the car or feeling in the cabin. I asked the salesman about the lag and he said all cars would do what the Audi was doing.

I took him for a ride in the MINI and he was getting bounced around his seat each time I touched the throttle. He said, the Mini was very responsive and maybe if I added a tune to the Audi it would respond the same way, or if I used the paddle shifter to grab a lower gear it would provide the same feedback as the Mini.

Obviously if spending $60K on a car, i didn't want to have to add a tune (and void a warranty) to get the performance I was looking for. Nor did I want to go to the paddle shifters to get the same response I was getting w/o them in the Mini.

Test drove the M240i and it was responding very much like the Mini. As soon as I put it in Sport, and M/S, the car grabs a lower gear (unlike the Audi) and each time I hit the throttle I got the same bouncing around I got in the Mini.

Now perhaps because the Audi was a AWD and the MINI and M240i are front and RWD cars respectively may explain the differences I experienced in throttle response. The TTS was very quick once it was in the proper gear and the engine RPM's were up, while the MINI and M240i seemed to always be in the right gear and at proper RPM to provide the playfulness I desired. Begs to question if it is the AWD, then the BMW M240i AWD may be as laggy as the Audi appeared.

Dunno....but I did wind up with the M240i RWD w/ zero regrets.

[steve1980]

I have been experiencing the same rolling at low speeds or almost at complete stop. The car seems to be confused for a quick second on what gear to go into when I hit the gas n does produce a slight lag. Sport mode removes the confusion. I will try later in comfort mode with the shifter to the side to compare if there is any improvement w gear selection and lag.

[nike001]

The car 'learns' your driving habits. If you consistently drive like an old lady, it'll act as such.

Most of the weirdness within the car goes away after the car sets its adaptations for your driving style. I drove an M240 vert the other day w/ 8AT and it was a freakin HOOT

[Mr Carrots]

the S3 and Golf R's that I tested were far, far more laggy than my M240i - even changing lanes on the freeway and flooring it in those cars required a manual downshift and there always felt like some hesitation.

Maybe with the APR tune they would feel less laggy but I wasn't going to risk that chance. I've maybe used the paddles to downshift just twice in the last month and I'm quite an aggressive driver.