BMW 2012 3 Series M3 Сoupe User Manual

Page 66

Driving

Controls

R Reverse

Select this only when the vehicle is stationary.

N Neutral

You can select this in a car wash, for example.
The vehicle can roll.

D Drive, automatic position

Position for normal vehicle operation. All for-
ward gears are selected automatically.
Under normal operating conditions, fuel con-
sumption is lowest when you are driving in posi-
tion D.

Kickdown

Kickdown enables you to achieve maximum
performance.
Press the accelerator pedal beyond the full-
throttle resistance point.

Sport program and manual mode M/S

Move selector lever from position D toward the
left into the M/S shifting slot; the Sport program
is activated. This position is recommended for a
performance-oriented driving style.
DS is displayed in the instrument cluster.
To deactivate the sport program or manual
mode M/S, move the selector lever to the right
into position D.

Shifting gears via the selector lever

Move selector lever from position D toward the
left into the M/S shifting slot:

When you press the selector lever forwards or
backwards, the manual mode is activated and
Steptronic changes gear.
The engaged gear, e.g. M1 is displayed in the
instrument cluster.
Upshifts and downshifts are executed only
when they will result in a plausible combination
of engine and vehicle speed; thus, for example,
a downshift that would cause the engine to
overrev will not be executed by the system.
The gear selected is briefly displayed in the
instrument cluster, followed again by the gear
actually in use.

Changing gears using shifting paddles

on steering wheel

The shift paddles allow you to shift gears
quickly since both hands can remain on the
steering wheel.

When you use the shift paddles on the
steering wheel to shift gears in automatic
mode, the transmission switches to manual
mode.

If you do not accelerate or shift gears using
the shift paddles for a certain amount of
time, the transmission switches back to
automatic mode.

If the selector lever is in the M/S gear
plane, manual mode remains active.

To upshift, briefly pull the right shift
paddle +.

To downshift, briefly pull the left shift pad-
dle –.