BMW 2012 3 Series M3 Сoupe User Manual

Page 69

Controls

Driving

D Drive mode

In Drive mode, all forward gears are shifted
automatically.

Kickdown

For sudden acceleration maneuvers such as
passing, depress the accelerator past the resis-
tance point. This provides maximum accelera-
tion.

Sport program and

manual mode M/S

Push selector lever toward the left from the
selector lever position D, the Sport program is
activated. This position is recommended for a
performance-oriented driving style.
The engaged gear, e.g. S1, is displayed in the
instrument cluster.
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.
In the following situations, the 7-gear Sport
automatic transmission with double clutch
does the thinking for you:

Upshifts and downshifts are executed only
when they will result in a plausible combina-
tion of engine and vehicle speed; thus, for
example, a downshift that could cause the
engine to overrev will not be executed by
the system.

At a stop, the transmission is automatically
shifted down to the first gear.

Shortly before the speed falls below a gear-
dependent minimum speed, the transmis-
sion automatically downshifts without your
intervention.

Quick downshifting: even in sequential mode,
you can skip over several gears in order to
achieve an optimum acceleration. To do so,
depress the accelerator past the resistance
point.
To return to automatic mode, push the selector
lever to the right.

Gear shifting

Upshift or downshift using the selector lever or
the shift paddles. You do not need to lift your
foot off the accelerator when doing so.

Using the selector lever

To upshift, pull the selector lever toward the
rear.

To downshift, push it toward the front.

Using the shift paddles on the steering
wheel

You can also shift manually using two shift pad-
dles on the 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
position D.