Bought M3 today - Why does it shift into 7th gear at 30 MPH?

Hi Everyone,

I just bought a used 2011 M3 (DCT) today. When I drive it in automatic mode it shifts to high gears very quickly. As the title mentions, I've seen it shift into 7th gear at about 30-35 mph which makes it pretty inconvenient even under normal driving conditions.

I tried checking the manual and changing the setting in front of the i-Drive knob but that didn't seem to change much.

Thanks in advance!

solution, don't drive in automatic mode! i dont think it has to do with adaptable transmission etc, it just seems to shift very conservatively. as a side note, i have not used automatic mode at all since owning the car. not even in traffic.

Put it in D4 or D5 if you must use this mode. If you just got the car go drive around and experiment with a few things. You'll soon find out more things than you ever wanted to know..............Phil

Originally Posted by highyo

solution, don't drive in automatic mode! i dont think it has to do with adaptable transmission etc, it just seems to shift very conservatively. as a side note, i have not used automatic mode at all since owning the car. not even in traffic.

There's an automatic mode with DCT?...he he. I never use auto mode...it was developed to shift manually. If you really need an automatic, buy a 335i with a real automatic. Of course you could drive around in D1 and save first gear from ever wearing out...the car will start out in 2nd gear all the time. Then you can tell people it's really a 6-speed automatic.

Because in normal mode, the car is trying to save as much gas as possible. It'll shift into 7th so their is less stress on the engine.