ATS - Habitual Shift to "D"

Jim49

Well-Known Member
I have heard people say that the way to operate a car with automatic transmission is to keep it in "D" from the start of the journey until the end; and do not frequently take it out to "N" at traffic stops. If not, some have said that the gearbox may fail. I personally know of someone who has had a failure of his ATS due to his habit of taking the gear to "N" at traffic stops. On the other hand I have a relative who is a car salesman who habitually takes his AT into "N" at traffic stops. But this is with a Japanese car which seldom fails anyway.

The Owner's Manual does not caution us against this habit of shifting the AT to neutral at traffic stops, if it can cause damage or early wear of the ATS.

What are your comments, guys and gals?

Sorry, the title should be "Habitual Shift to 'N'"
 
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Re: ATS - Habitual Shift to "D"

what car are you driving?

if it is the F10 523, my take is it will fail if it wants to fail. doesn't matter if you have the habit of shifting to N at traffic stops or not. LOL.
 
Re: ATS - Habitual Shift to "D"

You're right, Otar; BMW gearboxes have a mind of their own. It will fail if it wants to.

I have an F10 now. No problems.
Previous car was an E90 325. The gearbox gave trouble after more than 5 yrs. It produced a vibration like a low rumble when accelerating from a low speed(50kph). PML had no idea what was the cause. First they said it was the ignition coils - changed all but no cure. So they took back their coils and put back my old coils. Next they updated and re-booted the software(I have no idea what software). Still no joy. They recommended change mechatronic box(?) for $4000(?) or gearbox for $10,000!!!

So I went to an outside ws for a second opinion. The foreman heard my description of the symptoms and drove the car and immediately pronounced that the ATF needed to be changed. But I finally traded in the car back to PML for this present F10. "Good luck" to them!

Otar;1123898 said:
what car are you driving?

if it is the F10 523, my take is it will fail if it wants to fail. doesn't matter if you have the habit of shifting to N at traffic stops or not. LOL.
 
Re: ATS - Habitual Shift to "D"

i got a strange feeling you are describing what i am currently going through now. see my other thread on gearbox reliability. LOL.


Jim49;1123921 said:
You're right, Otar; BMW gearboxes have a mind of their own. It will fail if it wants to.

I have an F10 now. No problems.
Previous car was an E90 325. The gearbox gave trouble after more than 5 yrs. It produced a vibration like a low rumble when accelerating from a low speed(50kph). PML had no idea what was the cause. First they said it was the ignition coils - changed all but no cure. So they took back their coils and put back my old coils. Next they updated and re-booted the software(I have no idea what software). Still no joy. They recommended change mechatronic box(?) for $4000(?) or gearbox for $10,000!!!

So I went to an outside ws for a second opinion. The foreman heard my description of the symptoms and drove the car and immediately pronounced that the ATF needed to be changed. But I finally traded in the car back to PML for this present F10. "Good luck" to them!
 
Re: ATS - Habitual Shift to "D"

If your ride is not under load it's ok to go into neutral e.g during idling. And in certain conditions - it will actually disengage your auto transmission from the TC automatically for you.

If it's under load then better not go to neutral because the input shaft would be disengaged. That keep the ATF moving.

That being said if you have those fancy F10s with the sailing option then it will actually sort of engage N for you while it coasts .....
 
Re: ATS - Habitual Shift to "D"

RBB, thank you for your input. What you have just said makes a lot of logical sense.

Is the TC the Transmission Clutch? I would think that there must be a sort of clutch even in an automatic transmission. So when we hold the car stationary by applying the brakes with the gear in "D", this clutch must be slipping - right? And if it is slipping, would wear be the result?

Another question. Will the constant shifting of the gear between "N" and "D" whenever we come to a traffic stop and the engine is at idle, cause more wear and tear somewhere?

Red_Bean_Bun;1123971 said:
If your ride is not under load it's ok to go into neutral e.g during idling. And in certain conditions - it will actually disengage your auto transmission from the TC automatically for you.

If it's under load then better not go to neutral because the input shaft would be disengaged. That keep the ATF moving.

That being said if you have those fancy F10s with the sailing option then it will actually sort of engage N for you while it coasts .....
 
Re: ATS - Habitual Shift to "D"

Yes, Otar; I've been following your thread with much interest, and have just made a suggestion there.

Otar;1123969 said:
i got a strange feeling you are describing what i am currently going through now. see my other thread on gearbox reliability. LOL.
 
Re: ATS - Habitual Shift to "D"

I was referring to the torque converter actually ....

Jim49;1123994 said:
RBB, thank you for your input. What you have just said makes a lot of logical sense.

Is the TC the Transmission Clutch? I would think that there must be a sort of clutch even in an automatic transmission. So when we hold the car stationary by applying the brakes with the gear in "D", this clutch must be slipping - right? And if it is slipping, would wear be the result?

Another question. Will the constant shifting of the gear between "N" and "D" whenever we come to a traffic stop and the engine is at idle, cause more wear and tear somewhere?
 

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