AT Gear Selector Confusion

[chazsandiego]

This has had me confused from day one. I've played around a little bit with all the gears but my ignorance as to their functions has me hesitant to mess around any further without some hard info from the forum.

What is the A/M selector switch mean and do?
Why does my digi display show A-D as E-D (what is S?)
When should I be using S 3,2,1 aside from controlling downhill speed.
Is M-3,2,1 ever something I should use?

My pdf manual doesn't give me a satisfactory answer to these questions.
I greatly appreciate all answers and opinions.

[whiskychaser]

A is the same as E (economy) and your car defaults to that when you first start it
M is the same as * (winter mode) it starts you off in a higher gear so you don't spin the back wheels
S is actually sport mode. It hangs onto the gears longer before changing up
If you select 3,2 or 1 manually, the car will not change up above that gear. You might use that on downhills

www.e38.org/electran1.pdf
Page 17 would be of interest

[unity]

M in my car is manual and 3rd=Sport.

[CroughtonE32]

This has had me confused from day one. I've played around a little bit with all the gears but my ignorance as to their functions has me hesitant to mess around any further without some hard info from the forum.

What is the A/M selector switch mean and do?
Why does my digi display show A-D as E-D (what is S?)
When should I be using S 3,2,1 aside from controlling downhill speed.
Is M-3,2,1 ever something I should use?

My pdf manual doesn't give me a satisfactory answer to these questions.
I greatly appreciate all answers and opinions.

I have your exact car so I just scanned the two pages in the Owner's Manual for you, to explain.

[chazsandiego]

Much appreciated! That is extremely helpful and exactly what I needed to know.

[shogun]

There are 2 E32 owners manuals for donwload here at the bottom of the site http://www.e38.org/e32/ the one from 1988 does not include the E32 740
Owner's Manuals
1988 BMW 7-series (e32) Owner's Manual (PDF)
1988 BMW promo video introducing the e32 (German, 106MB DIVX)
1992 BMW 7-series (e32) Owner's Manual (PDF)
1992 BMW 750iL New Owner Audio CD (mp3)