Just curious about if any Z4 owners with Automatic transmission use the steptronic mode, how often, and do you like it?
I have an 07 Z4 Coupe with automatic/steptronic, but I rarely use it in that mode. Guess I have just gotten lazy as I got older. If anything, I use the "sport" mode more, and let the transmission figure out when to shift. I'm pretty sure if I were to somehow meet my 25-year-old-self somehow, he would probably kick my butt for acting that way...
Sometimes... I've only had my Z4 for a month, so I'm still babying her. About half my cars have been manual transmissions, so I found the Steptronic manual mode took a little getting used to in that it shifts more like a motorcycle. I'm starting to enjoy it at times, but I'm really spoiled with automatic in sport mode.
I don't see how those with Steptronic transmissions can possibly avoid it. Heck, if I was forced to use a Steppy and the settings were programmable, I'd have it default to Steptronic the second the car was started...
What?! No and no. That is, Steptronic is merely BMW's term for their automatic (Porsche calls them Tiptronic transmissions). Do you mean, do people use the "manual" mode? I can tell you that whenever Party A finds herself in a car with an automatic, it gets slapped into FM (faux manual) as soon as she starts it. I tend to just slap 'em over to Sport, especially if it's one of the new eight-speed ZFs.
Paddle Shifters!! My Z4 is ALWAYS in Sport Mode and shifted with the Paddle Shifters...it shifts A LOT faster and I get to decide when to shift up/down depending on the driving environment (which the computer cannot see!). Some folks complain about the fact that the shifters are not set up like Formula 1 (one = up; one = down), they don't like them, but I personally like them because: (1) you can drive with one hand and shift, and (2) sometimes you have to a hand off the wheel to turn, and you might want to shift right then, which you still can with the present setup. Freude am Fahren (und Schalten mit Paddles)...
