I have owned this vehicle for just over a year and have noticed a significant delay in the power to motion of the automatic box given certain conditions as follows:

If I approach a road junctions travelling at a reasonable speed (not creeping) and stop.  When I press the accelerator calling for power and motion, I get the power but there is this signiciant delay in obtaining motion.  In fact the motion is delayed in the region of 3-5 secs.  On occasions by the time the gearbox has engaged and the motion starts I have had to take abortive action to prevent an accident as a result of oncoming traffic being much closer.  I have spoken with my local BMW workshop who have informed me there is a built in delay to prevent damage to the gearbox which may be caused but the level of power generated by the engine and desipated in the gearbox.  So basically there is no solution available from BMW.

I would be very interesting to establish if any other readers have experienced this motion delay and what actions they have taken and any solutions found to resolve this problem.

what year was your car? it's better if you drive test the same car and observe. 3-5 secs ain't normal.


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Hi Jimfix,

Since this April, I am driving a BMW 523i (E60) with auto gear for the first time in my life; I got same "delay feelings" like you. The BMW workshop is right, it is really a question of protection of your car gearbox, just give the time to your gearbox to understand what you want to do. In fact this "delay" is in the region of 2,5-3 secs.
The same "delay" you may feel when you are "kicking down" the accelarator pedal for the car to offer its full power.

Hi Kostas

Whilst I have been given the same response from BMW, I do not accept this weak argument from a prestigous manufacturer.  The problem is really due to very poor design maybe through lack of forthought before the actual development of the box.  This delay is not apparent on Mercedes Benz auto boxes and some of their models have far more torque than the BMW 3L diesel.
More concerning to me is BMW are effectively trying to sweep this problem under the carpet when really it is very serious as it inpact directly on the safety quality of their products not to mention their customers and their passengers when travelling in them.  I would have thought it was paramount for BMW good name to sort this out at no cost to their customers and not try and hide behind weak engineering excuses.

I have the E39 model of the above.  There is virtually no delay in kick down or in acceleration from start or near stop, so I would guess that BMW are not telling you the facts.
In fact I am about to fit an accelerator module to reduce the small lag further (available from BMtown), however I cannot remove the screws on the box under the accelerator, nor the plastic cover at the botto.
Can anyone advise how to remove the plastic bottom cover and what head are the screws on the module box.  I have tried pozi, phillips, 3 wing, 4 wing, 2 wing, torx, and allen, but none fit.
Help appreciated, thanks
PS its a June 2001 530dSE touring.  Is there a manual for this car?

I have an 01 Audi A4 with the tiptronic transmission. I have a delay while shifting as well. I have found out that it is for driving comfort. Is your car with the SMG tranny? I THINK that Dinan makes a chip to speed up the shifting times


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86 BMW 325E - Daily Driver
01 Audi A4 - Show/Date car
90 Mazda RX-7 - ???? Project car, i guess

Getting back to the original design issue.  The fact of the matter is this is a BMW design failure and one that may place their owners and passengers personal safety at considerable and uneccessary risk.  There may well be third party companies who develop devices which may to some extent mask the design failure but are we not missing the point here.  This is a BMW problem, they should face up to this and not hide behind the parapits.

Together we have the voice to force BMW to listen.  The first stage is for everyone who has experienced this takeoff delay was to go to their local dealer and demand the problem is registered and investigated through to a BMW approved solution.  

(You should be prepared to be fobbed off with the talk of excessive power from the engine.  This is absolute rubbish because if the gearbox electronic operating system worked faster the gearbox would be ready for take off and the need to increase the right foot power would not arise.)