SporTronic vs Traditional Auto

[Flatsix]

I am looking to by a ti here in the next couple of weeks and it needs to be an automatic (for a host of reasons). My questions: Are there any particular issues around relieability or performance between the SporTronic auto/manual gearbox versus the tradition 318ti automatic. Is the SporTronic more or less prone to failure? Lastly, in "D" (drive) is there any impact to RPM increase/decrease while on the freeway. I don't particularly need the SportTronic but have found a car with this type of gearbox and am wondering what the benefit/liabilities are if I were to purchase a SportTronic car. Thanks in advance.

[tiFreak]

sportronic? the ti's automatic transmission is just a plain old automatic, whoever wrote the ad must be confused

[eshtebah]

Could be confused with the "sport mode" setting on the auto transmission. I assume it is E36 and not E46 which has sportronic.

[Flatsix]

Yes. There is a small button which to the left of the automatic gear selector which indicates A/M (assuming Auto/manual). Transmission selections include 1-3, D, R, and P (Park). What I am curious about is what the difference is between the Auto and Manual mode when the gear box is selected. The gear box is an automatic in either mode.

I don't believe that all auto gear-boxes had this switch to change from Auto to "Manual" however I could be incorrect.

[mohaughn]

All e36 automatics have that feature. Nothing special or different about the one you are looking at.

[tiFreak]

when you have it on "M" you can make it hold the gear you set it to, if you shift it manually it's not good for the transmission

[Flatsix]

Thanks for the info. Like a bonehead I just came across another car that has the same feature. Thanks all for your posts however. Very informative.

[vsonix]

Originally Posted by eshtebah

Could be confused with the "sport mode" setting on the auto transmission. I assume it is E36 and not E46 which has sportronic.

it's called 'steptronic' on the e46, AFAIK never available on the e36 since it didn't come in until the e46 had been out a while. The family 320i has it and it's quite nice to drive, for an automatic. You have 5 gears, either have it in full-auto mode, full-auto 'sport' mode (holds revs to near redline) or 'Manual Mode' in which case you press the shifter up to shift up, down to shift down. It will still shift up by itself if it thinks the engine is gonna get damaged from over-revving, and it automatically downshifts back to second when you come to a near-standstill. There's about a second delay between activating the stick and the gear actually changing, which when you are used to near-instant shifting with a manual takes a little getting used to...

Generally though I tend not to bother with manual mode, since you don't need to slip into neutral when stopped, I tend to forget it's switched on and rev the f@ck out of 2nd gear when pulling away, like a n00b. Plus progress is still pretty swift in normal auto mode anyway. I imagine it's probably more fun on something with a bit more poke than the 320 with the ASC+T off.

[Maverix]

When you press the "M" button, Drive becomes 4th gear, and 3rd is no longer auto sport mode, but actually 3rd gear.