I just picked up a nice used 1995 Ti with 108k....so I think. I am not sure if this is a problem, but I suspect it is. Car shifts at slightly higher rpms when cold then settles in to nice smooth shifts around town, when warm. When I get on the highway, car accelerates nicely till cruising speed. At light throttle around 65 mph and 3000rpm I notice the tack moves around 4-500 rpm like the tranny is slipping or something. If I hit gas the car settles in and accelerates with no problem. I changed out the filter and put in 4qts of ATF last night. The owners manual indicates 3.5 qts but at warm idle the pan was still not topped off at 4 so I stopped. I took 2.5 qts out when I drained it originally. The pan had some aluminum like powder in it and around the magnet. Of course I cleaned it up nicely. Car shifts a bit better but still gets that fluctuatiuon on the highway. Is this just how these cars shift??? I still got like 28mpg on my first tankful so it's running good.
When it is cold and it shifts in higher RPMs, that's normal. A while back, I read that it is set like that to warm the car up a little faster. That used to bother me too, but then i learned how to drive the car in manual mode, (pushing the M on the A-M switch right next to the gear selector) where i can shift the gears myself.
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97 Jet Black 318ti Sport. Not so stock anymore!.... Now Featuring:318ti.org sticker Now featuring: Hartge exhaust|Blacked out Grilles|Front Clear Corners or Ambers depending on how I feel|325is vented front brakes|Bilstein Sports|H&R Sports|E46 RSMs w/ Z3 reinforcment plates|16" Style 45s|17" E46 M68 rims|18" Authentic Hartge Classics C|OEM M135 ZHP wheels and 99 Titan Silver 323is Dinan S1+few more mods Coming sometime in the future:...SCed 2.1...new (to me) car mod maybe?...all in one car
the 4 speed automatic trans on the car is really rough in its shifting when cold, and a little bit rough when warm. This is normal for these transmissions.
I've heard that it's programmed that way so the catalytic converter will "heat up" faster, so it's more effective early on. This might be complete BS, but it what I heard.