...by the way...anyone interested in my 01 540? :) I'll get it added to the for sale forum soon.

One concern I have with the new one: do these cars (with auto tranny, mind you) really decelerate hard to a stop and, consequently, want to really lunge even when you just left off the brake? I hesitate to say it's idling rough but that's almost what it feels like. It decelerates very hard and really wants to lunge when I let off the brake. I feel an ever-so-slight vibration when idling, too. Car has 66K miles on it. My 01 has the manual 6-spd so I'm wondering if this is just a characteristic of this V-8 with an auto tranny, or if I have inherited a problem? I read a bit about the vanos system and ICV. Anyone have any thoughts? Am I just paranoid because it's new to me?

Just read some of the posts on "transmission slam." I feel like this makes sense although mine deceleration (or "slam") doesn't seem as severe as what some have described. Is this just characteristic of the auto tranny?

If it has had the tranny update due to a "slamming" complaint, then yes.

When I'm decellerating, in stop-and-go traffic for example, I have to be conscious of my car "lunging" forward when coming to stop. You'll noticed your MPG meter will stay pinged to the right (low MPG) until your tranny releases and shifts to a higher gear.

If it has had the tranny update due to a "slamming" complaint, then yes.

When I'm decellerating, in stop-and-go traffic for example, I have to be conscious of my car "lunging" forward when coming to stop. You'll noticed your MPG meter will stay pinged to the right (low MPG) until your tranny releases and shifts to a higher gear.

Well, you're dead on and I was just coming on here to post exactly what you have said here. The MPG does indeed ping all the way to the right until the tranny finally finds first gear when coming to a rolling stop. I'm getting more accustomed to it now (big adjustment coming from my manual tran 01 540i) but it is still noticeable. Just one of the sacrifices we make for performance, I guess? Gotta love these cars...

Thanks for the reply.