F10 M5 Owners, How do you select park ?

[AM47]

I have had the car less than a week, when taking delivery noticed there is no Park position on gear selector sales person says it doesn't have one and I have to put it in neutral and put parking brake on, only goes into Park electronically when engine is shut off. So what happens if I am waiting for someone do I have to leave it in neutral with parking brake on, which I did yesterday and got a warning of unsafe condition select park. Aside from turning the engine off does anyone know how to select park ?

Thanks, Don

[GTR-Dad]

Originally Posted by AM47

I have had the car less than a week, when taking delivery noticed there is no Park position on gear selector sales person says it doesn't have one and I have to put it in neutral and put parking brake on, only goes into Park electronically when engine is shut off. So what happens if I am waiting for someone do I have to leave it in neutral with parking brake on, which I did yesterday and got a warning of unsafe condition select park. Aside from turning the engine off does anyone know how to select park ?

Thanks, Don

Leave the car in gear (fwd or rev) and shut it off.

If you shift to N, then shut it off, you get the opportunity to roll freely.

Dan

[singularity]

AM47 I agree, it's very annoying and you can't put it in P without turning off the car

[lumberman]

I don't find it annoying, put to N and apply hand brand is my usual practice

but I don't understand why they warning sign comes off

[mhh]

Originally Posted by GTR-Dad

Leave the car in gear (fwd or rev) and shut it off.

+1

[SleepTight]

I'm all but certain that BMW did this to discourage idling in park with the engine on. Concerns related to emissions, gas mileage, etc. from an activity that doesn't require the engine to be running.

[HHSAM]

When you close the car

Press the ignition button again

So Put it on N

Raise handbrake

Press ignition button to turn off the car

Then press it again to engage Park gear

[GTR-Dad]

Originally Posted by AM47

Aside from turning the engine off does anyone know how to select park ?

Hey, I missed this line orignally. Sorry to tell you what you already knew!

I've been a 6MT guy up until now, so the concept of Park is actually quite foreign to me.

[singularity]

From my experience, even if you leave it on N and leave the car, it will roll 1 meter and stop. There's some system in the car that doesn't let it roll when it sees that there's no driver.

[04S]

Yep. Only way I know is to switch it off. The warning is very annoying because I am not aware of any other way to get it into P - so I keep wondering why it is warning me about something I can't do. Maybe it is a hang over from the AT in the regular 5 series.

[AM47]

Thanks, just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something obvious

[deathray]

As far as I know the M5 does not have a 'park' position, on or off. Putting the car into park in a traditional auto (i.e. a transmission with a torque converter) actually engages a parking pawl that locks the drive shaft. Since the DCT in the M5 is a modified manual transmission (i.e. has a clutch (2) to connect the gearbox to the drive shaft, but, in our case is not driver controlled) it has no parking pawl. 'Park' in any manual transmission vehicle basically consists of putting the vehicle in gear to put a very heavy load (the shaft load) onto the wheels in order to prevent them from turning. If you choose, you can then also pull the parking break which clamps the breaks on the rear wheels providing more resistance to wheel rotation.

The sound you hear after you turn your car off is the transmission putting the vehicle back in gear in order to load the wheels. When the vehicle is on and you are stopped, but still 'in gear', the clutch is disengaged to prevent the car from stalling.

In short, the M5 does not have a park function. When the car is off (provided you do not leave it in N, which you should not do) the transmission is engaged in order to stop movement. When stopped while the car is on, the clutch is disengaged; essentially, the car is in neutral. If you want to wait for someone while the car is on, just pull the park break and relax.

The warning the car gives you when it is turned off in N is telling you that it can still roll because the wheels are not connected to the engine load.

[AttyGunther]

Wow, I guess you learn something new every day... This will be my first M car, and I never knew it didn't have a "traditional" park position. My Z4 has a DCT with the typical gear selector and a park position, so this will take some getting used to!

[clar]

Originally Posted by deathray

As far as I know the M5 does not have a 'park' position, on or off. Putting the car into park in a traditional auto (i.e. a transmission with a torque converter) actually engages a parking pawl that locks the drive shaft. Since the DCT in the M5 is a modified manual transmission (i.e. has a clutch (2) to connect the gearbox to the drive shaft, but, in our case is not driver controlled) it has no parking pawl. 'Park' in any manual transmission vehicle basically consists of putting the vehicle in gear to put a very heavy load (the shaft load) onto the wheels in order to prevent them from turning. If you choose, you can then also pull the parking break which clamps the breaks on the rear wheels providing more resistance to wheel rotation.

The sound you hear after you turn your car off is the transmission putting the vehicle back in gear in order to load the wheels. When the vehicle is on and you are stopped, but still 'in gear', the clutch is disengaged to prevent the car from stalling.

In short, the M5 does not have a park function. When the car is off (provided you do not leave it in N, which you should not do) the transmission is engaged in order to stop movement. When stopped while the car is on, the clutch is disengaged; essentially, the car is in neutral. If you want to wait for someone while the car is on, just pull the park break and relax.

The warning the car gives you when it is turned off in N is telling you that it can still roll because the wheels are not connected to the engine load.

What i do not understand is that when i have the car in N, but with parking brake engaged and turn the car off, it still gives me the warning. It's only when you press the start/stop button once more (without pressing the brake pedal) that the warning goes away. I would think with parking brake engaged in N is akin to a manual car in N with handbrake pulled.

[HHSAM]

Guyz

i answered the question and you keep arguing

[M-bitious]

The upside is that when you start the engine you don't have to move the lever around. It always starts in any position.

[deathray]

Originally Posted by clar

What i do not understand is that when i have the car in N, but with parking brake engaged and turn the car off, it still gives me the warning. It's only when you press the start/stop button once more (without pressing the brake pedal) that the warning goes away. I would think with parking brake engaged in N is akin to a manual car in N with handbrake pulled.

It is basically the same as a manual in N with the handbreak pulled. All the warning is telling you is that if you dont engage the handbreak, the vehicle can roll. Next time, when you see the warning, move the shift selector to D. Doing so should make the warning go away. To an extent the warning is a bit of a relic. On the old handbreaks, if you didnt pull them hard enough, they would stop the vehicle from rolling against a small force, but, if the vehicle was hit hard enough it still had a chance of rolling (instead of sliding or crumpling). Ive heard a few stories (though never seen it) that a car has rolled on an incline after a while because the handbreak wasnt pulled hard enough and it was left in N. If the vehicle is in gear, it cannot roll period.

[stealth.pilot]

So if you are stopped at the traffic light, do you have to keep your foot on the brake to prevent the car moving forward (like in an auto), or will it stay still in first gear without throttle application?

Does it have a built-in feature which is like the Auto Handbrake in the 550i?

[mhh]

Originally Posted by stealth.pilot

So if you are stopped at the traffic light, do you have to keep your foot on the brake to prevent the car moving forward (like in an auto), or will it stay still in first gear without throttle application?

Does it have a built-in feature which is like the Auto Handbrake in the 550i?

No and No.

[sham]

Hi,
IMHO, the best answer was given by deathray:
The new M5 has a MANUAL gearbox. It is not an automatic, thus it wont roll when no brakes applied and it can't have a P Position.
There is just a Computer shifting gear that's why they can do a manual gearbox for the US market.
Still I agree the warning can be unpleasant.
Knowledge from BMW M Tour
Having waited 3 months, still need to wait 5 weeks for my car. I am sure you know what i am feeling

[stealth.pilot]

Originally Posted by mhh

No and No.

I don't understand this though. Is it in neutral when you are stopped at the lights or is it in gear? If it is in neutral then doesn't this slow down your launch because you have to get in gear? or is it automatically applying the clutch?

Also if the road surface isn't level. wouldn't the car roll unless you keep your foot on the brake?

[phish_100]

The car does roll if your foot is off the brake and you're on a hill. So I guess you cant be in any gear :-/