Put DCT into neutral without starting my car?

[NFAM3]

You have to lift the shift boot. There you will find a lever. You insert the screw driver that's included with your car into the little hole and you push up or down, i forget. But it's the only direction allowed. I had to learn this to tow my e92.

[Reach]

Originally Posted by NFAM3

You have to lift the shift boot. There you will find a lever. You insert the screw driver that's included with your car into the little hole and you push up or down, i forget. But it's the only direction allowed. I had to learn this to tow my e92.

This is only on the E92, not the F8x.

[BMW M4 PWR]

This makes for Reason #12 on why I ordered mine with the 6-spd MT from the factory lol

[Fake News 2017]

Originally Posted by cwhands

Should've bought a 6MT.

#savethemanuals

Whatever

[Dranter]

Originally Posted by logicalunit

Yeah, the car has some built-in potential flaws that affect its long-term durability. Hopefully not first owner issues, but the probability is there. One owner had a small accident that crushed the oil radiator (arguably another design flaw), the car needed to be towed since all oil drained out but the problem was that the car was blocking the road. The police basically instructed to get the car removed from the scene asap and long story short, the engine was started multiple times to get the car into neutral... resulted in a 40.000 euro garage bill.

Don't like the thought of blocking a road for over an hour just because you can't get the car into neutral, that's not only crazy but obviously in some occasions extremely dangerous as well.

1:1 happened to me. Unfortunately this is a MASSIVE oversight in my opinion. I understand the argument of reducing thieves' success chance but in my case and some you know, this caused more damage to the car than the actual accident that caused her to have damaged coolers in the first place.

[slavearm]

Keep a set of these in your trunk.

http://rigging.com/dollies-and-skate...mnIaAjNz8P8HAQ

[redpriest]

In my E92, the DCT neutral override was hidden underneath the shifter itself - you would pop out the leather cover, and there was a lever on the left side that you would uncover and slot forward with a screwdriver.

Would the same thing work for f82? I'd check but mine is a manual.

EDIT: Wow, I guess there isn't a way...

http://f80.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho...1052180&page=1

[BuLoOoSki]

To my understanding from when I had my car worked on by GMWNashville, the only way to put the transmission in neutral if you can't start the car is by manually pulling the parking lock release lever on the side of the transmission under the car.

[Race82]

Originally Posted by scottn2retro

I've seen somebody with an e92 M3 race car with DCT rig up a release lever positioned up by the shifter to be able to put the car in neutral. We will probably do something very similar.

But in the meantime for us, we have a battery cutoff switch that allows us to disconnect power to the car while in neutral. Before we had that, and when the car had to go to the cage builder, we disconnected the ground cable on the battery when the car was in neutral. And it stayed like that thru the entire cage build process.

Any update on this issue? Tracking my M4 regularly and worried about being stranded on the side of track (due to limp, mechanical or driver error) and not being able to get it into Neutral to be towed. In Oz they don't care and will just drag you back to pits by tow truck - which would kill the box. Any solutions for release lever by wire or even removing/adjusting the park brake system instead?

[TMD29]

I haven't tried this yet, but I assume the operating lever can be accessed from inside the cabin under the shifter.

View post on imgur.com

[CaryTheLabelGuy]

Originally Posted by TMD29

I haven't tried this yet, but I assume the operating lever can be accessed from inside the cabin under the shifter.

View post on imgur.com

There is only way to get to this DCT lock pawl release and that's from under the car. It's a really dumb design decision by BMW.

[TMD29]

That would explain why ISTA+ left those instructions out.

[CaryTheLabelGuy]

Originally Posted by TMD29

That would explain why ISTA+ left those instructions out.

ISTA/D has them and they specifically state that you have to access this from under the car.

Again, unbelievably dumb on BMW's part.

[mrduder]

Originally Posted by MaX PL

why can't you just shut it down in neutral?

Shutting it down in neutral automatically throws it into park as soon as the car shuts down

[Race82]

Originally Posted by CaryTheLabelGuy

There is only way to get to this DCT lock pawl release and that's from under the car. It's a really dumb design decision by BMW.

Completely - imagine breaking down, accident or electrical fault on track and the only way to get the car off is be craned or drag the car back to the pits and ruin the gearbox, so dumb.... Not like u can get under the car in the gravel traps mid session after an 'off' to jack the car up, take of the undertray, get to the tranny to put it into neutral!!!. Surely one of the performance or tuning shops have a work around? Could be the best M4/3 mod yet...

[Race82]

Originally Posted by TMD29

I haven't tried this yet, but I assume the operating lever can be accessed from inside the cabin under the shifter.

View post on imgur.com

So does anybody know by 'permanently unlocking', does that mean the park brake won't work at all while in this position? Not ideal as handy to have a park brake sometimes (even in a track car), but could be the best option if there's no work around....

[CaryTheLabelGuy]

Originally Posted by awbmw

So does anybody know by 'permanently unlocking', does that mean the park brake won't work at all while in this position? Not ideal as handy to have a park brake sometimes (even in a track car), but could be the best option if there's no work around....

This just means the parking pawl inside the DCT transmission won't engage. You'd have to rely on the parking brake 100%, like a manual transmission that you leave in neutral.

You should be using the parking brake anyway, as relying on the parking pawl completely isn't a good idea.

[Race82]

Originally Posted by CaryTheLabelGuy

This just means the parking pawl inside the DCT transmission won't engage. You'd have to rely on the parking brake 100%, like a manual transmission that you leave in neutral.

You should be using the parking brake anyway, as relying on the parking pawl completely isn't a good idea.

Yeah so just to confirm, in the situation of being stranded on track with no power to car this option works well as the pawl can't be engaged, therefore if the actual handbrake is not engaged (pulled up) you can tow it without damaging the gearbox as the pawl isn't locked in.... But in the Workshop you could still use the handbrake if needed...is that right?

[CaryTheLabelGuy]

Originally Posted by awbmw

Yeah so just to confirm, in the situation of being stranded on track with no power to car this option works well as the pawl can't be engaged, therefore if the actual handbrake is not engaged (pulled up) you can tow it without damaging the gearbox as the pawl isn't locked in.... But in the Workshop you could still use the handbrake if needed...is that right?

Yes. The handbrake and the DCT parking pawl are two completely different and un-related mechanisms.

The DCT parking pawl is the DCT's "park" and is engaged with the engine is shut off and car shut down completely. You can hear it engage when you shut the car completely down - it sounds like a small clunk as it engages. The DCT itself operates very similar to a manual so when the engine isn't running, there is no hydraulic line pressure in the DCT and therefore the clutches are disengaged and are naturally in a "neutral" position. The parking pawl is what prevents the car from rolling, should you forgot to engage the handbrake.

The handbrake engages the mechanical handbrake mechanism on the rear brake calipers.

[scottn2retro]

Originally Posted by mrduder

Shutting it down in neutral automatically throws it into park as soon as the car shuts down

Actually, I believe there is a delay. We were able to keep our car in neutral for weeks, but shutting it down in neutral and then disconnecting the battery.

[CaryTheLabelGuy]

Originally Posted by scottn2retro

Actually, I believe there is a delay. We were able to keep our car in neutral for weeks, but shutting it down in neutral and then disconnecting the battery.

As long as you disconnect the battery before totally shutting down the car (by pushing the start/stop button only once), this will work. But as soon as you shut the car down by hitting the start/stop button twice, the parking pawl is engaged and thus can't be disengaged unless the engine is cranked and the DCT is placed in either D or R.

[AustinGelbM4]

Originally Posted by CaryTheLabelGuy

This just means the parking pawl inside the DCT transmission won't engage. You'd have to rely on the parking brake 100%, like a manual transmission that you leave in neutral.

You should be using the parking brake anyway, as relying on the parking pawl completely isn't a good idea.

Has anybody actually done it or is it just theory for now?