[droftrah]

Likely that my next order will be an LCI M60i X5. I drive my current X3 M40 in manual 95% of the time and out of that time, I usually prefer the stick to change up and down over the paddles, plus it’s in the perfect spot for your hand to rest on.

Now I guess we’re forced to use the paddles only and there’s nothing to grab in the console… not a fan of the new design but I know a lot of people don’t drive with their hand on the shifter and only use the paddles or just only drive in D, so it’s a cleaner look and one less thing in the way.

I see both sides, but as “drivers cars” they are taking away a performance feature by removing the ability to change gears with the stick.

One guy on Facebook in the M340i group retrofitted the pre-LCI shifter unit to get the stick back and he said it worked plug and play… might go down this road if it’s possible or should I start getting used to no more traditional gearshifts in cars because it looks like also Porsche and Audi, etc are getting rid of the ability to change gears with the shifter as well.

Curious if anyone else has strong opinions on this

[jad03060]

To shift with the stick on the console, you have to remove your hand from the steering wheel. It's faster and safer to just use the paddles. There are very few manual transmissions still out there for non-commercial use, and many of them have also gone to automatics as they can be more efficient and shift faster.

So, doesn't bother me at all. My i3 that I drove for 8 years didn't have a stick, either, but it only had F-N-R knob...it was a single speed transmission, but that didn't bother me, either.

[Tejas1836]

I'm glad they kept the shifter on the ///M
I rarely use paddle shifters

[Matt 335is]

Good riddance. Much more appealing interior with less clutter.
Don't care about manually changing gears in X5.

[eelnoraa]

I also like the less clutter without the shifter. My son is just old enough now, he will climb from his car seat in 2nd row to me when I part. It seems just matter of time, the shifter will be broken. 😅

[jad03060]

I had one careless passenger reach to get something and knocked the stick into neutral one time...wouldn't have likely happened with the new design. Not a common occurrence, but it took me a moment to realize what had happened.

[XGoober]

The shifter is a must-have for me. When I decide to shift manually I will usually mix the paddles and stick. When making a sharp turn, say from a red light, that first shift into second tends to come at a time where the right paddle is now on the left side of the wheel. It is much more intuitive to use the console shifter in those circumstances. In any really spirited driving, you will frequently need to shift when the paddles are well out of position.

[1230vani]

I often put shifter to the left just to get to DS before turn. After the turn move back (right) to D. How is that possible with the new shifter?

[lknbimmers]

Call me old school but I prefer to have the shifter.

[BMPHIL]

Originally Posted by lknbimmers

Call me old school but I prefer to have the shifter.

+1

[JK479]

Originally Posted by Matt 335is

Good riddance. Much more appealing interior with less clutter.
Don't care about manually changing gears in X5.

We have crystal- it’s beautiful. Less crystal now. I’ll miss if I “upgrade”.

[viperdoc]

I keep my hand on the shifter while driving most of the time. It's in a perfect spot. So I like it. It is also really satisfying to shift it to the left when I need the ICE to kick on abruptly in my 45e. The way BMW uses the shifter was one of the things I really liked when I bought my first one. Really sad that it is going to way of Acura

[sparrky]

Just make it another stalk like a Tesla.

[jiggie]

Ugly. When cross shopping, we liked having the shifter compared to some of the other options out there.

[Chuck W.]

I saw it in person at the dealership when I dropped off my car for serve. Not a fan as far as looks. Can't speak to function, but I can imagine it would take some getting use to.

[kkratochvil]

I haven't seen the toggle switch in-person yet. I like the shifter. Especially with the crystal package, the shifter with the illuminated "X" in it is simply cool...

[Flying Ace]

I prefer to grab a knob

[nZtiZia]

I also rest my hand on the shifter while driving. it’s quick to tilt it left for Sport M/S Program (45e). curious how it’s done on the 50e; if it’s a button to look down at and press, that’s distracting and time-consuming

[TurtleBoy]

Originally Posted by Flying Ace

I prefer to grab a knob

Let the jokes begin.

[MystroX5]

Hate the micro shifter switch. It’s a glorified window switch.
A proper shifter looks better and is more functional. I had versions of the dial shifter on a Ram truck, RR, etc… and I never got use to using it and felt it was more of a gimmick and caused more confusion than what it was worth. The BMW micro shifter doesn’t save any more space than the crystal shifter it replaced.

And a proper shifter looks more elegant while being functional.

[jad03060]

The average person puts it in drive and just goes...some love manually rowing through the gears, but in reality, the computer does a better job. Whatever floats your boat.

[eelnoraa]

I am definitely the rare one. Even in my 6 speed manual cars, I don’t touch the shifter unless I am shifting. In g05, I used manual mode during break in period to varies gears and RPM if when I got bored. And now I only push to left to avoid engine shutting off when I come to stop. All these refer to using sport mode, of course. This is my family car, when I drive it I always will have wife and 2’kids. If I do anything funny, wife will kick me out and ask me to drive another car and follow them instead. 😂😂