in which gear to tow with f30 autobox?

[m0lt3n]

Hi guys. Just wanted to know should i tow a heavyish trailer in auto or 7th gear? Which will be best for the gearbox?

In auto the 330d has enough power to tow in 8th but my concern is with the longevity of that 8th gear. In general the overdrive gears are physically very small and should wear heavily when stressed this way. All inputs will be apreciated

 

[NoFear]

I know with the American vechiles you cant tow in overdrive as they overheat even with a light load. It states it actually in the manual to avoid overdrive when towing . I am also interested to find out if this is the case with the bimmers. However I did not read any warnings in our manuals regarding towing. ( hopefully I did not miss that part)

 

[Clownshoe]

Overdrive not good for towing.

 

[Maljan]

I once met a guy who used his Opel to tow a caravan that was just a bit too big. Anything that even looked like an uphill needed third gear. It didn't take a lot of trips to wear out the third gear synchros.

 

[m0lt3n]

Jap. In-car manual states nothing on this.

 

[Pho3niX90]

This is a good question. I would usually tow in a gear that would keep the rpms high so theres enough power.

 

[Chucky]

Id say just tow in normal auto.

 

[frs1]

Tow in auto the box will decide !!! They are clever enough these days. I tow a 1.5ton caravan and the box is most of the times in final drive

 

[terrynew]

+1.. Once in top gear the box will automatically change if any strain detected. If you going a constant speed then it should be no strain on the box:bin: