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I find when driving in a relaxed mode, that letting the rpms rise under partial acceleration to 4-5K produce butter smooth shifts. The engine loves to rev, and you can live around town in 3rd gear.
Try driving down the road in 3rd with the revs around 5K. Role onto the gas a bit and shift into 4th between 6 and 7K. It doesn't get any better. This car simply isn't meant to be shifted between 2 and 3 rpm. Once you learn to drive the car properly, it is simply an awesome setup.
As far as conserving fuel... I tried it once, and yes, the car can get a few extra miles per gallon if you granny foot it. To me though it was pure torture. Drive it like you want, and plan on getting 15 mpg combined. If you can't live with 15, you should not be driving an M car... Trust me... the last thing the BMW engineers are thinking about when designing M cars is fuel economy.
STEP ON THE GAS and enjoy your car.
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