Good morning w.nker - have a nice day!

Once again, YOUR reading comprehension skills have failed you.

Read my first post (HINT: I was the first to reply to the OP), I said that
BMW is accomodating errant shifts by locking out the selection of D.

Read my first post to you (HINT: I was the first to reply to your first
reply to the OP), I said that no other car I've encountered has this sort of
lock out.

I've got more general automotive experience than most, my father was the
General Manager of a new car dealership, and he owned a used car dealership
after that. I've been in literally thousands of makes and models of cars and
trucks. Admittedly, the vast majority of them American cars and trucks, and
American car companies tend to all do the same thing most of the time. But,
in my experience, I've driven every major brand of automobile in the world,
with very few exceptions.

In every case, the selection of D is a straight shot after the gear selector
is taken out of P. My daughter's '00 3 Series is the first car I've
encountered where this is not always true. If the car is placed into D, then
placed into N or R (I forget which, and don't really care), the operator
will encounter a lock out that demands depressing the brake pedal or
operating the lock out button, or both (again, I don't know or care) to
select D again.

Automatic transmissions around the globe have gates that the selector must
be moved through to change gears. The gates can be in the form of a button
on the shift lever that the operator must depress, or slots on the shift
rail that the lever must be aligned with, or tabs that are cleared by
pulling up (toward the steering wheel) in order to be cleared. The first two
are found on floor-shift models, the third is found on column-shift models.

The gates are always as such
P-- the gate is encountered to shift into and out of P. Aditionally, since
about 1990 (give or take), the vehicle operator must also depress the brake
pedal in order to shift out of P.

R -- the gate is encountered to shift into R from N. There is no gate to
shift out of R to N. It pains me to state that there is a gate to shift into
R from P because that gate is really to shift out of P.

N -- There is no gate to bar selection of N from any direction.

D -- There is no gate to bar selection of D from any direction, but there is
a gate that bars selection of 2 and 1. The operator can shift from D to N at
any time, but will encounter a gate to select any gear below D if there are
any. (See NOTE below)

2 -- There is a gate that bars selection of this gear and the gear below it
if there is one, but no gate to control the selection of D. The operator can
move from 2 to D by simply moving the gear selector. If there is a physical
gate that the selector must be laterally aligned with to get into 2, the
selector will be spring loaded in such a manner to cause the selector to
return laterally to the D gate without the operator making a conscious
effort.

1 -- There is a gate that bars selection of 1, but does not impede the
selection of 2.

The gate that bars movement out of P is for safety reasons. It prevents the
vehicle from being put into motion inadvertantly. The relatively recent
addition of the Brake Pedal switch to the P gates/lock out is a further
attempt to make automatic transmission equipped cars and trucks safer.

The gate that bars selection of P from another gear selection is intended to
protect the transmission. Inadvertant movement of the shift lever from a
position that allows vehicle movement into P can destroy the transmission.

The gates that bar inadvertant selection of R, or the 2 and 1 gears is also
are an attempt at fail safe -- if the selector is moved to these positions
at an inappropriate time, serious damage to the engine or transmission can
result. Albeit, recent improvements in automatic transmission controllers
might preclude damage by selecting a low range gear at high speeds, the
gates remain. The vehicle operator has to make a decision to select these
gears. The decision may or may not be appropriate at the time, but it has to
be made.

NOTE:
Very recently, it seems that some car makers have added a Brake Pedal switch
to prevent some selections of D. If there is such a switch, it will be for
safety reasons -- the car will be prevented from being put into motion
inadvertantly. If there is any prevention of placing the shift selector into
D from N, it must be inoperative if the vehicle is already in motion.