Hello,
I get in my car this morning to go to school, start it up, go to shift it into drive, but it won't move. The button won't even go down. What's going on? In the FAQ they have an article but they are talking about 900's. I have a 1991 740 A/T. A few month's ago it wouldn't go into 4th gear for like a day, but it hasn't done it since. I don't know if that has anything to do with anything.

Thanks, Bryan

Yeah, like Chris says, its the shift interlock. There's a solenoid in the bottom of hte shifter that should noticeably click when you are in Park and apply the brake. It ought to click on and off when the brake lights go on.
You have the first year for this feature. Therefore, the oldest of the parts out there... I'm surprised it took this long. We replaced a ton of these...
You'll probably need to go to the dealer to get that solenoid. Anyone selling OEM parts can probably order it for you, if you can wait a few days.
Good luckwith it.
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Rob Bareiss, New London CT ::: 86 244DL, 87 244DL, 88 744GLE, 91 244: 808K total

The shift interlock switch isn't working, or the fuse is blown or something.

You can get around it by putting your finger into the brushes in the shift area, where it says "shift lock". There is a little yellow bar in there. Pull it up until it clicks, and you can get the car out of park.

If the "shift lock" text wore off of the console, just reach into the brushes where it says "L" on the indicator. All the way back, basically.

When did they start putting a shiftlock in? In my car you can shift from any gear (P-R-N-D-2-1) at any time. I don't have to press my foot into the brake to shift.
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-Brandon at FSU '88 744ti 150k miles

I'm almost positive that 1991 was the launch year for the shift lock on most if not all of the model line. That's something that manufacturers would probably roll out all in one year. Otherwise they'd open themselves up to lawsuits if they made some cars that way but not all...

I was wondering that. I was told my a cop to buy one of the anti-theft devices that prevent the brake pedal from being pressed down. In theory, this prevents someone from changing gears and thus they can't steal the car...however, it looks like my car would prove otherwise. Good thing i moved away from the campus.
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-Brandon at FSU '88 744ti 156k miles