2007 E63. Great transmisison, great ratios, but stupid software programming.

My car is very slow to shift down in manual mode - takes what seems like a full second for each gear, and even then, will not allow me to shift 4, 3, 2, 1 in less than 5 seconds or so as I come to a stop. (Note that I am talking about speeds that would not result in engine over-revving). I believe that the software has too many nannies built into it. (I have another car with the ZF 6 speed, and it shifts down criply whenever I tell it, and does as many gears as I want, (while of course being smart enough to not permit downshifts that would over-rev the engine).

Tried the gas pedal reset trick. No help - (that only seems to help reset the memory for shift points in the auto mode). Took it to dealer to get latest software patches, and now it is worse. Now when I come to a gentle stop, in sport mode, and I apply gas gently, the car "hesitates" as though it is trying to decide what gear to start out in, even when the display clearly shows that it IS alreday in 1st gear.

Are any of you seeing similar things?
Any solutions/suggestions?

Thanks