Today I went up one of the steepest streets I've seen. My friends and I were looking for a place to park. And at one of the streets, I made a right turn (wrong move) into this mighty steep incline. My friends were telling me to shift, but I didn't because I was too afraid to while the car was moving. I was on D the whole time, and it seemed like gravity was going to pull me down. The hill wasn't that high, but during those few seconds it seemed like it was. Well, my question and concern is did I put any stress on my engine or tranny climbing up the hill on D mode? I mean it was steep! Don't drive a manual up there!

San Fran? seems like tranny should have shifted down for you on it's own......
William Rogers.......

When In Doubt, Always Shift...
 

Especially when you think the hill is too steep. Where do you live? The steepest street in San Francisco is a 43° incline between Hyde and Leavenworth.

Always shift down manually to a lower gear when climbing a steep incline, and use the same gear coming down the same incline...

As far as harm, the transmission should shift down for you when it needs the additional torque, so you are probably ok.

Don't worry. I just climbed the Mt. Washington, NH with my 99 E430 Sport on July 1, 2001. Initialy, I had shifted to third gear. However, I later found out the car was at the second gear most of the time. I found out by shifting to second to see if the RPM would drop.

Also I have found out the car does a great job going down hill. The gear does hold the speed as you decending, the transmission will even downshift temporary to reduce speed.

Car Nut
99 E430 Sport