Hi Ben, my 530 has the adaptive auto 5 speed with the A and S selector.
When cold, my tranny also holds a little longer than I would normally expect from an auto, but I think this is just a by product of the style of trans.
Mine also does lots of other neat stuff, like hold in a gear if you back off suddenly (like during hard cornering) and will down shift automatically as the road speed drops unlike most other autos that will coast to a stop before down shifting to low..
This is my first experiance with such a smart system, and it is the closest thing to a manual that I have ever had in an auto.
Others here may have a different slant on this but I beleive you may spend a lot of time and effort without any major change in what you see happening.
Ref the noise and fluid leak from the front left, I think that may be the power steering fluid as I have seen a number of V8's with seepage from around there and it always came back to the steering.
The noise maybe as a result of lower than optimum fluid levels, but I think there is a warning light for that.
Do you have the radio/stereo on? I get alternator noise coming back through an FM modulated CD stacker I have fitted, especally noticable when the headlights are on (system under load) and the CD is quiet between tracks. I'm planning a inductor fit to the power supply to try and cut this noise off at the pass.
The fuel pump on mine is on the Left hand firewall and it makes a noticable noise when the engine is not running but the ignition is on.
Does the noise go up and down with engine speed?