I was driving Mrs T-7's BMW X-5 tonight & shifted across to manual gear change to use engine braking. I soon discovered that the direction you have to move the lever is the opposite way round to that on my Skoda Kodiaq. On the Skoda it's forward to change up & backwards to change down. On the BMW it's forward to change down & backwards to change up. I'm surprised that there isn't a universal consensus for manufacturers to adhere to. I mean, they always put the accelerator on the right of the brake, for example. Personally I feel that the Skoda has the intuitively correct system