Method for controlling an element of a drive train of a vehicle and control unit for performing said method

The present invention relates to a method for controlling an element of a drive train, which is influenceable by an operating device, in a vehicle, and a control unit for carrying out the method. A method and device are described for controlling an element of a drive train, which is influenceable by an operating device, in a vehicle having a control unit and a storage device, the element and/or the operating device being implementable in different variants. In this case, at least one identifier is stored in the storage device, the identifier representing the respective variant of the element and/or of the operating element which is contained in the vehicle. The element is controlled by the control unit as a function of the respective identifier in accordance with the respective variant. At the same time, different states of the respective variant of the element are selected, in particular through the operating means, an identifier being assigned for each possible state. The respective identifier contains control information, and the control unit analyzes the control information of the identifier and controls the respective variant of the element in accordance with the analysis of the control information.