[Chrisvir]

Hi guys,

Just yesterday received my first BMW m340i (super exhited so far) love the car. As currenty i'm in the break in period of the car I was wondering what's the main differences between Sport and Sport Plus?

Also can i use those two modes in the break in period (I will not cross the 4.500 rev limit of course)

P.S the guys at the dealership mentioned that the cars are ready to go from the factory and i don't need to break in.. I'm a bit sceptical about that, what is your opinion?

Many thanks.

Chris

[Bc2005]

Ignore the dealer - BMW does specify a break-in period, but it’s quite short. If someone can’t hold off and follow the guidelines for 1200 miles, maybe they aren’t mature enough to have a new car. Or it’s a leased vehicle and they don’t really care (another maturity issue).

AFAIK, you can use any drive mode you want during break-in as long as you follow the rpm guidelines. It’s also best to drive under conditions where the rpm goes up and down frequently, not a constant highway rpm. A nice winding rural road is a usually good choice.

Sport plus definitely opens up both exhaust pipes and changes the exhaust tone. It also makes the transmission down-shift automatically as you slow down so you get more engine sound and more power. I’d have to check the manual to find the other differences in the engine and transmission settings. You can also configure sport individual, if you want some sport features, but not all.

Also experiment with clicking the shifter over to the manual mode. If you just click it over to manual it will initially still shift normally, but probably never engage the top two gears. However, once you click one of the paddles it will change to full manual and you will have to shift up and down. You might want to also change to the sport mode display so you can see the tach in the HUD.
I find that a quick click over to manual is really good for highway merges. It usually drops down at least one gear, and then holds it in lower gears longer to get better acceleration.

[Montaver]

Yes you can use whatever mode you like. Car break in is a contentious topic. I’ve broken in cars by the manual, I’ve driven them hard from the get go. For a mass produced engine like the B58 I would warm it up, do some gentle pulls to a higher RPM then let engine braking slow the car. After the first couple of hundred miles I would just drive it normally after that. Main thing for any car is always keep the revs below 3-3.5k until the oil is warm.

[james1138]

There is a break in period. A guy at the dealership told me to drive it like I stole it. But if you check the manual it says 1200 miles, don’t floor it (ever), not to exceed 100mph and I think keep it under 4000 RPMs. I did my best but I’m sure I broke some of those rules but I tried to take it seriously and I always let my car warm up before I drove it. But I can tell you, unless you’re a corpse, you’ll find it very hard to stick to those rules 100% of the time until 1200 miles. Definitely waited to launch it after the break in period.

Have fun!

[G30M]

Originally Posted by Chrisvir

Hi guys,

Just yesterday received my first BMW m340i (super exhited so far) love the car. As currenty i'm in the break in period of the car I was wondering what's the main differences between Sport and Sport Plus?

Also can i use those two modes in the break in period (I will not cross the 4.500 rev limit of course)

P.S the guys at the dealership mentioned that the cars are ready to go from the factory and i don't need to break in.. I'm a bit sceptical about that, what is your opinion?

Many thanks.

Chris

s/sp - suspension and steering same

sport - gas pedal response less aggresive than sport plus

sport - gear changes slower and less aggressive and will use lower gears

but there is another mode

Sport plus - Sport mode - that is the most aggressive mode

[Chrisvir]

Originally Posted by g21

s/sp - suspension and steering same

sport - gas pedal response less aggresive than sport plus

sport - gear changes slower and less aggressive and will use lower gears

but there is another mode

Sport plus - Sport mode - that is the most aggressive mode

Whats that other mode you mentioned

[G30M]

Flick the gear switch and you get separate layer of sport mode

[james1138]

Originally Posted by g21

Flick the gear switch and you get separate layer of sport mode

When you flick it into Sport you have to use the paddle shifters, right?

[G30M]

Originally Posted by james1138

When you flick it into Sport you have to use the paddle shifters, right?

nope full automatic but depending on how you drive it will either shift like you're racing, and if it doesn't sense you are throttle happy it will be a bit more conservative

but in gear flick sport mode, the moment you pull the paddle it is stuck on manual, it will no longer shift for you, i always get caught out and hit the limiter if i forget, eg if i've come to a stop and decide to then gas it.

[james1138]

Originally Posted by g21

nope full automatic but depending on how you drive it will either shift like you're racing, and if it doesn't sense you are throttle happy it will be a bit more conservative

but in gear flick sport mode, the moment you pull the paddle it is stuck on manual, it will no longer shift for you, i always get caught out and hit the limiter if i forget, eg if i've come to a stop and decide to then gas it.

OK, so in sport plus, toggle the shifter from drive to sport and it will stay in manual unless you accidentally hit the paddle shifter?

Also, sorry to thread jack but you might have an answer to a question that’s bothering me. I’ve read that the car will take on the characteristics based on how you drive. Your post seems to allude to that as well. The problem is my morning commute is in stop and go traffic where you can’t change lanes very much and I’m stuck topped out going 50 mph. So it doesn’t make much sense for me to drive in sport mode so I just use Eco plus. Every other time I have the option to drive on the open road I am in sport plus. Will driving an hour in traffic five days a week in Eco plus mode mean that I will get a less aggressive drive in sport plus mode?

Hope that makes sense.

[peelerec]

Originally Posted by james1138

OK, so in sport plus, toggle the shifter from drive to sport and it will stay in manual unless you accidentally hit the paddle shifter?

Also, sorry to thread jack but you might have an answer to a question that’s bothering me. I’ve read that the car will take on the characteristics based on how you drive. Your post seems to allude to that as well. The problem is my morning commute is in stop and go traffic where you can’t change lanes very much and I’m stuck topped out going 50 mph. So it doesn’t make much sense for me to drive in sport mode so I just use Eco plus. Every other time I have the option to drive on the open road I am in sport plus. Will driving an hour in traffic five days a week in Eco plus mode mean that I will get a less aggressive drive in sport plus mode?

Hope that makes sense.

I think it’s tough for anyone to exactly pin point how long it’ll take your car to adapt to you switching to sport plus, unless there is literature out there that I am unaware of. The point is, if you drive in eco mode 5 days of the week and switch to sport plus at any given time, it’s not like the car stays in eco mode. It does in fact switch to sport or sport +, respectively. If you decide to stay in sport + say for an extended period of time and are aggressive with the throttle for a few mins(in my personal opinion) the car will then tend to adapt and keep the rpm’s higher. This has been my subjective experience. Usually during my warm up lap on the track the car will shift around 3-4K rpm’s and then once I start pushing lap 2 and beyond the car will never dip below 4-5k rpm. So clearly the car learned my “driving style” for that 20 min session.

[///Medge]

Imo sport plus shouldn’t be used in the break-in period because the car holds onto gears way into the rev range and downshifts high into the revs when you brake.

Sport+ is a very fun mode and I’m glad BMW includes it but it is not usable in stop-and-go traffic or even daily driving. Sport is more widely usable.

[G30M]

Originally Posted by james1138

OK, so in sport plus, toggle the shifter from drive to sport and it will stay in manual unless you accidentally hit the paddle shifter?

Also, sorry to thread jack but you might have an answer to a question that’s bothering me. I’ve read that the car will take on the characteristics based on how you drive. Your post seems to allude to that as well. The problem is my morning commute is in stop and go traffic where you can’t change lanes very much and I’m stuck topped out going 50 mph. So it doesn’t make much sense for me to drive in sport mode so I just use Eco plus. Every other time I have the option to drive on the open road I am in sport plus. Will driving an hour in traffic five days a week in Eco plus mode mean that I will get a less aggressive drive in sport plus mode?

Hope that makes sense.

no adaptation in sport plus is instant

[G30M]

Originally Posted by james1138

OK, so in sport plus, toggle the shifter from drive to sport and it will stay in manual unless you accidentally hit the paddle shifter?

stays in auto unless you grab the flappy paddle

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by james1138

Also, sorry to thread jack but you might have an answer to a question that’s bothering me. I’ve read that the car will take on the characteristics based on how you drive. Your post seems to allude to that as well. The problem is my morning commute is in stop and go traffic where you can’t change lanes very much and I’m stuck topped out going 50 mph. So it doesn’t make much sense for me to drive in sport mode so I just use Eco plus. Every other time I have the option to drive on the open road I am in sport plus. Will driving an hour in traffic five days a week in Eco plus mode mean that I will get a less aggressive drive in sport plus mode?

Hope that makes sense.

Driver and driving situation/environment adaptations are taking place in real time. Drive harder, the whole driving adaptations 'sharpen up'. Ease off and the adaptations adjust to suit your inputs, along with the inputs from the driving environment.

Also changing modes, or simply flicking the shifter to M/S (in any mode) breaks the current adaptation.

BMW data also states there is no driver adaptation held in memory and it starts afresh on each start up.

Driver adaptation basics: Note reference to "temporary" adaptation...

[james1138]

Originally Posted by HighlandPete

Driver and driving situation/environment adaptations are taking place in real time. Drive harder, the whole driving adaptations 'sharpen up'. Ease off and the adaptations adjust to suit your inputs, along with the inputs from the driving environment.

Also changing modes, or simply flicking the shifter to M/S (in any mode) breaks the current adaptation.

BMW data also states there is no driver adaptation held in memory and it starts afresh on each start up.

Driver adaptation basics: Note reference to "temporary" adaptation...

Thank you!

[james1138]

Originally Posted by g21

no adaptation in sport plus is instant

Thanks, tried this out today. Definitely noticed a difference. This car is fast.

[G30M]

Originally Posted by james1138

Thanks, tried this out today. Definitely noticed a difference. This car is fast.

i think there are at least 3 layers of adaptation, can't remember

drive like a gran in that mode - it might keep the RPM around 1800-2200 (easier to get that in comfort + gear stick sport i think)
drive normally it will keep RPM 2400-3000
drive like a mad man RPM 3500-5000

and gear shifting aggressiveness/clunks/shakes etc also follows
on a rainy day you will get the tail sliding even with TC fully turned on, just be warned