[bmw246]

Hey guys, 11 328 e93, just discovered S mode and would prefer to drive in that. aside from i would assume gas mileage, is it ok for the car to be driven in s mode most of the time? whats the technical differences? feels a lot smoother.

[GChase]

Only negative I could think of is that in sports mode it pushes your car to higher RPMs before shifting, so it could be harder on your engine in the long term. Especially bad if your car isn't warmed up

[TheTal0n]

dont forget to tap it to down shift, i guess haha, I dunno if thats bad or not though.

[Kevin11]

My opinion. It's less hard on the engine than an excited person redlining and shifting dramatically with a real manual.

I was wondering about that during my test drives. I like the S mode a lot. To be honest, in a 328i, that's what set it apart for me. Even if the revs were higher, I thought that the S mode still shifted smooth enough that it 'felt' healthy.

[dbonline]

It's a BMW, it's supposed to work all the time at maximum performance. I drive a second hand 2006' E90 320d and don't know anything about the previous owner or its driving. But yet since 2009 I drive it vigorously, high rpm's and quick shifts, heavy cornering and more. Still works like a charm for a non-sport simple diesel.

[andrew_b]

I think it would be fine.

As noted, maybe a little more wear on the engine and drivetrain from the higher revs, but I doubt that's significant except if you are really pushing revs when it is cold.

[Dark_Knight_335]

You'll really just piss away tons more gas... other than that- enjoy!

[JRJ1970]

Great advice here. Warm it up, and use it as you need to. I find I only need it when I want to prove to the person in the passenger's seat my car is "fast." Ha!

[Bleep]

Originally Posted by dbonline

It's a BMW, it's supposed to work all the time at maximum performance.

Tell that to the 335's limp mode.

[Dark_Knight_335]

Originally Posted by Bleep

Tell that to the 335's limp mode.

Here we go.....

[bmw246]

jay we have the exact same car to the T if your ever in chicago.... haha

[JRJ1970]

Originally Posted by bmw246

jay we have the exact same car to the T if your ever in chicago.... haha

COOL! Will let you know when I'm in the Windy City.

[Gator335i]

The car was meant to be driven hard. That's what Sport mode is for: to bring out maximum performance from the vehicle. The problem for me is that there's only so many places you can really enjoy it, especially around town. You've got to find some nice backroads somewhere to have fun with it.

If you use it all the time in city driving, like someone else said, you're just wasting money.

[daMau]

I notice that in S, it will not shift into 6th gear when cruising speed is reached. If it weren't for this, I would use it more regularly as I prefer the higher RPMs and quicker/more aggressive shifts. I recall other cars I've owned (GTI, R32, MB C-class) where even in S the car would eventually take top gear after maintaining a cruising speed.

[point665]

Originally Posted by Dark_Knight_335

You'll really just piss away tons more gas... other than that- enjoy!

Driving harder in S/DS compared to taking it easy in D I get the same exact amount out of each tank full (tested it many many times, its not even 10 miles off - but thats because I drive the same route everyday).

My theory is in DS the engine is warming up quicker (I'm in no way driving aggressively before the engine is warm), thereby allowing it to go into closed loop mode sooner.

I personally believe utilizing the RPM range of the engine is much much better than "baby-ing" it.

[kdbryce]

i could never understand why people want to drive in sport all the time. it seems like it would just get annoying.

i can understand manual mode, but it would just piss me off always being at high revs

[plarkin]

I drive in S mode when I'm looking for a sporty drive. If I'm driving through congested areas, I prefer just to be in normal Drive.

For me, it's just annoying having the car keeping my revs up waiting to give me a "sport" drive when I'm in a situation that warrants nothing of the sort. So it's all a personal thing, not sure how the car feels about it.

[morphius909]

I drive mine in
Manual mode almost all the Time. Tranny and
Shifting is just smoother. DS I find
Just Toooo antsy and normal D is boring.