sport vs sport+ — any worries?

[Rubber Ducky]

Questions to those of you with some seat time in the E89:

What are your impressions of the difference between sport and sport+?

Have you ever gotten loose or lost it in sport+?

Any sport+ worries in the wet?

[richard in NC]

For the most part, you are reasonably safe in Sport+. Stability Control can still save you. Although, I have noticed trailing throttle oversteer. If you punch it hard in a turn, get scared, and come off the throttle quickly, the back end likes to kick out. In Sport+, I've actually had it kick out a few feet before I (or DSC) caught it.

Personally I'd not run Sport+ in the wet. I've had the Bridgestone RFTs on a 650i and it didn't like the wet at all. The Z4 is better but I'd still leave all safety systems on.

One person (discussing the E39 M5) suggested to "learn from the DSC light". If you are constantly running the car hard enough for the DSC to activate, you likely will exceed the limits in Sport+ and depend on your skills to help stay under control. If you drive hard but smooth enough to not activate DSC, Sport+ will be no issue.

[willysp]

Originally Posted by Rubber Ducky

Questions to those of you with some seat time in the E89:

What are your impressions of the difference between sport and sport+?

Have you ever gotten loose or lost it in sport+?

Any sport+ worries in the wet?

No difference of course unless you're driving very aggressively.

I've broken loose in Sport+, but did so when experimenting and under conditions where I had room to slide a bit.

No way in the world I'd drive using Sport+ on wet roads - I'm not that expert a driver. If you want to do that, you should seriously consider going to a driving school first.

[willysp]

Originally Posted by richard in NC

For the most part, you are reasonably safe in Sport+. Stability Control can still save you. Although, I have noticed trailing throttle oversteer. If you punch it hard in a turn, get scared, and come off the throttle quickly, the back end likes to kick out. In Sport+, I've actually had it kick out a few feet before I (or DSC) caught it....

Agreed - my Z4 does that, and my Z3 also behaved the same way.

Originally Posted by richard in NC

.....One person (discussing the E39 M5) suggested to "learn from the DSC light". If you are constantly running the car hard enough for the DSC to activate, you likely will exceed the limits in Sport+ and depend on your skills to help stay under control. If you drive hard but smooth enough to not activate DSC, Sport+ will be no issue.

That's good advice. As I'm learning the Z4, I watch that light.

If you're not activating the light in Sport mode, do you think there's a reason to turn Sport+ on?

[Rubber Ducky]

Comment and question, now that I'm finally driving my Z4...

Comment: Was surprised to find that cruise control kicks out/won't engage in Sport+. Makes sense — cruise control in the wet can be like a pig on ice (nearly bought the farm in a Mustang when right wheels hydroplaned on I-95 years ago) and DSC is a definite safety plus for cruise control. But had not seen this documented before.

Question: My research tells me that DSC-on/DSC-off is the only difference between Sport and Sport+. Butt dyno agrees. Anyone have more/contrary info?

[teagueAMX]

My understanding is that there is no ride difference between Sport and Sport+, which also agrees with my "seat of pants" evaluation. However, both would tend to disagree with this diagram, which I believe originated from BMW.

.

[Wondermike]

From the original press release...

Dynamic Driving Control acts on the gas pedal control map, engine management, DSC response, the power steering control map, the dynamic gearshift on the optional sports automatic transmission and, on cars fitted with the optional, Adaptive M Suspension, the control map for electronic damper adjustment.

So everything in Sport and Sport+ are the same apart from if you have Adaptive Suspension, which has three modes.

...since the BMW Z4 comes as standard with BMW Dynamic Drive Control: Pressing a button on the centre console, the driver is able to choose among three pre-configured set-ups, thus opting for extra comfort or an even more dynamic driving experience individually and according to his personal wishes.

[Otago]

I have several occasions the DSC light on & off during quick turn. I guess the sport+ not for my style of driving.

[mikeinaustin]

Any of you figure out how to configure the system to always start up in sport mode? I hear it can be done if you have nav.

[jannisa]

Originally Posted by mikeinaustin

Any of you figure out how to configure the system to always start up in sport mode? I hear it can be done if you have nav.

Cannot find it anywhere on the menus.

[SquireG]

I would like to know this as well. I have nav and there is no option to default to sport mode. I have to manually adjust this setting every time I start the car. Frustrating.