Do different drive setting increase wear on the car?

[Bigsean714]

Hello everyone, I always drive my car in the sportiest settings. Sport plus everything and D3 on the DCT settings. My car is a 2015 with 30k miles and I'm planning to keep the car for 3-4 years. I'll be tuning the car so I won't be getting an extended warranty. Should I keep driving in sport plus & D3 without worrying about putting too much stress on the car? Any feedback would be great. Thanks everyone

[blockdoc]

Originally Posted by Bigsean714

Hello everyone, I always drive my car in the sportiest settings. Sport plus everything and D3 on the DCT settings. My car is a 2015 with 30k miles and I'm planning to keep the car for 3-4 years. I'll be tuning the car so I won't be getting an extended warranty. Should I keep driving in sport plus & D3 without worrying about putting too much stress on the car? Any feedback would be great. Thanks everyone

Yes. These settings won't hurt you car although many of us feel that S3 is abrupt enough that it unsettles traction. That's just personal preference

[G4BR13L]

For my daily commute on the highway I have the car in Efficient and D2 or D3 mode but normally I put the engine in Sport+ and D3 or S3, depending on my mood. I also turn off stability control when it is not raining.

I think that lower RPM (D1) and cruising is good for the environment but bad for the car, and with the exhaust valves open there is too much drone under 1800 RPM with the stock exhaust.

[overlook637]

Absolutely no reason to use sport + on the road for commuting. Unless your on a race track you don't need sport +. I only use sport + for a little bit of fun on a open ramp to the freeway or if I am planning to pass a car on two lane road.

Sport + does increase wear. Probably not enough to matter, but it does increase wear.

The engine will turn more RPM's because shifting is delayed or a lower gear is held. While turning more RPM's it is burning more fuel, which will decrease life of oil. The turbo is also trying to maintain boost, which means the turbo is spinning more.

All of that said, I doubt the car will suffer much. Perhaps the turbo will only last 140k miles instead of say 200k. Perhaps the engine will only last 200k instead of 300k, assuming the hub crank bolt doesn't slip.

[Bigsean714]

Originally Posted by overlook637

Absolutely no reason to use sport + on the road for commuting. Unless your on a race track you don't need sport +. I only use sport + for a little bit of fun on a open ramp to the freeway or if I am planning to pass a car on two lane road.

Sport + does increase wear. Probably not enough to matter, but it does increase wear.

The engine will turn more RPM's because shifting is delayed or a lower gear is held. While turning more RPM's it is burning more fuel, which will decrease life of oil. The turbo is also trying to maintain boost, which means the turbo is spinning more.

All of that said, I doubt the car will suffer much. Perhaps the turbo will only last 140k miles instead of say 200k. Perhaps the engine will only last 200k instead of 300k, assuming the hub crank bolt doesn't slip.

Thank you for explaining everything, I should probably only use the M button when I need It then.

[gatorfast]

Originally Posted by overlook637

Absolutely no reason to use sport + on the road for commuting. Unless your on a race track you don't need sport +. I only use sport + for a little bit of fun on a open ramp to the freeway or if I am planning to pass a car on two lane road.

Sport + does increase wear. Probably not enough to matter, but it does increase wear.

The engine will turn more RPM's because shifting is delayed or a lower gear is held. While turning more RPM's it is burning more fuel, which will decrease life of oil. The turbo is also trying to maintain boost, which means the turbo is spinning more.

All of that said, I doubt the car will suffer much. Perhaps the turbo will only last 140k miles instead of say 200k. Perhaps the engine will only last 200k instead of 300k, assuming the hub crank bolt doesn't slip.

lol what? I would say the majority of people on this forum drive in sport+ all the time. It is perfectly fine to use whenever you feel like it, whether a little or a lot. Also, sport+ has nothing to do with shift points as that is controlled by the DCT setting.

OP you are absolutely fine driving in any setting at your hearts content.

[mike@x-ph.com]

It wont hurt your car no matter which drive setting you use and how often you use it

[FriedPiston]

Real M drivers drive with Sport+ for Engine/Suspension/Steering, as well as, DSC OFF, all while going for a quick grocery run.



But on a lightly serious note, I constantly switch between Sport+ and Efficient engine modes depending on the flow of traffic.

In traffic = Sport+ (activates cooling system)
No traffic = Efficient (for quieter exhaust note; fully kittyless)
Spirited drive = Sport+ and MDM

[CigarPundit]

I drive mainly in Sport+ engine, comfort steering, sport suspension, and S2 trans. Euro MDM or DSC completely off. The only time I'm not in these settings is long highway drives, when I slap everything in efficient/comfort. I think it's fair to say that the faster/longer you spin the turbos, use the fans, etc., and the harder you drive the car, the faster it will wear out. But I bought this car for the performance, and if I was inhibited about using all of its available power, I would drive something else. I truly do not understand the concept of saving the power train for the next guy. Unless you plan on driving this car for 200k miles, I say fuck it...enjoy all the car has to offer while it is still yours. Let the next guy worry about the incremental wear.

[DataNerd]

It's in the documentation that Sport+ keeps the turbos spooled up to minimize lag.

That would be my only concern.

[blockdoc]

Originally Posted by DataNerd

It's in the documentation that Sport+ keeps the turbos spooled up to minimize lag.

That would be my only concern.

Turbos are easily replaceable and upgrade able!!!'n

[G4BR13L]

Assume that BMW designed the car to last 250k miles then what is the point in buying a F8x if you are going to drive it like a granny for half that mileage? I bought the car for the fun factor but I still treat it like a baby just not always.
Yes driving in Sport and Sport+ will cause more wear on components such as the turbo chargers, clutch and the drive shaft but the car was build with this in mind.

So in my car the M buttons are programmed like this:
M1: Efficient / Comfort / Comfort / D3
M2: Sport+ / Sport+ / Sport+ / S3 / (Euro) MDM

M1 is for commuting and M2 is what I use once I get off the highway. When in M2 mode and when the road is slighly wet or it is raining I enable DSC. I only disable DSC on a warm day with dry roads.

Do NOT (!!) turn off DSC if you are not an experienced driver or if you are not familiar with the car! Don’t underestimate how much power and torque this car has!

Enjoy your car and when well maintained you could drive it for 250k miles if not more.

[DataNerd]

Originally Posted by blockdoc

Turbos are easily replaceable and upgrade able!!!'n

Sure, but OP is asking about the potential for additional wear based on drive settings.

[blockdoc]

Originally Posted by DataNerd

Sure, but OP is asking about the potential for additional wear based on drive settings.

So my point is why buy a performance car and then worry if said performance causes extra wear?

Someone mentioned the turbos possibly wearing more quickly and I simply mentioned that they are easily replaceable

[G4BR13L]

Originally Posted by blockdoc

So my point is why buy a performance car and then worry if said performance causes extra wear?

Someone mentioned the turbos possibly wearing more quickly and I simply mentioned that they are easily replaceable

IMHO you are both right

[ShoNufff]

I normally drive in Sport + engine, Sport suspension, and Comfort steering when driving around town. If it's a long highway drive then everything is in efficient modes. Been driving like this for a year now and no problems.

[behindthen0thing]

Originally Posted by overlook637

Absolutely no reason to use sport + on the road for commuting. Unless your on a race track you don't need sport +. I only use sport + for a little bit of fun on a open ramp to the freeway or if I am planning to pass a car on two lane road.

Sport + does increase wear. Probably not enough to matter, but it does increase wear.

The engine will turn more RPM's because shifting is delayed or a lower gear is held. While turning more RPM's it is burning more fuel, which will decrease life of oil. The turbo is also trying to maintain boost, which means the turbo is spinning more.

All of that said, I doubt the car will suffer much. Perhaps the turbo will only last 140k miles instead of say 200k. Perhaps the engine will only last 200k instead of 300k, assuming the hub crank bolt doesn't slip.

WTF are you smoking man?

[behindthen0thing]

Originally Posted by Bigsean714

Thank you for explaining everything, I should probably only use the M button when I need It then.

you should use the "M" button whenever you want to. Technically you never need it. you don't need an M3/4 either.
You guys acting like S+ is "war emergency power" where the engine will need a rebuild after use. . .

I also don't understand this big deal to turn off traction control.
Cars didn't even have traction control standard but recently.
All of my first cars didn't have traction control and they were RWD. I didn't have too many problems.
People are way too uptight.
It's an M4. Drive it in Sport + if you want at all times. It's designed to operate that way.

I personally use S+ with D2 most of the time, occasional trans in D3 or manual.
Only go into efficient on a long drive or to not piss off pedestrians .

[G4BR13L]

DTC should not be turned off if you are not used to it or a very experienced driver. The stock car has 431 WHP and 550 Nm which is a lot for the rear wheels and not everybody can handle this.

Performance cars already had traction control in the 70s, don’t know how old you are that you say that there was no traction control since “recently”.

The F8x has more torque than the much applauded 5L V10 engine (S85) from the M5 (E60) introduced in 2005 (to 2010).

No seriously do not underestimate the torque when turning DTC completely off! Especially when you are not alone on the road and sharing the road with cyclists, ...

[Fast4d]

your right foot determines the wear and tear on the engine/drivetrain.

[CigarPundit]

Originally Posted by G4BR13L

DTC should not be turned off if you are not used to it or a very experienced driver. The stock car has 431 WHP and 550 Nm which is a lot for the rear wheels and not everybody can handle this.

Performance cars already had traction control in the 70s, don’t know how old you are that you say that there was no traction control since “recently”.

The F8x has more torque than the much applauded 5L V10 engine (S85) from the M5 (E60) introduced in 2005 (to 2010).

No seriously do not underestimate the torque when turning DTC completely off! Especially when you are not alone on the road and sharing the road with cyclists, ...

It can definitely get away from you if you don't know what to expect or how to deal with it when the rear swings out. If you want to see a lengthy discussion about this, check out this thread.

https://f80.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1509541

[behindthen0thing]

Originally Posted by G4BR13L

DTC should not be turned off if you are not used to it or a very experienced driver. The stock car has 431 WHP and 550 Nm which is a lot for the rear wheels and not everybody can handle this.

Performance cars already had traction control in the 70s, don’t know how old you are that you say that there was no traction control since “recently”.

The F8x has more torque than the much applauded 5L V10 engine (S85) from the M5 (E60) introduced in 2005 (to 2010).

No seriously do not underestimate the torque when turning DTC completely off! Especially when you are not alone on the road and sharing the road with cyclists, ...

Traction control was only mandatory on new vehicles since 2012-2014.

Backup cameras are becoming mandatory as well. Does that mean that 5 years from now, if your backup camera breaks you will be afraid to reverse the car? would you have it towed to the nearest shop to have it fixed before you backup ?

Obviously the car is powerful and traction control is for safety, but I disagree, if you can't handle the car, then you should not be driving it at all.
I usually don't turn it off often myself, but when I do things are just fine.
People act like the car is going to flip over and sail off of a ledge into a crowd of kindergarten children the moment you turn traction control off.

If you are dumb enough to nail the throttle in a car with over 400 tq and hp, say in a turn, wet roads or confined space and are not prepared to handle what might happen. Then you shouldn't be driving the car at all.