sport on/off-shifting smoothness - The Unofficial BMW M5 Messageboard (m5board.com)

M'nd · 14th July 2003, 18:17

I have recently noticed that if you drive with the sport button off (which i have not done too much in the last year since delivery) the car is easier to shift smoothly, especially 1st to 2nd gear. In sport you need to be so attentive to shift the car smoothly it gets a bit annoying. I have found that unless you do heavy exceleration every time with the sport mode on you will have some rough shifts. With it off, the more casual driving attitude becomes much smoother. If you drive "easy" with the sport on its real hard to make the car shift smoothly. Has anybody else noticed this or am i just

crazy!!!!

pmiranda · 14th July 2003, 18:25

Upshifts are more difficult to get right until you've gotten used to it. I find downshifts are nearly impossible to get smooth without sport.

jaj · 15th July 2003, 07:27

The throttle has a built-in 300 millisecond lag when in "normal" mode. This drops to about 120 milliseconds in "Sport". If you're used to sports car throttle response, then your shifts will be better in "Sport" because your rev matching will be better.

Personally, I find it easier to shift smoothly in "sport" but I drive in "normal" all the time and just work hard on smooth shifting. It keeps me occupied while I'm sitting in traffic...

Cheers
JJ

greg · 15th July 2003, 07:57

Sport vs. non-sport is the same as switching between 2 cars. They are ALL different. I've driven several E39 M5's - and even these have all been a little different. The skill to develop is the ability do this by sound and feel - you have to adapt and adjust to the situation to shift smoothly. This even applies to your car, in your preferred mode, if you start and shift going up or down a hill - the timing will be different because the car will be decelerating more or less while during the shift than it does on level ground, making the new "smooth engagement RPM" different as well.

So no, you're not crazy - but yes, it is you. You can learn to shift smoothly in either mode - only the responsiveness during the "roll the throttle back on" phase is different.

nlk10010 · 15th July 2003, 23:09

and, as Greg says, every car is different.

I can't stand non-sport mode (feels like I'm driving a truck) so I've been working on smooth upshifts and (especially 3-2) downshifts in Sport mode.

One thing I've found, at least on the upshifts, is the speed with which you shift: faster means smoother (I guess less time for the engine speed to drop, especially when the air is on). It also helps to feel the shift lever dropping into the next gear.

But downshifts? Forget it.

=NLK=

Z8Bob · 16th July 2003, 21:57

I almost always drive with "Sport" on in both the Z8 and M5.

I find smooth shifting, both up and down, more difficult out of Sport mode, due solely to the change in timing. If I concentrate I can make shifts that are just as smooth, but there is the rub, I have to think about each shift and alter my learned pattern.

In Sport mode, I hear and my hand and feet obey.