The Magical Sport Button

pvr said:
On my old 3.0, it made a difference on the steering as well as the accelerator response change and was very noticeable. On the M, the steering does not change at all so the "feel" is not there.
Click to expand...

pvr - I don't think there is any doubt that the sport button makes many other changes to the car in particular on the non ///M. As far as I know it:
Reduces the power steering assistance
Increases the throttle sensitivity
changes shift points on autos
increases the return to speed of cruise control
and no doubt adds a grin as the amber light is on...

IMHO these are not necesarily benefits. On Jeeps Wrangler) for instance when engaging low ratio the throttle sensitivity is reduced giving the driver much better control. I can see that same need on track. Cruise control that then blasts you back up to 80 (I mean 70 :wink: ) seems contrary to the term and use of 'cruise'

Where the real interest now lies is does it in any way change mapping or WOT settings on the engine, aside the non quantifiable butt dyno (I love that term)?
It would be really interesting to see what the technical BMW information had on this.
 
While I agree that WOT = WOT, those of us old enough to have done some carburetor performance tuning probably remember playing with accelerator pumps and secondary timing. These had no affect whatsoever on peak horsepower as measured on a dyno but could have huge affect on your ¼ mile time. Think of it this way, when stomp on the accelerator it takes a certain amount of time for the engine to transition from idle to peak power. In order to maximize your acceleration, you need to balance how fuel is delivered to the engine as RPM increases during this transition. Too much or too little fuel will result in less than optimal performance. This is all a function of load (i.e.; how fast you are accelerating), so if you tune for maximum performance at the drag strip, all around drivability would suffer.

While I can’t say for certain how the sport button remaps the fuel curve, I can say that it does dramatically improve accelerator responsiveness, particularly in mid range. To me, it feels like the car just dropped 350 pounds of dead weight.
 
As above it is much more responsive with the Auto box took her out for a run today and you can feel the difference not just in the car but in your wallet :D
 
There is supposedly no difference in fuel delivery timing or amounts, the throttle plate opening is the only thing affected on the engine side. With the sport button on, you press the throttle 1/3 the way to get 50% throttle opening rather than 33% (numbers are examples). With a manual transmission, I find the throttle too touchy with the sport button on and prefer the greater degree of fine adjustability with it off. I haven't expereineced an automatic with the sport button.
 
As soon as I leave the city limits I turn the sport mode on! I can feel the difference in the steering and throttle response. I basically use the sport button off as "city mode". :D
 
I always have mine on :)

I find it helps to stop the tramlining effect as the steering is less twitchy. Don't notice the throttle too much...
 
Ok, I finally think I understand why I never get the sports channel on the radio when I press that button! :!:


:P
 
I keep mine off most of the time and use it as a treat on nice days when I can really go. I'm afraid that if I use it all the time I'll get spoiled and and used to it and then what can you do? It's like being able to turn the car up to 11. You cruising at "10" everywhere and when you need that extra push over the cliff where can you go? 11! Exactly! The sports button is like turning up to 11. :D
 
cj10jeeper said:
pvr - I don't think there is any doubt that the sport button makes many other changes to the car in particular on the non ///M. As far as I know it:
...
increases the return to speed of cruise control
Click to expand...
Do you know if it has this effect on an ///M? One of the disappointing things is the lack of pickup when hitting 'resume'. My wife's car is a turbo diesel (BMW of course...) and when you hit 'resume' there's a slight delay followed by full boost pressure and a rapid climb back to cruising speed.
 
i the press the sports button whenever i'm on the free/highway.. or whenever i want "extra" power. having the button on basically just gives my car quicker shifts (smg tranny). i also do notice less of a wimpy steering. but.. i mainly notice the way quicker shifting as opposed to the button being off, where i get slower shifting (useful for city driving). oh.. a bit more throttle response, too, when the sports mode is on. but yea.. mainly the quicker shifting!
 
the sport button is like a shot of adrenalin on my 2.5 :) Fun fun fun!! :D

Once I remember pushing the ///M button on an M5 at full throttle <---- now this is warp speed :evil:
 
on the 3.0 manual tranny, all i've noticed the sport button do is like ya'll said, tighten up the steering (making wheel harder to turn and reducing tramlining somehow) and quicker throttle response. What I find really odd is that when I'm cruising at a steady speed with the sport mode on, then turn sport mode off, i feel what essentially is a deacceleration feel. Like I just let off the gas. Which is odd because I get no change in rpms or anything. The trip computer shows me getting the same MPG with sport mode off/on.

I generally keep sport mode on for the tighter steering. If i'm in the city though with lots of turns I'll usually keep it off just to make turns easier.
 
When I had my 3.0i with the 6-speed, I drove it with the sport button on all the time. As others have said it helped the steering feel more "normal" and certainly made a difference in throttle response. For example if I forgot to turn it on when starting off from a dead stop I would nearly stall it with the "normal" amount of throttle I would give it with the sport button on.

On the M, I have the button off most of the time, especially in the city.
 
For those without a Sport Button (or even those who seem to love theirs so much they want more of the same) it seems there may be an aftermarket device that replicates much of the effect. It's called the Sprint Booster (folks over on E46fanatics.com seem to be having fun with it lately) and basically inserts a DC amplifier between the accelerator pedal module and the DME. Since the accelerator pedal module basically just converts pedal position into DC voltages that the DME reads, by amplifying these voltages one gets a crisper throttle response. I haven't tried the Sprint Booster, but it sure sounds a lot like the Sport Button. The main disadvantage I see is the $300 cost. It sounds like anyone with $10 in parts, a few op-amps, passive components and minimal prototyping skills could bootleg the same thing. If I can get my hands on an old pedal module from a Z4 (or E90 series 3er - same part) I might try mapping out the voltages and working something up myself. Another fun mod on the long term to-do list....
 
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