Can you drive in sport mode all the time

A lot of people find Comfort Mode a little conservative, and prefer to stick to Sport Mode most of the time. That comes with its downsides – first and foremost higher fuel consumption – but it isn't going to cause any serious problems for your BMW.

What does sport mode do in a car

Switching your BMW into Sport Mode is going to adjust your automatic transmission and steering settings, and in some vehicles your suspension response, too. Your car will rev higher between gear shifts to squeeze out some extra performance, and you'll have tighter, more responsive steering. In supported vehicles, your suspension will also stiffen up – perfect for when you want to take corners a little more aggressively. Sport Plus Mode brings all that, as well as dialing down the traction control for increased wheel spin.

When to use sport mode

BMW's Sport Mode uses the same traction control settings (DSC) as the standard Comfort Mode, so you're safe to use Sport Mode almost any time. Of course you probably won't have much fun with it when crawling through city traffic, but at least you know your BMW isn't going to have any problems staying glued to the road.

Dynamic Traction Control (DTC) is BMW's most hands-off traction setting. Unlike Dynamic Stability Control (DSC), DTC is designed to allow a little wheelspin. That's primarily for when you need a little help getting out of snow or other loose surfaces, but with Sport Plus Mode, you'll also be able to switch to it permanently, for a more energetic driving experience.

How to use sport mode on a car

You can switch between BMW's driving modes through the iDrive menu (probably not a great idea to do that when driving!) or with the dedicated buttons on your vehicle's center console. That makes it easy to toggle between driving modes on the road, so you're always in a mode that matches the conditions.