[Le Chef]

Originally Posted by Want the thrill

If you don't work for BMW and you don't own a 35i with SAP and no DHP, HOW DO YOU KNOW NOTHING CHANGES???!!! I don't tell you how your X drives with DHP because I DO NOT HAVE DHP! You continue to say there is no change but you have NO CLUE!

What changes? What physical or electronic component changes in the suspension when you press the sport button? Can you show me a different part # for the dampers in vehicles that have the sport button and no DHP, and those without sport button or DHP? If you can show me that part number differs then I will believe you. Otherwise it's just a placebo effect.

[Want the thrill]

Originally Posted by Le Chef

What changes? What physical or electronic component changes in the suspension when you press the sport button? Can you show me a different part # for the dampers in vehicles that have the sport button and no DHP, and those without sport button or DHP? If you can show me that part number differs then I will believe you. Otherwise it's just a placebo effect.

If I knew what changed (other than the I-drive showing me it is changing), don't you think I'd have posted it here????? I know what I feel as well as others on this board, but you wouldn't know that SINCE YOU DON'T DRIVE A 35i with SAP and no DHP! Placebo effect my arse! How 'bout when YOU can prove nothing changes on mine without just saying it doesn't, I'll believe you!

[Want the thrill]

Just found this definiton of SPORT MODE off of BMW's technology website:


Sport mode.


Tune up: when sport mode is activated, engine output and driving dynamics take on sportier qualities, letting you enjoy your BMW's dynamic character at its peak.

Depending on which BMW model you drive, the sport mode can be activated by a touch of the "Sport" button on the central console. Immediately, your BMW feels even more dynamic: the electronic control units switch to sportier settings, making the engine more responsive and the suspension stiffer.
This increase in sports-style characteristics is accompanied by a reduction in powered assistance for the steering at low and medium RPMs for more direct and immediate steering, giving you an even closer sense of the character of the road.

This describes to a "t" what I have been saying and FEELING when I drive! Not a mention of DHP by the way......

[lhsa]

dunno about everyone else, but i would trust the opinion of those who actually own and drive the car/configuration in question and real life experience than someone arguing from a textbook

[Le Chef]

Since there's no proof I'm not going to believe it.

[Want the thrill]

Originally Posted by Le Chef

Since there's no proof I'm not going to believe it.

Guess what the BMW technology website says is just complete BS.

[clivem2]

The only possible change would be to the electronic diff. Springs, dampers or roll bars won't change.

[lhsa]

i know it's revolutionary, but perhaps you can experience it yourself.

Originally Posted by Le Chef

Since there's no proof I'm not going to believe it.

[h0mersimps0n]

wow, now I know why Mole dropped off the face of the earth, this is such a painful, painful thread.

It was either here or the other major X3 forums that someone FINALLY posted the official part number and photo of the struts from a DHP and non-DHP F25...

The DHP models have two extra ports on them for the variable adjustment of the ride.

The non-DHP models do not have any adjustment in the struts what so ever. I can't remember but the springs are probably the same.

Please stop insisting sport/sport+ mode changes any aspect of the suspension/ride in a non-DHP car- it certainly, positively, does not.

There are many charts showing the "Chasis" changes (disabling of ESP, etc) as you go through normal/sport/sport+

Someone please step in a lock down this thread

[Penso di no]

Gotta say I'm leaning toward the Le Chef side of the argument here. My GTI has a Sport mode and it definitely feels like the suspension stiffens, even though that's not even a feature of the GTI. I wouldn't call it a placebo effect, just that everything feels stiffer when the engine is pushing harder and braking more.

Throw me a bone and tell me what chassis component is changing when you move to Sport, and I'll gladly become a believer; for now, I'm a skeptic. The fact that iDrive says "chassis" isn't convincing...that part of the software might be written the same for DHP and non-DHP builds.

Bottom line: I believe the suspension feels stiffer, but I don't know how it could possibly be stiffer (and neither, apparently, does any of the believers).

[Penso di no]

Originally Posted by lhsa

i know it's revolutionary, but perhaps you can experience it yourself.

Experiences can be deceiving (as mentioned in my other response). Knowing that there are no electronically adjustable parts in the suspension is convincing to me.

[Want the thrill]

Originally Posted by h0mersimps0n

wow, now I know why Mole dropped off the face of the earth, this is such a painful, painful thread.

It was either here or the other major X3 forums that someone FINALLY posted the official part number and photo of the struts from a DHP and non-DHP F25...

The DHP models have two extra ports on them for the variable adjustment of the ride.

The non-DHP models do not have any adjustment in the struts what so ever. I can't remember but the springs are probably the same.

Please stop insisting sport/sport+ mode changes any aspect of the suspension/ride in a non-DHP car- it certainly, positively, does not.

There are many charts showing the "Chasis" changes (disabling of ESP, etc) as you go through normal/sport/sport+

Someone please step in a lock down this thread

Please stop telling me nothing changes when you have no clue because you don't own one! I don't tell you how your DHP feels when you drive it and nor should I! I know why Mole left too....he AGREED with me on this one and it was absolutely MADDENING to hear people tell you what your vehicle does and does not do when they don't own one!

[Penso di no]

Originally Posted by h0mersimps0n

...

Someone please step in a lock down this thread

Really? No one is forcing you to read it, h0mes.

I agree with the rest of your post, though.

[Penso di no]

Originally Posted by Want the thrill

Please stop telling me nothing changes when you have no clue because you don't own one! I don't tell you how your DHP feels when you drive it and nor should I! I know why Mole left too....he AGREED with me on this one and it was absolutely MADDENING to hear people tell you what your vehicle does and does not do when they don't own one!

Tell us what changes and we can end this conversation without anybody going home sad. FWIW, I've driven one (I don't own any X3 yet), and it did feel stiffer when I switched to sport. But that's subjective, and objectively we know the parts aren't there to adjust the ride, so my feeling must be due to something else, like something we know does change, e.g., the transmission.

[sfax]

WTT, I'm with you. It's obvious if the suspension is stiffer and if you notice a difference in suspension between Sport and Normal then there is a difference, simple as that. I don't understand technically how it works but the proof is in the pudding. Firmness of suspension is so easy to detect.

You should drive down a bumpy stretch of straight road at a constant speed in Normal and then again in Sport and take a video of a 1/2 full bottle of water on the dash and post it on youtube. Then the doubters can see what you feel

[Le Chef]

The real proof is in the part numbers and no one has provided those yet to prove it.

[Want the thrill]

Originally Posted by sfax

WTT, I'm with you. It's obvious if the suspension is stiffer and if you notice a difference in suspension between Sport and Normal then there is a difference, simple as that. I don't understand technically how it works but the proof is in the pudding. Firmness of suspension is so easy to detect.

You should drive down a bumpy stretch of straight road at a constant speed in Normal and then again in Sport and take a video of a 1/2 full bottle of water on the dash and post it on youtube. Then the doubters can see what you feel

+1

[lhsa]

no sense wasting more time on this thread. the haters will hate, as they say, without trying it out themselves.

[Le Chef]

There's no hate, just no empirical proof to support the placebo effect. Where are the part numbers? If what you say is true then there should be different part numbers.

[torzeck]

This is an old debate that has been resolved. I do think the feel changes within sport mode but it is not because of the active dampers in a non DHP equipped car. Its physics at work. There are no active dampers in a non DHP car in the USA.


Below is the response from the Product Manger at BMW USA for the X3
when i asked him this question and why the BMWUSA website was missing the active damper mention in the DHP description a few months ago:

Hey Tory,
Yes the DHP still has the variable damping, they just changed the way its configured in the ordering system and it made an error on the website. Should be fixed soon.

If you don't have variable damping, the sport button does not change suspension settings, only transmission, steering, and throttle response.

Regards,
joe

[tuco44]

Originally Posted by torzeck

This is an old debate that has been resolved. I do think the feel changes within sport mode but it is not because of the active dampers in a non DHP equipped car. Its physics at work. There are no active dampers in a non DHP car in the USA.


Below is the response from the Product Manger at BMW USA for the X3
when i asked him this question and why the BMWUSA website was missing the active damper mention in the DHP description a few months ago:

Hey Tory,
Yes the DHP still has the variable damping, they just changed the way its configured in the ordering system and it made an error on the website. Should be fixed soon.

If you don't have variable damping, the sport button does not change suspension settings, only transmission, steering, and throttle response.

Regards,
joe

That is correct.

[Want the thrill]

I don't doubt for a minute that my X does not have dampers. It doesn't. My point that I'm trying to make is that SOMETHING changes that makes the ride feel stiffer when you select sport mode. Maybe the sway bars? I read that they are filled with electromagnetic fluid and stiffen when the sport mode is activated. I don't know and I probably never will.