Kenny ponders the ‘discomfort’ of automatic sport suspension on start-up in the M4
| Driver's Log | |
|---|---|
| Date acquired: | September 2014 |
| Total kilometres: | 7500 |
| Kilometres this month: | 2500 |
| Costs this month: | $0 |
| L/100km this month: | 13.2 |
Over the last few weeks I have noticed a few ‘quirks’. The M4 has adaptive suspension in addition to selectable modes for the throttle/engine, steering, gears, traction control, etc. When the car is started, the suspension and steering automatically start in ‘Sport’. I live in a community with cobbled streets where Sport suspension guarantees a call to your chiropractor.
I spoke with the BMW service team when the car went in for its 2,000km service to see if this default setting could be changed, but it won’t be possible until the company releases updated software. Frustrating but I suppose it’s hardly the end of the world. Two of the switches on the steering wheel are labelled ‘M1’ and ‘M2’ and act as pre-sets for individual configuration. As such, I currently have the M1 button set for the commute-friendly comfort/efficient modes, but part of my OCD means I don’t like using a button with an ‘M’ on it for anything other than spirited driving. The M2 button is therefore set for maximum attack, everything dialled up to 100 percent bar the traction control system which is set to BMW’s M-Dynamic mode, allowing a bit of tail happy action, but not so much that I end up doing a 180 in heavy traffic.
A bit of time off work over the festive period allowed a friend and I to take our cars out for a run. He has a new Golf R so we are pretty evenly matched in terms of pace, especially on the twisty stuff when it comes to four-wheel drive versus rear-wheel drive. We headed out of Dubai into the mountains and ultimately Kalba. The M4 is a bit pricier than the Golf but as a bang-for-your-buck purchase the Golf is an almost unbeatable bargain: not once did I find myself leaving the VW trailing in my rear view mirror.
Nevertheless, it is drives like these that make signing on the dotted line for a quite hefty amount of money pale into insignificance.
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