[CanAutM3]

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[PLF69]

My honest opinion is I see absolutely no good reason for this feature.

What do you guys think about it ?

[heavyD^2]

It's unnecessary for sure but given how many reviewers have used it over and over trying to get 5 stars it sounds like it's kind of a fun little Easter egg. It's probably going to lead to some damaged cars unfortunately and I hope owners are responsible enough to only play with this at tracks, parking lots, etc and not on public roads.

[TheBingoBalls]

One of those things where you think BMW could have not included it but aren't mad that they did. Whether you think it's a gimmick or not, these are the small things that differentiate the M3/M4 from the C63 and RS5. A buyer may not even touch the feature, but it helps enforce the reason why one might buy a M3/M4 because what is a M3/M4 if it can't drift, right?

[CanAutM3]

Originally Posted by PLF69

My honest opinion is I see absolutely no good reason for this feature.

What do you guys think about it ?

It's a gimmick, but a fun one nonetheless.

For me, a lap timer/data logger function is more relevant and much more useful as a learning tool. They seem to have improved the ///M lap timer app, but we have not seen much about it yet. I mostly hope they brought back the sampling rate to something that is actually useful (the previous lap timer was downgraded to 1Hz at some point).

[Azeka1]

Originally Posted by CanAutM3

It's a gimmick, but a fun one nonetheless.

For me, a lap timer/data logger function is more relevant and much more useful as a learning tool. They seem to have improved the ///M lap timer app, but we have not seen much about it yet. I mostly hope they brought back the sampling rate to something that is actually useful (the previous lap timer was downgraded to 1Hz at some point).

I'm with you on this. The Lap Timer app makes me much more excited, but it certainly would be fun to play around with the drift analyzer during the last session of the day... incase you get black flagged

[Sedan_Clan]

Originally Posted by heavyD^2

It's unnecessary for sure but given how many reviewers have used it over and over trying to get 5 stars it sounds like it's kind of a fun little Easter egg. It's probably going to lead to some damaged cars unfortunately and I hope owners are responsible enough to only play with this at tracks, parking lots, etc and not on public roads.

That's the way I see it. It's just a fun little software addition to give those people who are going to drift the car something to play with. Useless, but fun........like, well...drifting.

[Sedan_Clan]

Originally Posted by Azeka1

I'm with you on this. The Lap Timer app makes me much more excited, but it certainly would be fun to play around with the drift analyzer during the last session of the day... incase you get black flagged

The lap timer is for those of you/us who are more focused with/on achieving lap times. It seems like BMW gave both camps something to play with. I really can't be mad at them for that.

[nicksm3]

Originally Posted by PLF69

My honest opinion is I see absolutely no good reason for this feature.

What do you guys think about it ?

I agree, it's such a wasteful non motorsport feature. Gives you an excuse to be a hoonigan fan boy.

[Sedan_Clan]

Originally Posted by nicksm3

I agree, it's such a wasteful non motorsport feature. Gives you an excuse to be a hoonigan fan boy.

Hoonigans were hooniganing long before there was ever an analyzer........whether it be drag strip burnouts or drifts/donuts on public roads. People who have those types of proclivities (....and who don't care about having their licenses stripped) will do it regardless. People who don't, generally won't. The risk isn't worth the reward.

[Bumpinjeep]

I wonder if you can look at how many times the car has been drifted prior to buying it second hand? Like, if you were to buy a used one in a few years, will your local BMW dealer say, "this one hasn't been drifted ever, so we can CPO it" vs "this one has been drifted 127 times so we can't offer any CPO or warranty?" If i'm going to be pessimistic, this feature will shorten the lifespan of parts on the G8X platform and you should never buy a used one.
If i'm going to be optimistic, this feature is only available on BMW, a true enthusiast company, and the strength of internal parts have been beefed up to deal with the inevitable hooliganism.
Who am I kidding, I would love to have a drift analyzer on my M2 lol.

[unfoundnemo]

Originally Posted by CanAutM3

For me, a lap timer/data logger function is more relevant and much more useful as a learning tool. They seem to have improved the ///M lap timer app, but we have not seen much about it yet. I mostly hope they brought back the sampling rate to something that is actually useful (the previous lap timer was downgraded to 1Hz at some point).

I used it over the weekend for the first time in my F92. I got as far as exporting my mpower file and extracting it to see all the .far files (each one is 123k for 13:02 of recording, so about 160 bytes per second for each collection point). I didn't get as far as decoding the .far files to see the data yet. I think I saw someone had published a python script at github that should be able to convert them to csv, though. Perhaps I'll do a write-up once I take a look, but feel free to PM me if you want the file.

Looking at the recording through the app, it's much more than 1Hz. I can see the time displayed is incrementing somewhere between 25 and 33, and it seems to be holding onto data points in the display on the graph for 3 of those cycles, so looking at something between 8 and 11 hz at a minimum based on that.

The only issue I really had with the recording was that the gps seemed to be off when I got near some heavy fencing on the track. Nothing crazy, but a little inaccuracy that was very noticeable (about 50 ft) in my heatmap at 2 corners, and my line vs the satellite image along a wall.

[cfm56d7b]

Originally Posted by PLF69

My honest opinion is I see absolutely no good reason for this feature.

What do you guys think about it ?

I see it as an internal-use-only software engineering exercise discovered by a product manager and included in the final release for general public.

This feature would marginally more useful if it included a countdown timer indicating when tires have to be replaced.

[CanAutM3]

Originally Posted by nicksm3

I agree, it's such a wasteful non motorsport feature. Gives you an excuse to be a hoonigan fan boy.

I would argue differently. Drifting has become a quite prominent form of motorsport.

[MightyMouseTech]

We are going to sell sooooooooo many tires. LOL

[PLF69]

Originally Posted by CanAutM3

I would argue differently. Drifting has become a quite prominent form of motorsport.

It surely requires a considerable skill set but I just have hard time liking it since it is less based on metrics but rather subjective annotation. I often make a comparison with figure skating.

[JohnBucurE92]

Similar to Tesla having a mode called "Ludicrous"

Just a branded touch to make the car more fun. Looks like the reviewers love trying to get a good score.

[CanuckM]

Originally Posted by PLF69

My honest opinion is I see absolutely no good reason for this feature.

What do you guys think about it ?

Would have gladly traded it for no lift shift function.

[225]

Originally Posted by PLF69

My honest opinion is I see absolutely no good reason for this feature.

What do you guys think about it ?

Well the fact there are so many extra videos in the world showing the new M3s drift mode and it makes people talk about said new M3 more means a good job by BMW I'd say.

[Jimjamz]

I am not going to criticize M for productising fun. Good on them. These cars aren't solely utility vehicles, they are for those whom enjoy driving and performance vehicles.

[frankiebones]

Originally Posted by heavyD^2

It's unnecessary for sure but given how many reviewers have used it over and over trying to get 5 stars it sounds like it's kind of a fun little Easter egg. It's probably going to lead to some damaged cars unfortunately and I hope owners are responsible enough to only play with this at tracks, parking lots, etc and not on public roads.

Great location in your profile btw.