bmw effecient dynamics what is it

[asfault]

so the whole thing charging the battery when braking or off throttle i can see it the little blue bar charging the battery up.
but the car goes into coasting quite alot when not on throttle.
This is fine on the commute etc but i went out for a small blast today and it felt like i enterered a corner braked ED sets in so for a brief second its not sending power to the wheels? and then when i go to pick up the throttle mid corner etc it take a micro second as if its got to find the gear.

This also changes the feel of what the front wheels are doing through the corner going from powered to coast to powered.
Is this what is happening or am i just imagining it?

Car is a 2018 420D
Steering is too sensitive too but i believe that is the electric steering and just got to get used to it.

Edited to add its Xdrive

Edited by asfault on Monday 9th June 13:20

[stewart rix]

When you're in Eco driving mode, the transmission can effectively detach drive to the wheels and hence coast - only when you're off the throttle completely. You'll need to adjust your driving style to recognise there is no engine braking when this happens. The 'charging battery feature' is just another energy saving measure - some of the kinetic energy in the vehicles motion is used to charge the 12v battery rather than the alternator (yours is not a hybrid). There are some older 3 series models actually called 'Efficient Dynamics' which were set up with max economy/efficiency in mind, but is also now being used as a term for the various efficiency characteristics of all BMW's.

[Pica-Pica]

stewart rix said:

When you're in Eco driving mode, the transmission can effectively detach drive to the wheels and hence coast - only when you're off the throttle completely. You'll need to adjust your driving style to recognise there is no engine braking when this happens. The 'charging battery feature' is just another energy saving measure - some of the kinetic energy in the vehicles motion is used to charge the 12v battery rather than the alternator (yours is not a hybrid). There are some older 3 series models actually called 'Efficient Dynamics' which were set up with max economy/efficiency in mind, but is also now being used as a term for the various efficiency characteristics of all BMW's.

In my 2016 F30, you can turn the Eco mode ‘coast’ function off - I have. In fact, I now rarely use Eco mode after my first trial use of it.

[helix403]

Is your 420d 4wd or rwd?

[mmm-five]

In my 320D, Eco mode was used once or twice and then forgotten about as it seemed to detach every pedal input from any relative response from the engine.

In the 335D, Eco mode is no worse than Comfort mode on the 320D, and I'll slip into Eco on most long runs.

[helix403]

Is your 420d 4wd or rwd?

[Monkeylegend]

I tried Eco mode on my 5 Series once.

Never again.

[toon10]

Monkeylegend said:

I tried Eco mode on my 5 Series once.

Never again.

I've used Eco mode twice in all my years of modern BMW ownership, although one of those was by mistake when I was going for comfort after being in Sport and hit the switch too many times.

[asfault]

4wd yes.

Just came from a 335d which obviously didnt have this other than the eco mode which as stated above wasnt much diffferent to comfort.

335d is the better engine by a long shot but 95% of my driving is town and duel carridgeway commute so it was a waste.

[Monkeylegend]

toon10 said:

Monkeylegend said:

I tried Eco mode on my 5 Series once.

Never again.

I've used Eco mode twice in all my years of modern BMW ownership, although one of those was by mistake when I was going for comfort after being in Sport and hit the switch too many times.

Same here, I didn't realise mine had Eco mode until I hit the switch twice from Sport mode unintentionally.

Probably made it seem worse going direct from Sport mode but I haven't made the same mistake twice.

Having said that I very rarely use Sport mode either just generally leave it in Comfort mode everywhere.

[toon10]

Monkeylegend said:

Same here, I didn't realise mine had Eco mode until I hit the switch twice from Sport mode unintentionally.

Probably made it seem worse going direct from Sport mode but I haven't made the same mistake twice.

Having said that I very rarely use Sport mode either just generally leave it in Comfort mode everywhere.

I think that's a 5 series thing. My old M135i was permanently in sport mode. The throttle response in comfort was pretty poor. My 340i is mainly in Sport mode although comfort is a lot better than in the 1 series. My old 540i was left in comfort 80% of the time. I think they spent more time refining the settings on the 5 series meaning comfort is pretty much spot on unless you're wanting to thrash down a good road.

[bigdom]

Monkeylegend said:

Having said that I very rarely use Sport mode either just generally leave it in Comfort mode everywhere.

Most of the time I just leave the car in Comfort mode, I do put the gearbox in sport though to improve throttle response. Best of both worlds then.

[MissChief]

bigdom said:

Monkeylegend said:

Having said that I very rarely use Sport mode either just generally leave it in Comfort mode everywhere.

Most of the time I just leave the car in Comfort mode, I do put the gearbox in sport though to improve throttle response. Best of both worlds then.

I've used Sport+ maybe twice. Sport mode quite a few times if I know I'm going for an overtake as it keeps the car in a lower gear to be in the punchy engine range. Other than that it's pretty much stayed in Comfort. I don't use Eco Pro at all after trying it a couple of times and seeing no economy improvement, but a driveability decrease as it felt almost held back.

[Pica-Pica]

MissChief said:

bigdom said:

Monkeylegend said:

Having said that I very rarely use Sport mode either just generally leave it in Comfort mode everywhere.

Most of the time I just leave the car in Comfort mode, I do put the gearbox in sport though to improve throttle response. Best of both worlds then.

I've used Sport+ maybe twice. Sport mode quite a few times if I know I'm going for an overtake as it keeps the car in a lower gear to be in the punchy engine range. Other than that it's pretty much stayed in Comfort. I don't use Eco Pro at all after trying it a couple of times and seeing no economy improvement, but a driveability decrease as it felt almost held back.

Rarely Eco Pro, mostly comfort. I do use sport on the switch back hills near me, that gives a bit more torque and control for climbing and for slowing, bends, etc.

[rottenegg]

If you have xHP, you can run Eco Pro shifting without the sluggish throttle response. It's pretty good actually. Very relaxing in traffic.

The whole efficient dymanics thing is a bit poo pants. I've never really seen anything more than a couple of mpg difference.

xHP also makes sport mode redundant in 90% of driving scenarios, but if you do use Sport and Sport +, it's bonkers.