i have a 2006 MCSa and i always drive in sport mode. if you have the automatic then you know you have to push the shift level laterally to get into sport mode and back to get out of sport and put it into park. so what i would like to do is modify the switch so that sport mode is the norm and moving the shift lever laterally is used to obtain the "non-sport" mode. any ideas how to do this or reasons i should not pursue it?

thanks.

 

How about the cost to re-program the DME to put the transmission in SD by default.

 

When you go into Sport mode, you also have access to a manual mode, which you physically can't access while in "D" (except via the paddles).

You would have to redesign the shift level mechanism to get away from this. Bearing in mind the interaction with the paddles on this system, I don't think this will work.

 

I'd like to do this myself. I was thinking more along the lines of a toggle switch that would allow one to reverse the two modes as desired.

The only reason against it that I can think of is that you won't be able to go use the "fully manual" mode with the stick if you do this. You would still be able to use the paddles, of course.

 

I really don't see why you couldn't enter manual mode from drive if you switched drive and sport drive. It is really irritating to try to shift into park when your in SD. This is what made me think about swapping drive and sport drive. So if you swap them and want to go into manual - move right into drive mode then do the manual thing up and down. While your at it I think the up and down shifting in manual are backward too.

 

You could indeed still go into manual mode from the (reversed) Drive position. I just meant that one couldn't go into it from the (reversed) Sport Drive position. And I agree on the shifting to Park (or Reverse) from SD - irritating to have to move it back over.

Again, I like this idea and would like to do it myself.

 

But if you are in "D" mode and go to manual, the car will kick you back into "D" mode if you don't shift or accellerate after a set period of time. Not so if you are in Manual in "SD" mode.

If you switch them, you are limited to using the paddles only to stay in the manual mode.

That would be even more annoying to me since I tend to utilize both the shifter and the paddles. But maybe that's just me. This is my first Auto and so old habits may die hard.

 

I drive SD myself & as well - 1st auto tranny...
But I gotta agree w/ MrV above, I think it's gotta be a bit more complicated than switching/reversing the "switches" in the center console :-\

 

Making this modification would use up more minutes of your life than you will ever spend moving the lever to one side.

Heck, even the time I just spent typing this has probably used up several months worth of shifting into sport mode. . . .

 

Couldn't of put it better myself

Although I think the easier way to accomplish this might just be to spin the shifter 180 degrees.

 

the shift pattern makes sense the way that it is...

true race cars with sequential shifters have this pattern... the reason for it is physics... when you slow down your body is shifted forward thus making it eaiser to push the lever forward when you are braking hard and wanting to grab a few downshifts.

When you are accelerating your body is pushed backwards... and when you need to upshift you pull back... the same way your body weight is pushing

 

my post is not about the "shift pattern"; it is about the ability to pre-select the starting point. for example, with my M3 i can pre-select and save the level of "sportiness" of the SMG transmission; with levels of 1-6 (5 is my pre-selected level). so with my MCSa, i would simply like to pre-select and save as my default the S mode.

 

Sorry MCDriver, I didn't mean to get the thread off topic. I do agree with you about the little irritation though and would like to see it modified.
And Yucca, does your radio remember which station you were last listening too? Why since it would take so little time for you to have to reset it each time you turned on your car. I think the point is not how much time it takes but rather the conveniences we have come to demand from our modern machines. Besides it is just damn irritating to try and back into a parking spot but not be able to shift right in to reverse. I'm sure I can overcome this little annoyance, just fun to see if there was a way around it - thats all.

 

Buy a manual!

 

No

 

I think the general concensus here is that you're going to waste more time by trying to figure out how to do this than you'll actually gain back. Just move the freakin shifter over, or drive in normal mode. Alternativly, find someone that knows how to trick the ECU into keeping the transmission in sport mode all the time. I'd go with the first approach... it's easier!