I must be getting old but I'm constantly amused by the cleverness of the software in the E63.
Most of the time the car is set to C mode on the gearbox - even at that setting it will see off most of the kids in Hot Hatches should I have a mind to, and it has a much more relaxed approach to town traffic starting in 2nd gear etc.
However, like most of us I guess, there are favourite bits of roads that offer an opportunity to use some of the more brisk features of the gearbox and it is immediately switched to S+ and off we go. The immediate downshift to 5th sets the mood and thereafter the faster shifts, engine blips on downshifts, manually selected lower gears being held on a constant throttle until the right moment for an overtake, and perhaps the use of full revs before up-shifts being the cream on the cake.
At the end of the 'special stage', a quick switch to C and we are back to calm and serenity.
The odd thing for me is that I just don't get the same sense of enjoyment out of the full M setting - always seem to be in the wrong gear, too many maybe for a manual selection?
Most of the time the car is set to C mode on the gearbox - even at that setting it will see off most of the kids in Hot Hatches should I have a mind to, and it has a much more relaxed approach to town traffic starting in 2nd gear etc.
However, like most of us I guess, there are favourite bits of roads that offer an opportunity to use some of the more brisk features of the gearbox and it is immediately switched to S+ and off we go. The immediate downshift to 5th sets the mood and thereafter the faster shifts, engine blips on downshifts, manually selected lower gears being held on a constant throttle until the right moment for an overtake, and perhaps the use of full revs before up-shifts being the cream on the cake.
At the end of the 'special stage', a quick switch to C and we are back to calm and serenity.
The odd thing for me is that I just don't get the same sense of enjoyment out of the full M setting - always seem to be in the wrong gear, too many maybe for a manual selection?