What Are The Red M1 And M2 Buttons In Some BMW Cars?

Having access to different drive modes in a car isn't new. In fact, most vehicles on sale today offer a choice of settings — most commonly Normal and Sport, though often with Eco and Snow options, too — which adjust things like throttle response, steering weight, transmission behavior, and engine mapping. It means the same car can go from being a smooth, quiet, economical cruiser to punchier and more aggressive at the touch of a button.

Over the years, though, automakers have expanded on the sort of drive mode options they offer. Increasingly, that includes a custom or "Individual" mode, where the driver can choose between different combinations of settings, and save them for easier recall later one. 

For instance, you might want the drivetrain to be more enthusiastic and the gearbox to downshift more eagerly, but the suspension to stay in a softer, more comfort-focused configuration. In the latest BMW M cars, accessing those customized settings has been made even easier, and less distracting.

When it comes to the latest models from BMW M, the options for personalization are close to overwhelming. In the case of the 2023 BMW XM, for example, you can set the drivetrain and chassis to Comfort, Sport, or Sport Plus individually. There are Comfort and Sport settings for the steering and brakes, and minimum or maximum settings for regenerative braking too. There are four settings for the M xDrive all-wheel drive — 4WD, 4WD Sport, and 4WD Sand — and then three levels for how keen to downshift the eight-speed transmission is.

In short, you could end up taking your eyes off the road for a seriously long length of time, just to tweak each different aspect of the experience behind the wheel. Since BMW would rather you focus on actually driving, it not only supports saving two individual configurations, but starting several years ago, it added shortcuts on the steering wheel itself to switch between them.

Once you've dialed in your pick of the different drive settings and modes, holding down either the M1 or the M2 button on the steering wheel will save them. You can adjust them through the iDrive infotainment system as well. Then, no matter what drive mode you're currently in, tapping the appropriate red button will switch to that array of settings again in the future.

While BMW pitches the M1 and M2 buttons as a way for keen drivers to pull up their pick of the vehicle's most enthusiastic settings, they could be just as readily used to turn a BMW M car into a comfortable limo. M1, on the left side of the wheel, might summon an aggressive configuration, while M2 on the right side could select all the softest settings.

BMW isn't alone in having quick access to individual configurations like this, but its bright red M1 and M2 buttons are arguably the most charming and eye-catching method out there. They're also a good way to tell whether a car is truly from the German automaker's most potent M range.