Cruise Control feature

swisstype · #1 06-05-2009, 10:52 AM

Hey all. I "discovered" something on my gas mileage experiment. I used the CC as much as possible, but found that you can make it accel or decel by pushing the stalk forward or backward. BUT.... there is a detent that if you push beyond it accels to the nearest 5 mph or 0 mph number, e.g. if you are going 53 mph it takes you to 55, or if you are going 46 mph, it will take you to 50 mph. Same thing for decel and pulling back on the stalk. I had never heard of that mentioned on here and thought maybe I "found" something. If not and this is old hat, then just ignore me.

rh71 · #2 06-05-2009, 11:30 AM

when you say push beyond are you saying the stalk goes further back and forward for these 5mi. increments?

swisstype · #3 06-05-2009, 11:35 AM

Yes. When you aactivate your CC by pushing either forward or backward, you can also push or pull slightly to add or subtract 1 MPH from your speed. You can hold the stalk fwd or bkwd and accel or decel till you let off. Now, what I am saying is that push your CC stalk a little further, there is a detent, or a "clicking point" that once you click past it, it takes you to the nearest increment ending in 5 or 0, and your readout near the speedo will show you. Try it out.

BCA · #4 06-05-2009, 11:52 AM

...and if you push the stalk up or down, it cancels, so you don't have to tap your brakes. Your speed is still saved though, so you can resume same speed.

Zoich · #5 06-05-2009, 12:18 PM

Yup it's a neat feature. I don't use my cc enough. I do wish however we had adaptive speed cruise control which would automatically ajust speed following the car in front at the right distance.

pureflames · #6 06-05-2009, 12:21 PM

Yes I believe it's in the manual; although I can't say I find it a useful feature...but good find anyways and thx for sharing!

evolver · #7 06-05-2009, 01:32 PM

I personally find this feature very neat. I use CC all the time provided to light traffic in my area.

There is also a related feature. Try pulling on the stalk beyond the notch, as if you were trying to get to the next lowest 5mph decrement, and keep holding it. You will notice that the vehicle starts slowing down much faster than it would if you just clicked the stalk or released the accelerator pedal. It feel like it applies brakes. As the vehicle slows down, the speed readings in the CC display go down until you release the stalk. If you released it at 57mph, this becomes your new CC speed. But the key point is that the vehicle seems to apply brakes rather than use the engine to slow down.

AzNMpower32 · #8 06-06-2009, 01:07 PM

The Dynamic Cruise Control is similar to all newer BMWs. Essentially it incorporates braking functions and is close enough to the Active Cruise, except without the radar.

As y'all discovered, you can brake fairly moderately using the cruise stalk to decel. The brake lights will illuminate and the brakes will engage until you release the stalk.

The system will also brake on downhill gradients should the vehicle begin to coast too quickly. For example, if you set the speed at 60km/h and you descend a hill, it will first release the throttle and coast via engine braking and the torque converter lockup. If the vehicle continues to speed up, it will apply the brakes gently to retain the 60km/h setting.

The system also will brake individual wheels gently should you go around a bend too quickly. When the sensors determine that the yaw-rate around a curve exceeds a threshold, it will brake the vehicle. Best way to try this out is on a cloverleaf offramp, should road and traffic conditions permit.