[systech]

I like the cruise control on the E9X cars because it has a few nice features including:

- you can increment or decrement the current speed by 10 km at a time as well as by 1 km

and

- it actually brakes for you when reducing the speed as noted above or when going down hill and your speed exceeds the preset speed.

The combination of the above features means you can virtually drive the car exclusively on cruise control over long distances (except of course when approaching traffic lights etc!)

However, while using this today on a drive back from Melbourne I noticed that when I decreased the speed by 10 km while entering a lower speed zone the car behind me just about went up my @rse...which prompts my question. Are the brake lights activated when the cruise control activates the brakes for you? I could get her indoors to follow me and check but she will probably think I' crazy so haven't bothered to ask

[Zen]

I'm not too sure, but I believe it uses the engine braking to slow the car and not the brakes itself. Someone with a E90 might want to verify this.

[Beejay]

...

Originally Posted by systech

when I decreased the speed by 10 km while entering a lower speed zone the car behind me just about went up my @rse...

Mate, this is Australia - people don't slow down simply because some sign on the side of the road tells them so ... of course the guy behind you was just upset that you chickened out and impinged on his right to be stupid

[Dec540]

Yes they do, I was driving behind Mark the other day and we had radios and i noticed one time when we were going down the highway that his brake lights came on when he used cruise control to brake. If you knock it down by 1k then i don't think it does but if you flick it down by 10 it will.

It's the same with cars that have the radar guided cruise control, there brake lights come on when the car infront slows down.

[systech]

Originally Posted by Zen

I'm not too sure, but I believe it uses the engine braking to slow the car and not the brakes itself. Someone with a E90 might want to verify this.

I'm certain that it is actually activating the brake, and the engine braking alone will not be adequate on steep slopes.

And as per the previous response, it seems the brake lights are activated !

[.dee]

Originally Posted by systech

I'm certain that it is actually activating the brake, and the engine braking alone will not be adequate on steep slopes.

And as per the previous response, it seems the brake lights are activated !

out of interest how do you drop/increase speed by 10ks?

[mark325]

.dee,

Unfortunately BMW in all their wisdom have removed this 10k feature from the later models. I drove an LCI the other day which did not have this feature and I was rather surprised as its very very useful.

Indeed the car will apply brakes if the speed increases beyond a certain threshold in relation to the cruise control set speed. This will activate the brake lights as well.

[bcoz]

Originally Posted by mark325

Unfortunately BMW in all their wisdom have removed this 10k feature from the later models. I drove an LCI the other day which did not have this feature and I was rather surprised as its very very useful.

Mark, you may have driven a 4 cylinder car. I have an Oct-09 built 6 cyl E90 and it has the 1k and 10k increments. You get 1k increments when you pull/tap the lever to the pressure point, and 10k when you go beyond the pressure point.

I noticed in the manual that the 4 cyl models don't have the 10k increment and neither do they have the brake function.

Re the brake function, the manual doesn't say whether the brake lights are activated but it does confirm "On downhill gradients, the system will brake the car slightly if engine braking alone is insufficient".

[mark325]

Yes It was indeed a 4 Cylinder, Seems rather strange that they removed this feature from the 320's but left it in the other vehicles.

[KingClifton]

Originally Posted by mark325

Yes It was indeed a 4 Cylinder, Seems rather strange that they removed this feature from the 320's but left it in the other vehicles.

I believe it's something to do with the more advanced DSC functions on the 6-cyl models...the 4-cyls don't get the little indicator light on the speedo to show the set cruise speed, nor do they get the braking and DSC-related things such as auto-pad-wiping and Hill Start Assist.

The 10km/h thingy would have been brilliant because when I travel through the Heysen Tunnel into the Adelaide Hills it drops from 100 to 90, then goes back to 100 after 500m or so. Likewise braking to reduce speed would be great on the downhill run - I'm forever shifting from 6 to 5 to 4 to 5 to avoid riding the brakes.

[VGR00]

Originally Posted by KingClifton

I believe it's something to do with the more advanced DSC functions on the 6-cyl models...the 4-cyls don't get the little indicator light on the speedo to show the set cruise speed, nor do they get the braking and DSC-related things such as auto-pad-wiping and Hill Start Assist.

.

Never used or knew about increment or decrement by 10 klms feature but the LCI 320 does actually get the indicator light showing the set cruise speed and also the auto pad wiping.

[KingClifton]

Originally Posted by vgr02

Never used or knew about increment or decrement by 10 klms feature but the LCI 320 does actually get the indicator light showing the set cruise speed and also the auto pad wiping.

My 320d doesnt have it - I just assumed (from the wording in the owner's manual) that none of the 4cyls got it.