[JamieA]

Driving the other night, and got a Check Control message

"ACC Failure, please keep your distance"

I haven't been using my cruise druing run in as a general rule, but I do use it occasionally for short periods to get used to the features of active cruise.

Took the car in, and was told my radar sensor needs to be replaced, something about a mounting not positioning it properly. 3 week wait for a replacement part :mad:

The car isn't smart enough to revert to a normal cruise control (with a suitable warning to let you know the radar bit isn't working) when the radar sensor fails, instead there is not cruise control at all. I think this is poor design.

Anyone else with ACC have this problem?

[David328M-Sport]

Sorry Jamie, no ACC on my car. No need for me as I'm a suburbanite 99.99999% of the time. No use to me.

Hope its fixed pronto.

[bluesea]

I too had the same warning twice when I was on a long trip. I thought that it was dirt on the antenna on the lower front bumper. I cleaned the car first thing when I arrived and haven't had a problem since. I forgot about that until your post.

I too expected that the cruise should revert to a traditional mode. Seems pretty sophisticated though. Perhaps it's asking too much for the first generation.

Sorry to hear about that. Any chance of jurry rigging the sensor in place for now?

[JamieA]

I asked the service guy and he said 'No'.

I think the dealership were worried about the legal implications of the system not working and causing a crash, then being blamed for keeping it together with band aids.

The funny thing is I checked the sensor before I took it into the dealer and it looked clean and I tried to move it and it seemed pretty well fixed. So perhaps something has gone on behind the dome, because they said the sensor was pointing in the wrong direction.

Just feel glad you never saw the warning again.

[Costa]

Hey Jamie - sorry to hear about your ACC problems. I agree with your call that it's a bad design, not being able to revert back to normal cruise. Despite this, it still is a pretty nice feature, I love gadgets. I was considering getting it but opted for Prof Navi instead ... at considerable extra expense

I have actually wondered about ACC - how does it actually work in the following circumstances:

1. If there is no car in front of you and you engage cruise, what happens when a car later overtakes you ? ie: does ACC automatically "kick in", with a default preset distance, or do you have to do something else to switch over to ACC ?

2. Does it feel at all awkward with slowing down and accelerating on the manual transmission with ACC ?

Cheers
Costa

[JamieA]

If someone overtakes you it locks on automatically (it is always on and scanning when in cruise mode) and brakes to make the safe distance, or if this is not possible (ie requires more than 1/3 braking capacity of the car) it alerts you to take control.

Problem is that in this situation it turns off then erases your preset speed so you have to set it up again. Also the manual says that if it doesn't see anything for a while it switches off, which presumably means the cruise switches off also. I think this is to protect against the sitation that the sensor is covered in dirt, but sounds a bit like overkill to me.

For the manual transmission, the cruise will alert you to change up or down gears if it thinkg RPM are too low or high, it is really cool, and unlike other cruise control systems I have used, you can change gears without it disengaging, nor does it blip the engine when you press the clutch. All in all it is extremely civilised.

I think the other cruise systems have this gear change process as well. I think that the car will sometimes request a gear change in favour of braking, but I am yet to see this happen because I am still in run-in and haven't really used it beyond short periods of either fiddling with it or showing it off to friends.

When we get to catch up, I will give you a complete demo if you like.

[mowog]

Originally Posted by JamieA

I think the other cruise systems have this gear change process as well.

The non ACC cruise does allow you to change gears without disengaging. I tried this on the test drive car, and when you're coming from a car which disengages the cruise if you even breathe on the brake or clutch it takes a bit of getting used to, but I have to say it's far more sensible than having the car labour in 5th climbing a hill. Just drop a gear or two and zoooom

I don't know if the non ACC cruise prompts you to change gears based on revs, but that would make sense.

Kinda glad I didn't opt for the ACC myself. The way I figured, I hate following other cars, so I'd probably never use it anyway

--m

[lux.sh]

ah crapppp. isn't this like the first week with the E90 for JamieA?

can't believe this crap will cause you 3 weeks of boredom and hassle. so sorry to hear this. I hope everything gets worked out good JamieA.

(I re-read the thread again, you will still be able to drive the E90 around? just no cruise control?)

[JamieA]

Originally Posted by lux.sh

ah crapppp. isn't this like the first week with the E90 for JamieA?

can't believe this crap will cause you 3 weeks of boredom and hassle. so sorry to hear this. I hope everything gets worked out good JamieA.

(I re-read the thread again, you will still be able to drive the E90 around? just no cruise control?)

Thanks Lux.

I can still drive it. Mysteriously it worked tonight - don't know why I am not complaining though but will still get the sensor changed because it is obviously dodgy.

I was pretty annoyed at first, but at least is is non-essential, and the car can still be driven and if something is going to go wrong, it is probably during the first week or so. Just as long as this isn't a trend, I will be ok...

[JamieA]

Originally Posted by mowog

Kinda glad I didn't opt for the ACC myself. The way I figured, I hate following other cars, so I'd probably never use it anyway

--m

I am the same, I hate having a car in front of me too. I like the freedom of a clear road in front. But if I can't get around them, or while I am waiting for my chance to pounce, the ACC makes being stuck behind a car far less frustrating.

[thrill30]

So sorry to hear about that ACC malfunction... but at least it's not a major component that needs the car to be taken back to the dealer immediately.... they should still replace the faulty component though.

[bluesea]

Humm... I wonder if I might have the same issue as you Jamie. In fact, I too had just picked up my car two days before when this happened. It has worked as it should since the day it was intermittently faulty.

Rich

[LEDZEP]

That is a bad design if you can't have "manual" CC when the sensor is misbehaving. Well, that's what you get for having so much disposable income! That's a super expensive option!

[JamieA]

Originally Posted by bluesea

Humm... I wonder if I might have the same issue as you Jamie. In fact, I too had just picked up my car two days before when this happened. It has worked as it should since the day it was intermittently faulty.

Rich

Well here's the interesting bit, it started working again, but I am still getting it replaced. The dealer said some mounting was faulty and the sensor was loose. When I looked at it, the sensor seemed pretty secure, but I discovered it wasn't the surround but the actual dome, when I touch it, it flaps around, so some mountin bracket must have broken.

God knows how this happened, perhaps it is a common fault. But not talked about often because it isn't a common option.

[LWRBimmer]

I have my car at the dealership for 1 week they have been trying to calibrate a new LRR sensor for the ACC. The shop Forman seems to be getting no where. Luckily I'm still under warranty. Anyone deal with anything similar?