cruise control almost caused an accident. - correct post

[jasleinstein]

Sorry folks, this was a big typo mistake by me. In these cases I have had the car in Cruise Control NOT Active Cruise Control. After demo'ing the system with the BMW Genius my wife and I decided Active Cruise Control was not a good idea for a car we did not trust, for now.

Are others having trouble with the cruise control dropping out?

When on the freeway I try to keep the car driving no faster than 60 MPH to save battery. I tend to set the standard cruise control to maintain a fixed speed. Driving at 60 MPH on the freeway, cars whiz by on either side.
Several times while driving the car while in CC, the unit has dropped out. No beeps, flashing lights, etc. I have seen posts that others have seen similar issues. At first I thought this might be caused by cars pulling in front of us, or the system sensing a wall while going around a curve, at speed. It happens with no cars within a quarter of a mile, seemingly for no reason.
With regenerative braking of this car, effects can be very drastic, losing 5 or even 10 MPH in just a matter of seconds.
Yesterday I was cruising along and noticed a large truck coming up behind me closing at a quick pace. Just as the driver turned on his turn signal to pass the CC decided to drop out, and my car dropped speed. Luckily the driver was alert and was able to cram on his brakes. All I could see in the rear view mirror was truck bumper and grill.
I have been tolerating this bug for some time, but feel its time to get it to the service center.

Have you had trouble with the automatic cruise control dropping out?

 

[i3atl]

Are you saying that regular cruise control is dropping out, not active cruise control? That shouldn't happen.

If so, can you describe the process you're using to disable active cruise and put the car in regular cruise mode?

 

[WoodlandHills]

Yes, now we do not use it when the sun is setting since that is when it is the least reliable.

 

[jasleinstein]

i3atl,

I am very careful not to use the ACC. I start the car and get on the road. I get up to the speed I want (don't use the paddle in increase speed) then press the System on/off button, the one with speedometer and little arrow, then press the Set button. The speed I selected is displayed on the display under the small curve with arrow pointing down. I see the little car next to the speedometer icon, then press the distance down button until the green speedometer comes on indicating I am in Dynamic mode, the car beeps and display distance control deactivated, which should be no ACC right?

I do not use the driving dynamics control/ Eco mode options.

It happens under grey skies (we have allot of those here in Seattle), clear skies, driving away form the sun, no rain, etc. I can state I have never been able to achieve 20 miles with the cruise control engaged.

As a tech guy I have never worked so hard to avoid technology as I have with this car.

 

[i3atl]

...then press the distance down button until the green speedometer comes on indicating I am in Dynamic mode, the car beeps and display distance control deactivated, which should be no ACC right?

Yes. Another way to verify - if you don't see the red car icon at the top/center of the instrument cluster when following another vehicle, then ACC is not activated.

Standard cruise control should not be cutting out, regardless of sunlight/etc. I've used it for 60+ miles on some stretches of highway without ever disengaging it. If you're seeing this behavior with regular cruise control then something is wrong with the car - unless there's a chance you're touching the brake pedal, even slightly, which would cause the cruise control to disengage.

On a side note, it's disappointing that you feel the need to avoid the technology in the car. With the exception of the automatic parking, which I very rarely need, I use virtually every feature the car offers quite regularly. I've used automatic parking as well, but only to demo it for friends. IMO, the only feature that you really need to be careful with is ACC, but those quirks are easily managed by keeping a foot over the pedals for times when it disengages abruptly or doesn't recognize an object/vehicle in front of you.

 

[jasleinstein]

There is no chance I was touching the brake or accelerator. I have been aware of this problem for some time so I am careful.

Yes I omitted the red car icon was off.. This is an area where I think BMW lack of UX is not only poor, it can cause dangerous confusion. Having an orange car Icon telling ACC is on or off and a different, but green icon in the shape of a speedometer and arrow tells if you are in standard cruise ( BTW BMW calls it Dynamic Cruise Control) control, is confusing. It critical situations clear text is often the best use.
Cruise control is off
Cruise control is on
Active cruise control is on.

or a single icon ( use three colors if you like) with off, on, active cruise control text next to it.

Confusing items like the direction the console iDrive knob seems to be the reverse for zoom out vs zoom in, or having one set of actions to add a mobile phone but a complete different for deleting a phone, are quirky but they don't have to happen while traveling 60 MPH.

thanks for the response.

 

[epirali]

There is no chance I was touching the brake or accelerator. I have been aware of this problem for some time so I am careful.

Yes I omitted the red car icon was off.. This is an area where I think BMW lack of UX is not only poor, it can cause dangerous confusion. Having an orange car Icon telling ACC is on or off and a different, but green icon in the shape of a speedometer and arrow tells if you are in standard cruise ( BTW BMW calls it Dynamic Cruise Control) control, is confusing. It critical situations clear text is often the best use.
Cruise control is off
Cruise control is on
Active cruise control is on.

or a single icon ( use three colors if you like) with off, on, active cruise control text next to it.

Confusing items like the direction the console iDrive knob seems to be the reverse for zoom out vs zoom in, or having one set of actions to add a mobile phone but a complete different for deleting a phone, are quirky but they don't have to happen while traveling 60 MPH.

thanks for the response.

So curious do you get any message or warning on displays when the cruise control disengages?

 

[jadnashuanh]

That green icon is the same one they use on all of their cars, so it is not just the i3. Because the i3 is sold all over the world, most cars use icons verses words when space is a premium.

Under normal circumstances:

The cruise control is automatically disconnected if:
-the brakes are applied
-the selector D is disengaged
-DTC dynamic traction control is active
-DSC is actively controlling stability

So, the car is thinking one or more of those functions is activated. Could be a loose connection, a defective sensor, or, if driving on wet or slippery pavement, could be normal.

I rarely turn off ACC, so can't say I've seen the same thing.

 

[Boatguy]

Since the car has ACC, it has the sensors. I suspect that it saw something that triggered the collision avoidance and shut it down.

I use the ACC all the time because it works very well. That said it does occasionally shut down with no warning when it thinks it sees something wrong (it seems to detect "object on road" when there is none there), or driving into the sun. But overall it works incredibly well. It's particularly useful in heavy traffic where the speeds can range from 30-60-30 in a short distance. My biggest problem is getting into my Mercedes with non-adaptive cruise control and having to remember that it will not adjust to traffic conditions!

On balance, my feeling is that the ACC reduces your risk of an accident.

 

[epirali]

Since the car has ACC, it has the sensors. I suspect that it saw something that triggered the collision avoidance and shut it down.

But when it does that it usually shows a pretty obvious collision warning signal, no?

 

[i3atl]

After nearly 17K miles, I've never had it disable regular cruise control due to the collision avoidance system. Even in ACC, when the car has been "surprised" by another car slowing quickly in front of me, the car lights up the red car icon (collision warning) and beeps but keeps ACC engaged.