Canada545

Is this option worth paying for?

If it is, can the owner of the car set the distance or does the car calculate the "safe" distance?

Also, I drive alot on the highway which is twined with two or three lanes, how well does it work with multiple lanes? Meaning, if I'm in the right lane and come up to a slower moving vechile, will the car slow down until I change lanes (move to the left - passing lane) or will I have to pass the car myself (change lanes and press the gas) before the cruise control takes over again? or, once the car is in the left lane which is clear and there is a car in the right lane, the active cruise knows to resume its preset speed?

subterFUSE

I have Active Cruise.

I like it a lot. But is it worth $2200? I can't answer that for you.

You can set your follow distance.... within a range.

When you change lanes after following a slower car, the car will accelerate back to your pre-set speed. The system works rather well.

Canada545

Thanks, I like the idea of the option, alot of traffic heading out to the golf course so less stress before my tee time would be great Options are difficult to determine if they are worth paying for, I have experienced times when I haven't gotten an option and regarded it each time I sat in the car

Iceman

It has four settings for distance. The car follows the car in front of you, even if the road is not straight. Slower cars in front will slow you down, faster cars doesn't matter, even if they enter the highway from the right and sneak in infront of you. As long as they are accelerating your car recognizes it and doesn't brake. Whenever the car brakes, you get a signal and the following traffic is seeing your brake lights. A chime notices you, that you need to brake manually. I love the system and it works perfect.

Canada545

Very cool It actually turns your brake lights on for traffic behind you, wow!!! Its now on my wish list! Thanks Iceman

545i2b

I LOVE it - it's particularly good when the visibility isn't great - the ACC can "see" traffic before I can

Rudy

Just remember one thing -- if you get active cruise, you can't turn it off and have it act like a "normal" cruise control.

I've read many posts here from active cruise owners (not me) wishing they had a way to disable it when they're in heavier traffic, etc.

For me, it wasn't worth the money -- especially since I was worried that given a "hole," US drivers generally cut in between you and the car you're following without leaving any safe distance. The active cruise would have to slow the car down due to the now close following distance but usually I'd want to stay right on the guy's bumper to see what his intentions are and hopefully get him back to the lane he came from...

Iceman

OK, Rudy... I will not start any discussion about how safe or unsafe it is to follow the guy in front right on his bumper...
All I say is, there is a setting for guys like you. The smallest distance is pretty close...

The other thing I can confirm. You can't use it without the sensor, but BMW is thinking about making this possible in the future, what could be done with a software update.

Rudy

If you lived here Iceman, you'd adapt your driving technique to accomodate for the lack of skill that most drivers demonstrate. Believe me, if you didn't, you'd go backwards while everyone else would be going forwards...

Iceman

Rudy, trust me. It's about the same here. When you leave space, some freak will sneak in.
I will not, never, adapt driving techniques that put me in danger.
Anyways, the setting for the smallest possible distance gives you only 1 second reaction time... When you're driving 70 mph and leave enough space for one second only... nobody sneakes in.