pharding

At the eleventh hour I dropped Active Cruise Control and Lane Departure Warning when I ordered my 550 Sport. How do those of you that actually have them on your e60 LCI's like these options? Will Active Cruise Control work in rush hour traffic that varies between 20 and 45 mph like we have here in Chicago?

Rudy

I use active cruise all the time in rush hour traffic. It works very well but once in a while it kind of freaks me out and I use the brake earlier than the car would just to prevent a sudden deceleration -- I'm worried about the guy behind me that doesn't have active cruise and is likely texting someone and not paying attention to me! Overall, it's a pretty great feature for stop and go traffic (or even steady traffic that's congested.) I'd rank it high on my favorite feature list. One other side benefit I've found is when you're completely stopped, you can activate the system then take your foot off the brake without the car rolling forward. I've driven manuals (and SMG) cars all my life so I'm not used to having to keep the brake on with more than slight pressure to remain stationary. (The SAT seems to require a significant amount of brake pressure to hold the car still -- not sure if it's an idle thing or something with the way the clutch/torque converter works on the car.)

On the open highway, I'd love to be able to switch off the active part of the cruise because I'm used to managing things myself. Now, I have to anticipate things a little differently on the highway. For example, normally I stay in the right lane until I approach a slower moving car. I'll then move over to the left lane and once I'm clear of the car I just passed, I pull back into the right lane -- even if I'll be approaching another slower moving car in that lane in a short while. With ACC, as soon as I pull into the right lane again, depending on the distance to the next car I'm going to pass, it might start to slow me down right away. Also, in the example of me approaching the first car I intend to pass, the system might slow me down earlier than when I'd normally change into the left lane. I'm trying to learn or anticipate the distance that it will start to slow me down so I can begin my lane change a bit earlier. Unfortunately, I haven't had too many highway trips to practice this just yet.

With regard to the lane departure warning system, I leave it activated all the time now and have learned to ignore it when I'm paying attention to the road but every once in a while, if I'm fiddling with something and not paying 100% attention (like grabbing something one of my kids dropped on the floor, etc.) it'll vibrate and remind me to check out what's going on. I do often times make extended road trips and drive after long work days, etc. so I think that as an insurance against driver fatigue, it's worth the price -- even if it only saves me one time! On the other hand, if I'm not tired but just need a little hand massage, this option provides much needed relief.

Again, just to emphasize, I'm not one to start reading the newspaper or check my email while motoring down the road but the combination of these two options is a nice little security blanket for the occasional times when something takes your full attention away from the road...

Tournesol

The Active cruise control was one of the few things I regretted not ordering for my previous car; therefore it's a pleasure to tell you that I use it a lot. I don't like it in high speed - heavy traffic situations because I want to stay focused. But in situations like city traffic or 70 - 90 KPH (~45-55 MPH) it's really good.

I would also like to ability to use plain cruise control without radar though.

As to Lane departure warning, it's another safety feature that's passive (i.e. you don't appreciate it normally). I have found it to be helpful from time to time for getting an early warning that I'm loosing focus.

JSpira

I can?t get active cruise control on my car but I am thinking about getting Lane Departure Warning. If it alerts me once, it?s worth it.

I always believe I am paying full attention behind the wheel (no texting from this driver) but one never knows.

Rudy

Exactly. Don't forget that you can pretty much get a hand massage any time you want so that's a bonus...

Why can't you get ACC on your car?

aqkhan6us

Love : CA and ACC stop n go : saves gas too (no need to turn on and off in traffic )
Bought E60 for this reason(was going for X3)

Russ1974

I was tempted with the ACC but the thing that swayed me against not getting it was the postings about how you could not switch off the radar part and use CC only. As much as I love technology, there are some things that I want to maintain control of at all times. Accelerating and braking are the main ones. What's next - active steering that detects corners and turns for you or when you indicate it checks for traffic then pulls out? No thanks I can see how it's a great option and probably a god-send for people who regularly are stuck in stop-go traffic, but having an automatic, my right foot will do all the work for me sub consciously anyway without any effort.

Now what I do love in the new standard cruise controls is the braking ability - in the X5 it's superb and can't until I get the new car which has the brake assist, as the E60 doesn't have it, and I miss it so much when I switch between the cars!

As for lane departure warning, that comes as standard on the 535d. I wish it didn't. I would much rather have the extra assignable button on the steering wheel, and if the abillity to delete the option (even if it didn't change the price of the car) existed, I would have done. I prefer to stay awake and stay focused on the road, rather than relying on the car to brake for me or vibrate. I just don't trust the technology enough yet I guess, especially the ACC. If you have to watch the car infront, hover your foot over the brake just incase it loses a lock, make sure the car DOES have a lock etc, i may aswell just brake myself!

1994_RX-7_Tour

+1 on benefits of ACC - I love it too & enjoy the break during longer trips & rush hour traffic, though I still monitor how it's working at all times. Stop & go feature works surprisingly well IMO.

- For LDW, main reason I'm glad I didn't get it is that it permanently takes away one of the two programmable buttons on the steering wheel (heard this from Rudy initially).... and since it is new didn't have enough confidence in the system reliability or performance to pay for it. Plus I'm pretty careful about lane changes & using turn signals so IMO it wasn't as much value added.

Rudy

I agree that the loss of a steering wheel button is stupid but as far as what you're saying about the turn signals, I think that's the whole point of the system. The value added is that it will only vibrate if you aren't using the signals and drift outside of the lane (like if you're not paying attention, falling asleep, etc.) If you're buying it as a hand massager, then yes, there's no value added if you always use your turn signals. If you're buying it as a safety feature to alert you if you're drifting outside of your lane, then it'll do exactly that...

aqkhan6us

1) Me too
2) PLUS LDW may not work well in snow weather, on roads with no lane markings / light-faded lane markings, gravel or county roads.

Infiniti has LDW plus Lane departure prevention, all round camera instead of just rearview camera on new models ?