kiwistu

Hi All

A friend who sells Bmer's wanted me to try an 335 to replace my car (I drive around town 90% + of the time).

Nup.

No active steering, no big screen for parking!

Cheers
stu

peter@vmrwheels

Its one of those options where, once you've gotten a taste of it, you don't want to go without it.

So if you don't want to spend the $$, stay away from cars w/ AS. I've been "sucked in" to many purchases because of this haha.

Almost like driving a BMW for the very first time

calpalmer

I'm not sure the last sentence is correct. I'm aware of several improvements that AS purportedly provides the driver both at speed for cornering as you say, and at slower speeds for parking, garages, etc. But I'm not sure the non-AS car has a greater steering ratio (more driver input required to effect the same directional change on the front wheels), than AS cars. I thought the variable steering ratio with AS was focused on improving slow-speed turns by decreasing the effective ratio. I don't think it is also decreasing the high-speed ratio compared to non-AS. Maybe I'm wrong on that, so let me know.

By the way, I'm an AS convert, having been highly skeptical of it's net benefit (or lack of, via insulating me from the road).... but now having an AS car, I'm sold.

Cal

Isay5

Was able to find this on another site that gave credit to Automobile Magazine:

"Active Steering is perhaps the most significant new technical achievement. This system, part of the optional Sport package, electromechanically adds a positive or negative steering angle to the setting chosen by the driver, via a planetary gearset integrated into the steering column. This reduces steering motion at low speeds (say, while parking) and when negotiating tight turns on curvy roads, requiring only two turns lock-to-lock rather than three. It also makes the steering much more direct at high speeds. Driving two 5-series-one equipped with Active Steering and one without-back-to-back on an autocross course, we found the car equipped with Active Steering allowed us to hustle through much more quickly and with far less understeer than the car with BMW's conventional, but still excellent, rack-and-pinion setup. (The 540i's recirculating-ball steering is history.) On twisty seaside roads, it takes a little getting used to, because you're expecting to have to cross your arms a lot more than is actually necessary, but the results are noteworthy. Philip K?hn, Active Steering project manager, maintains that the system "is such a huge leap in technology, it's comparable to the introduction of ABS."

Isay5

Same site, this time giving credit to BMW:

Active Steering gives drivers more precise handling and tracking: this ensures that their automobiles are more mobile and agile even on twisting roads. A planetary gear is integrated with the steering column; depending on the situation, the feature varies the angle of steering determined by the user at the wheel (superimposed steering).
It increases the steering angle at lower and mid-range speeds; by contrast, at higher speeds (e.g. on motorways), the steering angle is reduced. When parking, the active steering feature makes it easier to manoeuvre by amplifying the movements of the steering wheel.

calpalmer

The quotes are a little confusing.... to me at least. The third sentence in the second post is what I was trying to say, "... by contrast, at higher speeds the steering angle is reduced." I"m not sure what the they mean by mid-range speeds and whether the difference from the non-AS steering ratio at those speeds is significant in the twists to reduce "hand over hand", the original comment. Maybe it does; I imagine that benefit is mostly or only noticed in more the in-town turns and parking. Anyway, overall the AS has been a significant benefit to my enjoyment of the car so far.