[SIZE=14]Rudy,I'm in Maryland and I refer you to pages 77

& 80 of the manual..specifically DSC and Active Steering......

 

Can't find it and I don't think it's possible to turn Active Steering off.

 

Again, I can't find anything on those pages relating to what you are claiming is possible. Can you post a quote from the manual that you're reading in case mine is a different version?

It sounds like you're the only one who sees this information.

 

It?s not possible to deactivate AS. Would be very dangearous to inmtreact with AS while driving.

You could probably only turn it of by pulling the circuit breaker!

 

Here's a quote of my owners manual (English version/Page 77).

Switching off DSC
--------------------
Hold the DSC button pressed, but for no longer than approx. 10 seconds, until the DSC indicator light in the instrument cluster remains on permanently. DSC and DTC are now switched off. Intervention by the active steering, which promotes stability, is likewise deactivated, see page 80.


Clearly this says that the corrective actions made by active steering to stablize the car have been turned off, see my previous post where I already said this.

 

Yes but active steering has not actually been turned off, you still have the system making it easy to turn at low speeds.

It makes sense if you are on a track for instance to be able to disable the active steering intervention when you want to power slide etc

 

(Still waiting for vmbmp's quote from the owner's manual since it's pretty clear that you can't turn off active steering, only it's ability to intervene in an oversteer situation in conjunction with DSC.)

I'd love to know how he felt it was "numbed up a bit" after turning it off. I remember reading that if there was a failure in the system, the car would still be steerable but with a fixed ratio. He never said anything about a system failure though.

 

According to my dealer,their interpretation of pages 77

and 80 is that the system is deactivated when DSC is. My reference

to a numb feel is when comparing the tracking and precision of

the steering on my old 540i[sport] w/ my new 545i[sport]....to

me the latter is a bit numb... anyone else care to share an opinion?

 

The dealer is misinterpreting the manual which is not surprising at all. Active steering is CLEARLY still at work with DSC off (aside from the earlier discussed intervention that helps countersteer in the event of an oversteer situation). You don't need to read the manual to see that it still works with DSC off (yes, off, as in hold the button down for more than three seconds), just drive the car. There is absolutely no difference between the steering. Even further proof can be found by counting how many turns the wheel makes lock-to-lock with DSC on, then count how many turns with DSC off (stationary vehicle, of course).

Having said all of that, vpbmb wants other opinions of the steering feel between the E39 and the E60. I owned a 1998 E39 540i 6-speed and a 2001 E39 540i 6-speed. My new E60 545i's steering is not numb in any way. It is way more linear and responsive feeling. Active steering is truly amazing.

I can sum things up with the phrase I've been telling people when they ask me how I like the new car -- my response is simply that "BMW took a perfect car (E39) and perfected it!"

vpbmp, if you are feeling a numb steering, you might want to have the dealer look at it. I've heard no other complaints of this phenomenon on every other E60 related board I've read. Something may be wrong with your car.

Good luck!

 

I think it is basically saying that the oversteer or the assistance to reactive steering that Active Steering provides is disabled, but the active steering function itself is still functional.