It's really windy today here, and the Active Steering is kicking me all over the lane. It really fights you in the wind, and makes the car hard to keep in a straight line.

It sure would be nice to be able to turn it off on demand. Does switching through the DSC/DTC function turn off AS?

 

Unfortunately you can't switch it off.

 

That's too bad, it really does make it unnerving to drive in gusty areas.

 

Did you try NOT to fight it? I thought people said that AS is suppose to correct for you during heavy wind... I dunno. I heard too many complaints about AS in wind... I'm scared now.

 

The E60 doesn't behave too good in the wind. AS or not. I drove E60's with and without AS...

 

Very interesting -- do you know if BMW does wind tunnel testing of prototypes before finalizing designs?? I would find it amazing that BMW would not know of and understand how the car is going to react and handle in strong winds (from any direction, including lift at high speeds). Most sophisticated auto manufacturers do this wind tunnel testing nowadays (e.g., Ferrari is supposed to have great aerodynamic expertise for supercars, especially for travel at or about 200mph).

I have driven my 545i at freeway speeds (up to 85-90mph) in high winds with heavy rains on sometimes semi-flooded streets and highways and have not noticed any "loss of control" issues with the AS. However, I have not driven it in dry conditions with just strong winds at higher speeds.

 

I test drove a 545i with steptronic today. It was windy and I could feel the car slightly moving around on the highway. It felt weird and I assumed active steering was the culprit. I am not sure if it is something that would bother me too much though because the car is so good.

The car was amazing. The engine revved noticably quicker than my 540. The power delivery was really smooth. The HUD was really neat, being able to monitor mph without looking down. Interesting watching it hit triple digits so easily. Couldn't help but think about the new 4.8 liter 550 to come. Does the US e60 HUD offer driving directions?

The steptronic seemed to shift better (quicker) than my 540, although I did not get to spend enough time with the car - not enough time to get used to the reverse shift logic. Thank goodness for the engine save feature or I probably would have blown-up the engine. Up-shift is rearward in the new car instead of forward. Although the old shift logic always made sense to me (ie. upshift forward) the new shift logic makes sense too as discussed in another thread (ie downshifting forward makes sense while breaking hard).

Awesome car! Six speed manual for me please.

 

I have to agree here- I drove my new E60 from LA to Phoenix this past weekend, and what I noticed was how WELL it drove with a strong wind, better than my E39. FWIW I seem to have a "newer" version of AS, much better than dealer cars I test drove 2-3 months previously.

 

The E60 doesn't behave too good in the wind. AS or not. I drove E60's with and without AS...
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HUH??? Did they forget to put the E60 though wind tunnel testing???

 

Every car is going to twitch a little in the wind. Every car will twitch as you pass a big rig at high speed. I know its going to happen so I adjust for it.

I have driven my E60 at 145mph and she was steady as a rock.