yogibear458

AFter 1 week of ownership... I'm still puzzled with a couple things:

1. DSC and DTC
The manual says (pg 79), press and release the DSC button the first time will ACTIVATE DTC for specail driving situations such as deep snow..etc.

Does this mean press and release DSC once will DE-Activate traction control and allow the wheels to spin ?

2. Press and hold DSC button for a second time will turn everything off. Does this mean everything driving aids (except ABS) are turned off?

3. pg 88 - Standing Lamps (left and right)
I played with this and the Pathway lighting. I understand the Pathway lighting but disappointed that when I return and unlock the car, the Pathway lighting doesn't come on to greet me as my other cars do. I suppose the designers don't realize if I wanted to light up my way leaving the car, I would probably want it to light up when I return ..say in a big parking lot or out in the country.

What really puzzles me is the use of the standing lamps. It stays on even after I left and locked the doors. It doesn't turn itself off like the Pathway lighting. So I'm wondering under what situations this feature will be useful?

Any ideas, please?

gomac

If they are like the ones here in Germany they are used to mark your car. Many of the roads are very narrow either in town or on country roads. This helps other drivers to see your car well in advance, not just when you headlights reflect back. I hope this helps.

rodybmw

The standing lights are used when parked on dark or dimmly lit streets. Basically you are supposed to turn on the side that is towards the middle of the street (turn on left lights if parked on the right side of the street and the right lights if parked on the left side of the street). This way the edge of your car is visible on dark streets so that others don't hit your car when driving past it. This feature has been standard on Euro model BMW's and other cars for decades (even US model MB's). My 1984 German model 323i had it, but it was only introduced on US model BMW's in the last few years, my 1997 US 528i does not have it while my wife's 2001 US X5 does.

So by design it is SUPPOSED to stay on until you return to the car and turn it off yourself, if it turned off automatically after a few minutes it would be useless.

yogibear458

ahhhh. IC. clever. thanks very much


[/quote]

The standing lights are used when parked on dark or dimmly lit streets. Basically you are supposed to turn on the side that is towards the middle of the street (turn on left lights if parked on the right side of the street and the right lights if parked on the left side of the street). This way the edge of your car is visible on dark streets so that others don't hit your car when driving past it. [/quote]

skipper

As far as the pathway lighting goes, it does not turn on because it is supposed to light the path in front of you as you walk away from your car (theoretically in front of the car, it doesn't help walking from the rear). Now if they came on when you unlocked the doors instead of assisting you it would blind you. You wouldn't be able to see if there was anything around your car and if you park on the street you would not be able to see oncoming traffic with 2 Xenon lights blaring in your face.

Hope this helps on the pathway lighting question.

Iceman

Last but not least, the DSC/DTC:

If you press the DSC button your DSC will partially be deactivated, the DTC remains.
Pressing it again, DSC is active again (100%).
Press and HOLD the DSC button for more than three seconds, and you get TWO warning lights and the message "DSC deactivated" - now the wheels spin!
Press the button once to activate DSC again (100%).
If DSC is OFF your wheels can spin, so make sure there is nobody close to your side you can hit, when the cars rear breakes out due to the oversteering.

The other answers were correct allready, so this was the only missing answer...

Rudy

I was waiting for realtyman to take that answer since he's now an official DSC/DTC expert!

Iceman

realtyman

I was waiting for realtyman to take that answer since he's now an official DSC/DTC expert!
[/quote]

I resemble that remark !


(Snip) from Iceman's post (sorry, don't know how to do multiple quotes).

"If you press the DSC button your DSC will partially be deactivated, the TC remains.
Pressing it again, DSC is active again (100%).
Press and HOLD the DSC button for more than three seconds, and you get TWO warning lights and the message "DSC deactivated" - now the wheels spin!
Press the button once to activate DSC again (100%).
If DSC is OFF your wheels can spin, so make sure there is nobody close to your side you can hit, when the cars rear breakes out due to the oversteering." (End snip)

Hey Ice,

I think you mean Wheel, not wheels. As Rudy said, I AM the DTC/DSC expert (now that I got my head out of my a$$ ). Despite my diligent efforts , I have yet to get more than one wheel to spin. Unless one can get Both wheels spinning, your break out/oversteer just 'aint gonna happen! Time to order an M5 I guess.

Rudy

realtyman, you can do multiple quotes by pressing the "quote" button on all the posts you want to quote. Once you're finished pressing the buttons, just press the "add reply" button and all your quotes will be waiting for you.

Okay, now my other question -- why is the limited slip so important to you? I drove my E39 cars for a total of 6 years and loved every minute of it -- without a limited slip rear end.

I'm currently enjoying my E60 (as I assume you are) and I really don't miss the lack of a limited slip. So what's the big deal? Is laying two strips of rubber that important or am I missing something else??

The way DSC works, I'm totally fine with the performance of the car...