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Hill descent

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Old Jul 7, 2005 | 09:36 AM
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Okay, no where in the manual says the e60 has hill descent features but last weekend we took our 545i up throught the Sierra Nevadas via interstate 80.. normally we take the suv, this is the first time we took the 5er.. the highest elevation we hit was probably about 6100 ft..

on a few long downhill stretches (i think the grades were 10% and 5%) as i started to tap the brake to slow down and keep it under 80mph, the computer took over and downshifted a couple of gears (jumping the rpm's to between 4k-5k).. this kept the vehicle at a constant speed around 75mph on the down hill without using any brakes! i didn't have to use any brakes as EVERYONE else was on theirs

i'm going to have to take the 5er up highway 50 the next time we go up there; it's more winding and has steeper grades

btw, it was in D the whole time and my cip is 16.3.
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Old Jul 7, 2005 | 09:45 AM
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Originally Posted by huy' date='Jul 7 2005, 10:36 AM
Okay, no where in the manual says the e60 has hill descent features but last weekend we took our 545i up throught the Sierra Nevadas via interstate 80.. normally we take the suv, this is the first time we took the 5er.. the highest elevation we hit was probably about 6100 ft..

on a few long downhill stretches (i think the grades were 10% and 5%) as i started to tap the brake to slow down and keep it under 80mph, the computer took over and downshifted a couple of gears (jumping the rpm's to between 4k-5k).. this kept the vehicle at a constant speed around 75mph on the down hill without using any brakes!? ? i didn't have to use any brakes as EVERYONE else was on theirs?

i'm going to have to take the 5er up highway 50 the next time we go up there; it's more winding and has steeper grades?

btw, it was in D the whole time and my cip is 16.3.
[snapback]146608[/snapback]
My wife and I just did a similar trip in our new 5er. The Sierras are beatutiful Left Vacaville and traveled to Reno via 80. Took 395 south into the Tahoe Basin and then traveled back to Vacaville via 50. What a blast! The car just ate up the turns and like you mentioned, I never needed to touch the brakes! The car would shift down as necessary. Didn't realize it would do that! Only issue we had were the stupid truck kicking up sand and pebbles... Ouch Fortunately I had a clear bra installed and there wasn't a single chip or dent! Looking to take the car on a trip north and see if I can straighten out of few of the turns on the coast highway!
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Old Jul 7, 2005 | 11:18 AM
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Me too. Just took the 5 to Squaw Valley last weekend and took Hwy 50 to Lake Tahoe about a month ago. Good times.



Originally Posted by PKandCK' date='Jul 7 2005, 11:45 AM
[quote name='huy' date='Jul 7 2005, 10:36 AM']Okay, no where in the manual says the e60 has hill descent features but last weekend we took our 545i up throught the Sierra Nevadas via interstate 80.. normally we take the suv, this is the first time we took the 5er.. the highest elevation we hit was probably about 6100 ft..

on a few long downhill stretches (i think the grades were 10% and 5%) as i started to tap the brake to slow down and keep it under 80mph, the computer took over and downshifted a couple of gears (jumping the rpm's to between 4k-5k).. this kept the vehicle at a constant speed around 75mph on the down hill without using any brakes!? ? i didn't have to use any brakes as EVERYONE else was on theirs?

i'm going to have to take the 5er up highway 50 the next time we go up there; it's more winding and has steeper grades?

btw, it was in D the whole time and my cip is 16.3.
[snapback]146608[/snapback]
My wife and I just did a similar trip in our new 5er. The Sierras are beatutiful Left Vacaville and traveled to Reno via 80. Took 395 south into the Tahoe Basin and then traveled back to Vacaville via 50. What a blast! The car just ate up the turns and like you mentioned, I never needed to touch the brakes! The car would shift down as necessary. Didn't realize it would do that! Only issue we had were the stupid truck kicking up sand and pebbles... Ouch Fortunately I had a clear bra installed and there wasn't a single chip or dent! Looking to take the car on a trip north and see if I can straighten out of few of the turns on the coast highway!
[snapback]146609[/snapback]
[/quote]
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Old Jul 7, 2005 | 01:04 PM
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I live in the San Francisco bay are hills at around 500 ft. and one road out of my neighborhood is pretty steep, and I've also noticed the engine braking--pretty cool.
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Old Jul 7, 2005 | 01:33 PM
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It just Engine braking, BMW's have done it forever on downhills

Hill Decent control on a 4x4 uses the brakes
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Old Jul 7, 2005 | 01:46 PM
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I was on vacation in Italy last month and noticed it to with a e39 2002. You can clearly feel the car braking on the engine by taking a lower gear on steep downhill stretches.

very well done was my idea and wondered weither a kind of gyroscope system is on the car. Anyone knows ? or does the computer calulates the speed * revs * brakes or something.
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Old Jul 7, 2005 | 02:40 PM
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Originally Posted by A90' date='Jul 7 2005, 01:46 PM
I was on vacation in Italy last month and noticed it to with a e39 2002. You can clearly feel the car braking on the engine by taking a lower gear on steep downhill stretches.

very well done was my idea and wondered weither a kind of gyroscope system is on the car. Anyone knows ? or does the computer calulates the speed * revs * brakes or something.
[snapback]146687[/snapback]

not sure how BMW designed it to work, but it sure does work great!
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Old Jul 7, 2005 | 04:36 PM
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Originally Posted by A90' date='Jul 7 2005, 02:46 PM
I was on vacation in Italy last month and noticed it to with a e39 2002. You can clearly feel the car braking on the engine by taking a lower gear on steep downhill stretches.

very well done was my idea and wondered weither a kind of gyroscope system is on the car. Anyone knows ? or does the computer calulates the speed * revs * brakes or something.
[snapback]146687[/snapback]
I think it does it by the amount of throttle you apply vs the speed of the car then it can decide if you did or did not want to go as fast as you are going. This is what it does to decide what gear is selected so...
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Old Jul 7, 2005 | 08:08 PM
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Originally Posted by EBMCS03' date='Jul 7 2005, 05:36 PM
[quote name='A90' date='Jul 7 2005, 02:46 PM']I was on vacation in Italy last month and noticed it to with a e39 2002. You can clearly feel the car braking on the engine by taking a lower gear on steep downhill stretches.

very well done was my idea and wondered weither a kind of gyroscope system is on the car. Anyone knows ? or does the computer calulates the speed * revs * brakes or something.
[snapback]146687[/snapback]
I think it does it by the amount of throttle you apply vs the speed of the car then it can decide if you did or did not want to go as fast as you are going. This is what it does to decide what gear is selected so...
[snapback]146749[/snapback]
[/quote]

Well, the tranny is also designed to not shift in the middle of a corner, so it definitely has some type of left/right G sensor...so it shouldn't be much trouble to have the same thing for forward/back, but not sure.
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Old Jul 7, 2005 | 08:39 PM
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Originally Posted by TitaniumGray5' date='Jul 7 2005, 09:08 PM
Well, the tranny is also designed to not shift in the middle of a corner, so it definitely has some type of left/right G sensor...so it shouldn't be much trouble to have the same thing for forward/back, but not sure.
[snapback]146801[/snapback]
That would be the steering wheel.
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