terminus
Member
Is lane assist or lane departure warning available in any of the optional packages for the i3? Does anyone have experience or comments about how effective it is?
Lane assist or lane departure warning
- Thread starter terminus
- Start date
Help Support BMW i3 Forum:
alohart
Well-known member
Neither is available on pre-2017 North American i3's. Both have been available in other markets. Being a U.S. i3 owner, I don't know which optional package is required, if any, in other markets, and I don't know how well they work. Please add your location to your signature in User Control Panel so that those nearby can answer your questions better.
terminus
Member
Thanks for post, Alohart. I am in the UK and have now put that on my profile as you suggest.
The reason for asking about the Lane function is that I have just bought a new i3 94Ah Rex and it is taking me sometime to find my way around the features. I ordered virtually every extra possible (except flashy wheels, pop music access and a cigarette lighter) - this car is a once-in-a-lifetime treat to myself, and very likely to be the last car I shall own!, and I expected some sort of lane assistance function to be included in one of the three "packages". In fact I recall (or think I recall) reading some BMW info about how it works and that there is some kind of vibration feedback to the steering wheel as an indicator of drift. Perhaps I'm just imagining this?
After some annoying problems with the dealer delaying the delivery of my car by three weeks (I have reported elsewhere on this ad nauseam) I must say that now I am delighted with the car - lovely to drive and getting good electric range (2 x 125 miles yesterday: the first after an overnight charge at hoime at 32A and the second returning home after at rapid DC charge at a public chargepoint of about 40 minutes). Between the electric sections I travelled about 40 miles on petrol. With the REx ability I find the extreme sparcity of public charge points no problem. But it has reinforced my view that pure electric cars are an impractical "no-no" for normal usage.
The reason for asking about the Lane function is that I have just bought a new i3 94Ah Rex and it is taking me sometime to find my way around the features. I ordered virtually every extra possible (except flashy wheels, pop music access and a cigarette lighter) - this car is a once-in-a-lifetime treat to myself, and very likely to be the last car I shall own!, and I expected some sort of lane assistance function to be included in one of the three "packages". In fact I recall (or think I recall) reading some BMW info about how it works and that there is some kind of vibration feedback to the steering wheel as an indicator of drift. Perhaps I'm just imagining this?
After some annoying problems with the dealer delaying the delivery of my car by three weeks (I have reported elsewhere on this ad nauseam) I must say that now I am delighted with the car - lovely to drive and getting good electric range (2 x 125 miles yesterday: the first after an overnight charge at hoime at 32A and the second returning home after at rapid DC charge at a public chargepoint of about 40 minutes). Between the electric sections I travelled about 40 miles on petrol. With the REx ability I find the extreme sparcity of public charge points no problem. But it has reinforced my view that pure electric cars are an impractical "no-no" for normal usage.
alohart
Well-known member
Because we North Americans aren't considered good enough for such advanced features (actually, it's probably because American lawyers can be ambulance chasers), I don't know how they are implemented. I'm guessing that you would need to have ACC (adaptive cruise control) activated. You'll definitely have ACC with the packages on your car. I understand that lane assist or lane departure warning (not sure if that's 2 features or 2 different names for the same feature) works only at slower speeds (i.e., less than motorway speeds), the upper speed limit being market-dependent. Maybe you haven't been driving slowly enough with ACC on to activate this/these feature(s).terminus said:
Some U.K. or E.U. owner will surely step in to correct my mistaken impressions and set the record straight.
IIRC, the "actual" name is Traffic Jam Assistant. There is no full time lane departure warning or lane assist available on the i3.
Traffic Jam Assistant works in conjunction with ACC. It will steer the car and keep it within lanes. It is soley camera based. It's also limited by speed, about 25mph, but varies country to country. Also, it can only be enabled when you're on a highway.
Traffic Jam Assistant works in conjunction with ACC. It will steer the car and keep it within lanes. It is soley camera based. It's also limited by speed, about 25mph, but varies country to country. Also, it can only be enabled when you're on a highway.
Gif
Well-known member
Driving Assistant Plus option in UK includes various safety features akin to active cruise control and as mentioned includes Traffic Jam Assist (a kind of very slow active cruise control and steering). It also includes lane departure warning systems etc.
To be honest, I've driven my son's Nissan with all these gizmos on it and they are a bit of a pain I find. Beeps and bells and whistles going off all the time. I find myself looking for what's caused the noise instead of paying attention to what I should be doing.
IMHO, if you need to rely on warnings to tell you that you've not seen a car in your blind spot or that you've fallen asleep and left your lane, you shouldn't be driving on a public highway. These things have the capacity to breed lazy inattentive drivers.
Oh and before anyone suggests that I am inattentive which is why the bells and whistles are going off, I'm not. These systems are not foolproof. False positives are common.
To be honest, I've driven my son's Nissan with all these gizmos on it and they are a bit of a pain I find. Beeps and bells and whistles going off all the time. I find myself looking for what's caused the noise instead of paying attention to what I should be doing.
IMHO, if you need to rely on warnings to tell you that you've not seen a car in your blind spot or that you've fallen asleep and left your lane, you shouldn't be driving on a public highway. These things have the capacity to breed lazy inattentive drivers.
Oh and before anyone suggests that I am inattentive which is why the bells and whistles are going off, I'm not. These systems are not foolproof. False positives are common.
terminus
Member
Thanks for everyone's posts, particularly eneka and Gif.
Can you direct me, as it were, to the particular parts of the "Owner's Handbook" (printed) or "Owner's Manual" (I have in .pdf form - the US version) or "Vehicle Manual" (at https://www.bmw.co.uk/en_GB/mybmw/myvehicles.html) where this feature of the Traffic Jam Assist is explained? Or perhaps it's on another webpage somewhere?
I agree entirely that reliance on such functionality would be foolish, but I am curious to understand and experience its operation. Having said that, I never thought that the simple cruise control could be of purpose, but have found in recent years that I do use it on occasion.
Liking my new 94Ah Rex more and more by the day. I have recently got 125 electric miles after a home overnight charge at 32A and the same distance after a public DC rapid charge of 40 minutes. If my experience with my previous Ampera (= Chev. Volt) is a guide, then this will reduce by at least 25% in the winter, so I am prepared for that. Suits me.
UK driver.
Can you direct me, as it were, to the particular parts of the "Owner's Handbook" (printed) or "Owner's Manual" (I have in .pdf form - the US version) or "Vehicle Manual" (at https://www.bmw.co.uk/en_GB/mybmw/myvehicles.html) where this feature of the Traffic Jam Assist is explained? Or perhaps it's on another webpage somewhere?
I agree entirely that reliance on such functionality would be foolish, but I am curious to understand and experience its operation. Having said that, I never thought that the simple cruise control could be of purpose, but have found in recent years that I do use it on occasion.
Liking my new 94Ah Rex more and more by the day. I have recently got 125 electric miles after a home overnight charge at 32A and the same distance after a public DC rapid charge of 40 minutes. If my experience with my previous Ampera (= Chev. Volt) is a guide, then this will reduce by at least 25% in the winter, so I am prepared for that. Suits me.
UK driver.
Gif
Well-known member
I don't think it is in any of the copies I have seen as yet as I am not sure it was an option pre 2017 model year.
For what it's worth (and you may have already seen it), this is the wording from the website .....
Cruise control I entirely agree with as in its basic form, it simply replaces the physical effort of holding your foot still. The things that I don't like are those that seek to substitute computers for brain activity. I'm not a luddite by the way :lol:
I experienced a perfect example of what can go wrong yesterday. I was in the passenger seat of a friend's Skoda which has collision avoidance in it. We were driving in the slow lane of a dual carriageway approaching a relatively fast dualled roundabout. There was a car stationary in the fast lane at the roundabout waiting to turn right. Why it was taking so long to pull out I am not sure, maybe distracted by their technology but there was nothing on the roundabout to stop for.
As is normal with such roundabouts, the approach roads are initially straight but then veer left immediately before the roundabout to facilitate a better driving line through the junction. We approached at speed and from the perspective of the collision avoidance system, the car waiting to turn right appeared to be an obstruction directly in front of us. It could not determine that the obstruction was in a different lane and that we would therefore veer left before colliding with it. It could not see that the car was indicating right.
As we got to the roundabout all hell broke loose and the car slammed the brakes on completely unnecessarily. If there had been anyone behind us, they would not have expected it and I have no idea what would have happened then. There was just no reason to stop or even brake and any human being could have seen that.
A computer cannot see and interpret the wider context of driving. They are brilliant at doing the technical stuff very quickly but that's about it.
For what it's worth (and you may have already seen it), this is the wording from the website .....
Cruise control I entirely agree with as in its basic form, it simply replaces the physical effort of holding your foot still. The things that I don't like are those that seek to substitute computers for brain activity. I'm not a luddite by the way :lol:
I experienced a perfect example of what can go wrong yesterday. I was in the passenger seat of a friend's Skoda which has collision avoidance in it. We were driving in the slow lane of a dual carriageway approaching a relatively fast dualled roundabout. There was a car stationary in the fast lane at the roundabout waiting to turn right. Why it was taking so long to pull out I am not sure, maybe distracted by their technology but there was nothing on the roundabout to stop for.
As is normal with such roundabouts, the approach roads are initially straight but then veer left immediately before the roundabout to facilitate a better driving line through the junction. We approached at speed and from the perspective of the collision avoidance system, the car waiting to turn right appeared to be an obstruction directly in front of us. It could not determine that the obstruction was in a different lane and that we would therefore veer left before colliding with it. It could not see that the car was indicating right.
As we got to the roundabout all hell broke loose and the car slammed the brakes on completely unnecessarily. If there had been anyone behind us, they would not have expected it and I have no idea what would have happened then. There was just no reason to stop or even brake and any human being could have seen that.
A computer cannot see and interpret the wider context of driving. They are brilliant at doing the technical stuff very quickly but that's about it.
alohart
Well-known member
The description you posted is similar to what in the U.S. is called "ACC Stop & Go + Active Driving Assistant". Everything in the description you posted is true of ACC Stop & Go + Active Driving Assistant except for the ability of the car to steer itself to stay within its lane. I don't understood how a car can steer if the driver is required to keep her hands on the steering wheel, but maybe only a light touch is required such that the car can still turn the steering wheel.Gif said:
To enable this feature, turn on adaptive cruise control (ACC), set the maximum speed you wish to travel, set the gap between you and the vehicle ahead, and let your car take over the driving while being ready to brake, accelerate, or steer should ACC fail to do so correctly. I always drive like this and find it to be much more relaxing than driving myself, but I do remain vigilant.
I have learned that driving into the sun early or late in the day can blind the ACC camera or entering a dark underpass can confuse ACC, both causing it to turn off with an appropriate alert sounded and text displayed, so I prepare to press the accelerator to maintain my speed under these circumstances.
On 2 occasions, ACC has failed to recognize the vehicle ahead (a white box truck in both cases), so I had to brake to avoid colliding with the vehicle ahead. I am now wary of a light-colored box truck in front of me and check the display to see whether it has been detected (a red car icon should be displayed). If it hasn't, I can turn off ACC in plenty of time to adjust my speed without braking.
On a few occasions, ACC has braked unnecessarily after the vehicle ahead changed lanes and decelerated (the lane in front was clear) or because of a vehicle parked along the side of a curved road (I would have followed the curve and not collided with the parked vehicle). When a vehicle in front changes lanes and decelerates, I press the accelerator to override ACC should it decide to decelerate. If I'm driving on a curved road with vehicles parked on the side of the road, I turn off ACC.
If I'm driving over 50 mph (80 kph) and see that vehicles have stopped or are traveling much more slowly than I am, I turn off ACC and decelerate myself. ACC's VGA camera can't detect a vehicle more than ~300 ft. (100 meters) ahead in clear visibility, so I find that ACC decelerates considerably more rapidly than I would under those circumstances, even to the point of engaging friction brakes when I would use just regen.
Despite these imperfections, I drive with ACC on almost always even though most of my driving is in suburban or urban settings. I can turn ACC on and off, adjust its maximum speed, and adjust the gap between my car and the car ahead using the steering wheel controls without needing to look away from the road. My lifetime driving efficiency is 5.5 mi/kWh, so ACC is a very efficient driver.
jadnashuanh
Well-known member
I didn't think I'd like the active cruise control, but it was on the i3 I ended up buying, and have found it useful. Certainly, it can be fooled, but if you're paying attention, you can anticipate those situations and keep the car from decelerating. What you can't do is help it if the contrast is bad because of the sun angle or really radical light changes on a sunny day on a narrow, tree-lined street. Maybe one reason why BMW chose not to offer the lane assist in the USA is the relative quality of road maintenance in both snow removal and keeping the lane markings intact. For a good portion of the year, they are not very clear where I live, and it takes awhile to repaint them. Maybe not an issue in sunnier parts of the USA, but throw in snow, ice, sand, and salt...sometimes, it can be difficult to even tell where the road is, let alone where the lanes are!
