[robkap]

Originally Posted by Kevin_Genius@BMWMtLaurel

this car does not need blind spot detection...if you think it does, you're looking at getting the wrong vehicle

Wow -- BMW hires a genius to promote his subjective opinion as fact.

[Rapcat]

Originally Posted by Kevin_Genius@BMWMtLaurel

this car does not need blind spot detection...if you think it does, you're looking at getting the wrong vehicle

Exactly. This thing is all glass around the side and back. No blind spots!

[Rapcat]

Originally Posted by robkap

Wow -- BMW hires a genius to promote his subjective opinion as fact.

Ummmm. No. Drive the car. The thing has windows all around. Blind spot assist doesn't take away the need to turn your head and look. And when you look in this car, there are no blind spots. I'm sure BMW made a lot of compromises on new technologies, but blind spot assist was probably an easy feature to leave out. I mean....the car doesn't even have power seats. blind spot assist is probably way down their list of features to add in the future.

[robkap]

Visibility in i3 is exemplary - no argument.

Why, then, Blind Spot Detection (BSD)?

Why antilock brakes or traction control for that matter...you rarely use them.

I was driving a Buick from Hertz through a storm on the NY State Thruway last January - freezing rain/snow and lousy visibility.

I didn't even know the thing had BSD until the right mirror lit up. I got a welcome warning, in terrible conditions, that I was about to be passed at high speed -- and on the wrong side.

The car had good sight lines. The mirrors were set correctly.

And I was grateful to get the BSD warning.

Real world is different than test drive, and safety equipment is about life at the margins.

Like so much technology that has evolved into modern cars, this one will (and should) become ubiquitous and standard.

[jadnashuanh]

Driving was more relaxed, even with their higher speeds, when I lived in Germany. The drivers there are actually required to know and follow the rules, and for the most part, they do, much more than in the USA. THe drivers actually don't usually hog the passing lane, and return to the right once they've passed. I've driven the NYS Thuway a number of times, and other roads, and it is not uncommon to have someone sit in the left lane for mile-after-mile. I wish people would get a clue.

Safety features can help, but devoting your full attention to driving is what's deserved, and solves most of those safety issues. Most people are not aware of their surroundings, and, at least in the USA (unlike Germany), we actually have speed limits, and people shouldn't really be passing at high speed on the right!

My boss in Germany one weekend (German plates on the lease car) got two tickets for touching the centerline twice going around a curve...there, your first and only job is to drive, and you better be doing it well! It's your job to be paying attention and staying in lane, along with following all of the other rules of the road. We get so sloppy here, it is disgusting.

[Kevin_Genius@BMWMtLaurel]

again, if you really think comparing a Buick to a i3 is a good comparison.......

[robkap]

Originally Posted by Kevin_Genius@BMWMtLaurel

again, if you really think comparing a Buick to a i3 is a good comparison.......

Do they both have four wheels? Antilock brakes? Transport people when visibility is crappy?

But, of course, I'm no genius.

[chrisny]

Originally Posted by robkap

Do they both have four wheels? Antilock brakes? Transport people when visibility is crappy?

But, of course, I'm no genius.

Well said.

[Kevin_Genius@BMWMtLaurel]

Originally Posted by robkap

Do they both have four wheels? Antilock brakes? Transport people when visibility is crappy?

But, of course, I'm no genius.

you know what I meant but I can see what tone you're setting; no sense in arguing when it won't get anywhere

[robkap]

Originally Posted by Kevin_Genius@BMWMtLaurel

you know what I meant but I can see what tone you're setting; no sense in arguing when it won't get anywhere

We finally agree!

Cheers.

[Rapcat]

Originally Posted by robkap

Do they both have four wheels? Antilock brakes? Transport people when visibility is crappy?

But, of course, I'm no genius.

BSD isn't standand on many/any BMWs. Why would it be standard on the i3? It's a safety feature but one that not many people have used in previous vehicles and one that becomes a little pointless in a car with no blind spots. Hence, blind spot detection is what BSD stands for, yet there are no blind spots.
You can argue it was helpful in the Buick, but the visibility is waaay different between the two vehicles. The i3 has better visibility than every other BMW out there. It should be standard on the other cars first.

Sorry to say, but I don't think you have much support for BSD from people who have actually driven the car.

[BrokenVert]

Originally Posted by Red Bread

Not really true. Having had a few convertibles with huge blind spots with the roof up, I've learned to set the mirrors to not have blind spots. Turning your head just gets you a view of the soft top. The i3 I drove had great sight lines, I can't think of any reason to want BSM. The cars I've driven with BSM are more distracting and I always turn it off quickly.

I was going to comment exactly this. 135 convertible, no blind spot even with the TUV deemed "unsafely small" mirrors.

The only issue I have with sightlines in my i3 is the A pillar, its a bit thick for my liking, tough to look into corners on tight backroads.



Also as someone who drove a convertible through 5 winters in Syracuse the snow visibility argument is bunk. You just have to pay attention. I owned what amounts to one of the worst possible snow cars (RWD, big torque, convertible) and I was fine. On a side note, i'm curious as to how the i3 will do in the snow. Its unlike any other car ive driven in winter.