[Trek4ward]

I'm about to order a 22 X5 45e and have a question about Active Cruise. My 21 X5 40i does not have it, and I miss that feature from my MDX. I mostly just want the vehicle to hold it's distance from the car ahead on long highway drives. I don't use lane assist. I don't see an option for "Active Cruise", only "Driving Assistant Pro" which says it's a $1700 feature, but then adds the Premium Package and 4 zone climate for a total of $3100. So my question is whether the active cruise is now part of the standard cruise functions, or do I have to get the Driving Assistant Pro in order to get it?

[TurtleBoy]

Active Cruise is no longer a stand alone option, you have to get the Driving Assistance Pro package.

[Trek4ward]

That was my guess, but I was hoping for a different answer. Thank you. I understand the front sensor is not very attractive either.

[TurtleBoy]

Originally Posted by Trek4ward

That was my guess, but I was hoping for a different answer. Thank you. I understand the front sensor is not very attractive either.

Definitely worth it in my opinion. Besides the driving assistance features, which makes driving much more relaxing, the package also contains some extra safety features.

[Stoshu]

It is now a “Must Have” feature for any car I buy.

[ScaldedDog]

Help me understand the value of active cruise, as I've had it on other cars and hated it. if you are driving 5mph faster than the car in front of you, don't you want to move out and pass, rather than slowing down?

Our 45e will have it, but I figured it was the first thing I'd turn off. School me on how you use it, and perhaps I'll try it again.

OP, sorry if this is a hijack...

Mark

[jad03060]

Once you get to know the adaptive cruise characteristics, you'll learn how close you can get to a slower vehicle before it slows down, and you can pull out to pass them without slowing down unless there's no opening, then it will just follow, to include stopping if they do. Elsewhere in some markets, it will detect a red light and stop on its own as well, but that's not enabled in the USA. But, if you did have to slow down because there was no gap to pass, once you pull out, the vehicle will accelerate back up to your set speed, and you never have to touch the pedal.

[ConservativeConsumer]

Originally Posted by ScaldedDog

Help me understand the value of active cruise, as I've had it on other cars and hated it. if you are driving 5mph faster than the car in front of you, don't you want to move out and pass, rather than slowing down?

Our 45e will have it, but I figured it was the first thing I'd turn off. School me on how you use it, and perhaps I'll try it again.

OP, sorry if this is a hijack...

Mark

How about driving in dense traffic or stop-and-go traffic ? Works nicely for me!

[TurtleBoy]

Originally Posted by ScaldedDog

Help me understand the value of active cruise, as I've had it on other cars and hated it. if you are driving 5mph faster than the car in front of you, don't you want to move out and pass, rather than slowing down?

Our 45e will have it, but I figured it was the first thing I'd turn off. School me on how you use it, and perhaps I'll try it again.

It greatly reduces the stress/aggravation of driving with cruise control. Just think how many times you have the cruise set, are driving in the passing lane and come upon a slower vehicle. With the standard cruise you need to hit the brake or Cancel so you can slow down. At that point you will likely drive without cruise until the vehicle gets out of the lane so you can hit Resume. Two miles later the same thing will happen again.

With Adaptive cruise you set the distance, actually a relative distance based on speed, that you want to keep between you and a vehicle in front of you. In the scenario described above, your X5 will slow down and keep the selected distance between you and the car in front of you. Once that car moves out of the way then it will automatically go back to the speed you set.

I personally would never again get a car again without it. When I had my TL and ran into the situation described I would say to my wife that I was engaging the Manual Adaptive cruise. When driving on a 3-5k miles road trip doing that process manually gets to be a little too much.

[DonKeedic]

Originally Posted by ScaldedDog

Help me understand the value of active cruise, as I've had it on other cars and hated it. if you are driving 5mph faster than the car in front of you, don't you want to move out and pass, rather than slowing down?

Our 45e will have it, but I figured it was the first thing I'd turn off. School me on how you use it, and perhaps I'll try it again.

OP, sorry if this is a hijack...

Mark

This might be the craziest thing I've ever read on this forum. I would never, ever buy another vehicle without adaptive cruise control.

[ScaldedDog]

Originally Posted by jad03060

Once you get to know the adaptive cruise characteristics, you'll learn how close you can get to a slower vehicle before it slows down, and you can pull out to pass them without slowing down unless there's no opening, then it will just follow, to include stopping if they do. Elsewhere in some markets, it will detect a red light and stop on its own as well, but that's not enabled in the USA. But, if you did have to slow down because there was no gap to pass, once you pull out, the vehicle will accelerate back up to your set speed, and you never have to touch the pedal.

Originally Posted by ConservativeConsumer

How about driving in dense traffic or stop-and-go traffic ? Works nicely for me!

Originally Posted by TurtleBoy

It greatly reduces the stress/aggravation of driving with cruise control. Just think how many times you have the cruise set, are driving in the passing lane and come upon a slower vehicle. With the standard cruise you need to hit the brake or Cancel so you can slow down. At that point you will likely drive without cruise until the vehicle gets out of the lane so you can hit Resume. Two miles later the same thing will happen again.

With Adaptive cruise you set the distance, actually a relative distance based on speed, that you want to keep between you and a vehicle in front of you. In the scenario described above, your X5 will slow down and keep the selected distance between you and the car in front of you. Once that car moves out of the way then it will automatically go back to the speed you set.

I personally would never again get a car again without it. When I had my TL and ran into the situation described I would say to my wife that I was engaging the Manual Adaptive cruise. When driving on a 3-5k miles road trip doing that process manually gets to be a little too much.

I'll give it another try. The X5 will be "her" car, and my daily's are old and electronics free, so I may never use it enough to trust it. Worth a try, though. Thanks for the help.

Mark

[nZtiZia]

Originally Posted by ScaldedDog

I'll give it another try. The X5 will be "her" car, and my daily's are old and electronics free, so I may never use it enough to trust it. Worth a try, though. Thanks for the help.

Mark

or may never trust it enough to use it

[ewizzle]

Originally Posted by ScaldedDog

Help me understand the value of active cruise, as I've had it on other cars and hated it. if you are driving 5mph faster than the car in front of you, don't you want to move out and pass, rather than slowing down?

Our 45e will have it, but I figured it was the first thing I'd turn off. School me on how you use it, and perhaps I'll try it again.

OP, sorry if this is a hijack...

Mark

I'm on the same lines with ConservativeConsumer

I live in the Seattle area and I use it in two different scenarios:
- Driving up and down I-405 during rush hour, it's all stop-and-go traffic; ACC works great - speeds rarely exceed 45MPH.
- General heavy traffic. Typically I use this in areas where traffic is flowing, but pretty dense - so like when I'm driving through the Tacoma area.

Otherwise other areas I'm actively driving.

[PittsDriver]

I was new to adaptive cruise when I bought my '17 F-150. It also has active lane keeping so on the way to the airport one day in morning traffic I set the cruise and as experiment to see how far I could go without touching the gas, brake, or steering wheel. 15 miles later in traffic I disengaged it all to take the airport exit. I don't use it that way now but that experiment sold me on the capability of it.

[nZtiZia]

i had one chance to try the traffic jam assistant during a recent road trip but forgot to engage it. next road trip is June. i hope to try it then

[ScaldedDog]

Originally Posted by nZtiZia

or may never trust it enough to use it

Ha! Well played, sir!

Mark

[Trek4ward]

I bit the bullet and ordered it (of course along with the Premium Package and 4 zone climate control). How climate control is related, one will never know.

[JerZBMerLife]

Originally Posted by DonKeedic

This might be the craziest thing I've ever read on this forum. I would never, ever buy another vehicle without adaptive cruise control.

Agree 1000%. My X5 has it and it is a life saver on long trips. My wife's X3 doesn't have it and one time we took her car on a road trip and ran into HORRIBLE traffic. My shin and calf muscles felt like I ran a marathon and was hurting two days after the trip. 😂😂😂.

[jad03060]

I didn't buy it on my first BMW, since I'd never had it, and didn't figure I needed it. The next one had it, and I found it quite useful, so I ordered in on the current one.

If you set a long gap (which I do for safety), some jerks will pass you and pull in, then yours will slow down, sometimes fairly aggressively unless you override it, until it can regain the desired gap. Again, after a bit, you learn that, but the first time it happens, it'll wake you up! SO long as you're aware that it can happen, you can make that transition smoother. Otherwise, as you approach someone, it will slow down smooth enough that you may not notice.

On one trip, the lane keeping while on adaptive cruise, on a curve, the 18-wheeler to my right drifted into my lane, and the X5 set an alert, and moved over on its own to keep out of its way. Pretty slick. If you set the lane keeping to early, it adjusts a bit smoother rather than waiting until you're nearly out of your lane to adjust when it has to be more aggressive. If you're sloppy about signaling prior to actually moving, you'll hate it, but turn signals are meant as an alert to your intentions, not your actions after or during the fact. IOW, your signals must be on before changing lanes, or it will try to keep you in your lane.

BTW, signaling BEFORE you change lanes is the law everywhere. The vehicle logic requires it for lane keeping to be smooth or you'll be fighting the wheel. I think that's why some hate it...bad habits.

[cruzer666]

Originally Posted by ScaldedDog

Ha! Well played, sir!

Mark

I was on the same boat as you both, didn't really want to try it but I was open to it at some point.

Here are my notes on it:
- It's not a replacement for an attentive driver, but it sure makes driving through dense traffic a lot easier and less stressful.
- It does a great job maintaining lane but it's smoothness is dependent on road markings.
- It's a safety feature too, you won't get caught off guard the second you take your eyes off the road to grab your drink and the car in front of you starts braking. Active collision protection is also engaged so the car will take action if someone fails to maintain lane and is about to get into a collision with you.
- you can adjust the distance it keeps between you and the car in front of you to your liking
- there's going to be a learning curve but it's well worth it. There are scenarios where road markings aren't good or new road markings overlap with old ones, the driving assistant will disengage in this case.

I use it daily but I never trust it implicitly. Like someone else said, I'll never get another BMW without it.

The Traffic Jam Assistant leverages the Driver attention camera so even though your hands are off the steering wheel and your feet are resting, you REALLY have to pay attention to the road. This feature is great in bumper to bumper traffic and only works up 40mph or so. There are only 3 manufacturers in the US that have hands off driving feature (BMW, Ford and Cadillac) enjoy it!