Mini Cooper SE no "intelligent cruise control"?

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1nickatnite1

Member
Hi everyone, it's my first post but I've been stalking this forum for great information.

I managed to pick up a new 2023 Mini SE for $3500 off MSRP off the lot and I just noticed I don't think the car comes with intelligent cruise control even though it shows it on the window sticker. I haven't reached out to the dealer yet but my quick google search seems to show some SEs indeed don't have it due to the chip shortage. Is this an option to add in future? I'm guessing no, I'm just surprised the window sticker still showed it but the car obviously doesn't have the functionality. Thanks
 
Adaptive cruise has had mixed availability this past year. Sometimes it was only available with the Iconic trim line and other times not at all. What does the item on your sticker say? If it's on the window sticker, then it should be included.
 
Run your VIN though one of the decoders and check what the car was built with. Regular cruise control is 544 and active cruise control is 541. I ordered 541, but my car came with 544 because of the chip shortage.

Check out “bimmer.work”
 
Ms.Frizzle said:
If the car is delivered with less equipment than what was ordered - do dealers or mini give a discount?
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In my case 541 was shown as an up charge on the original invoice (optional extra), but when the car was delivered without 541 the final invoice was reduced by the same amount.
 
Rogwp said:
Run your VIN though one of the decoders and check what the car was built with. Regular cruise control is 544 and active cruise control is 541. I ordered 541, but my car came with 544 because of the chip shortage.

Check out “bimmer.work”
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Thanks for the link! I used it and it shows "544 Dynamic Cruise Control"

I checked my window sticker again and it has "Dynamic Cruise Control with braking function" so that appears to line up. I had just assumed dynamic meant adaptive but I guess not in mini-speech?
 
Dynamic cruise control’s “braking function” just means it uses the brakes to maintain a steady speed going down hills. Adaptive cruise on the MINI is called “Active Cruise Control with stop & go.”
 
1nickatnite1 said:
Hi everyone, it's my first post but I've been stalking this forum for great information.

I managed to pick up a new 2023 Mini SE for $3500 off MSRP off the lot and I just noticed I don't think the car comes with intelligent cruise control even though it shows it on the window sticker. I haven't reached out to the dealer yet but my quick google search seems to show some SEs indeed don't have it due to the chip shortage. Is this an option to add in future? I'm guessing no, I'm just surprised the window sticker still showed it but the car obviously doesn't have the functionality. Thanks
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Some people have retrofitted active cruise control; suggest you start your search here https://www.northamericanmotoring.c...020-option-541-active-cruise-control-acc.html
 
1nickatnite1 said:
Wow thanks but that's way too technical for me lol. I'm ok not having it as I don't plan on doing long drives in this car but maybe others in this thread will be interested.
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You’re welcome. I wanted ACC as it seemed a safety feature considering the way people drive here (lower mainland, BC, Canada)! People do cut in a lot on the urban freeway, I’ve had the “big red car” show up a few times, but no braking required. After 4 months and only having to use my brakes 5 times, I don’t really think I need ACC.
 
To be quite honest, it works, but it doesn’t work anywhere near as well (or as reliably) as the ACC on any Asian-brand car, so IMO it’s not worth the price I paid as an option, and no way is it good enough to spend the money and effort to retrofit it to the SE.

My biggest complaint isn’t even that it cuts out randomly (as so many here have complained about), but rather that the minimum following distance one can set is still unbelievably long for anybody who drives on urban and suburban freeways. People keep spotting this huge gap and move into it, and the car stabs the brakes hard. It is frankly less safe than it should be in most of my driving environment.
 
SameGuy said:
To be quite honest, it works, but it doesn’t work anywhere near as well (or as reliably) as the ACC on any Asian-brand car, so IMO it’s not worth the price I paid as an option, and no way is it good enough to spend the money and effort to retrofit it to the SE.

My biggest complaint isn’t even that it cuts out randomly (as so many here have complained about), but rather that the minimum following distance one can set is still unbelievably long for anybody who drives on urban and suburban freeways. People keep spotting this huge gap and move into it, and the car stabs the brakes hard. It is frankly less safe than it should be in most of my driving environment.
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Good to know, and thank you for the insight.
 
I use my ACC daily. My round trip to work is about 80 miles. The road I drive on is only a 2 lane road so the distance between me and the car in front of me is great. The ACC does cut out for me when driving directly into sunlight for extended periods of time, or if there are a lot of shadows on the road. I have found that you can turn off ACC and make it the standard cruise control by long pressing the distance between cars button.

ACC was a must for me when picking my Mini. I wish it had active lane centering which would of made my daily trips to work much more enjoyable. Overall I give the ACC for my purposes a C+ or a B-.
 
I am to Mini ACC what @insightman is to the fake hood scoop: I'm not a fan of my ACC, and I will tell anyone who asks. It was the feature I was most excited about on my new 2022, and the most disappointing implementation I've ever seen in a modern car. The camera-only system is not sufficient and cuts out way too often, requiring a long press of a distance button to activate standard cruise. It needs the addition of radar / lidar. I still use it, but it is very common for it to cut out once on every trip longer than 20 minutes or so. The other day it cut out with no tree shadows and a completely clouded daylight sky. (normally it's the sun that fools it)
 
Most owners manuals warn that it is not safe using adaptive cruise control in rush hour type traffic.

I agree RADAR based systems work better.
 
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Same thing happened to me when I ordered I was under the impression it was coming on the car. I have a 23 iconic plus and I realized when driving home it wasn’t on the car. I text my dealer and this was his response. “DCC for 23 was only available in JCWs, and countryman when your car went into production. It’s still not available for SEs” I was very disappointed.
 
I've had the ACC fail on snow, rain, fog, and direct sunlight. Radar cruise control on my previous vehicles was a bit better but that too failed with mud and dead bugs.

It's nice to have, but I wouldn't rely on it.
 
Don’t get me wrong, I use mine every time I’m behind the wheel. It’s just that I’ve also used ACC in a bunch of other cars, and this is the worst implementation I’ve yet experienced. The occasional cut-out on back roads when there’s an oncoming truck is annoying but I’m getting used to it; it’s rare that there’s another car on my bumper when I’m on back roads. No, for me it’s truly the large following distance gap, because when my car suddenly brakes for no reason, the people right behind me who are not driving a MINI with ACC on are a hell of a lot closer to my bumper than I am to the car in front of me.
 
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