Mini warnings ??

I tried for over a week to get used to the lane departure warning system, I’ve had it turned off ever since. It’s nowhere near as useful as it ought to be; in other cars it actually kind of tugs you back into the lane but in the MINI all it does is vibrate and confuse. Just push the big switch next to the hazard lights switch, it will be orange from now on but the wheel won’t vibrate.

 

The vibration doesn’t bother me that tug you into the lane does. The 1er I had as a rental in the UK did it. Very fun going down narrow country lanes…

 

I agree. The vibration doesn't bother me (after I figured out what it was). However, I briefly drove a BMW loaner (way too big) that tried to steer back, and I found that exceedingly aggravating. I frequently drive on narrow country roads, and I will give large trucks and agricultural machines more than their share of the road, and I don't want the damn car pulling me back into a sideswipe.

 

You can still freely cross the lines, it doesn’t actively tug against you like an Airbus auto pilot! It only turns the opposite way if you’re not actually holding the wheel and paying attention. On the other hand, in the SE, the camera thinks it sees lines when there aren’t any and it just vibrates away and I keep thinking I’m running over something.

 

I've had lane assistance on for a year, and the light comes on in the center display -- but I've never understood it. I think I've maybe felt a faint vibration occasionally? I certainly never noticed it trying to steer for me.

 

It doesn’t try to steer. It’s more like hitting an almost-worn-down rumble strip, lacking the intensity to really warn of any impending calamity, but just enough jiggling to convey a “gee, something feels weird” sensation. It took me that first week to realize what was causing it.

 

When I had my wifes X5 windshield replaced they had to do a calibration on the camera. I wonder if that was for the Lane Departure Warning feature as it only uses the front facing camera for this feature.

Here are the differences between the 3 features. I believe the only option for Mini's is the Lane Departure Warning (LDW).

Lane Departure Warning (LDW) - Gives you an audio or vibration if you are close to crossing the line.
Lane Keep Assist (LKA) - When close to the line it is supposed to nudge you back to the center.
Lane Center Assist (LCA) - Automatically steers in the attempt to to keep you in the center of the lane.

If you put your turn signal on most cars disables the feature until the turn signal goes off.

 

I like the rumble warning in the SE steering wheel. I find it is a good balance - just enough to let you know something is up, but not obnoxiously so.

 

Diff’rent strokes. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

What I find useless is the front collision warning (or whatever it's actually called), where a red car figure comes up on the top part of the instrument cluster if you are approaching a stopped car too fast. It usually doesn't make any sound, just the red car alert, and sometimes (probably depending on speed of approach) it beeps, but the beep is not very loud and you can't hear it at all if you have music playing. I can't see how that would help prevent any accidents, unless it was a loud alert every time. Is there a way to change the setting to make it louder? It should really come through the speakers so it could be heard over any music at any volume.

 

When it decides to beep, it’s loud enough. When it adds emergency braking to that mix, you’ll realize it’s working as designed.

 

I find that it gets my attention, though I don't have the sound system up that loud. It does occasionally trigger when there's nothing there, which is annoying. I don't think I've encountered the emergency braking yet, thankfully!

 

Come to Montreal and I can give you a (non-)crash course!

 

Didn't know it actually had emergency braking. In that case, I'm very glad to have it. Has anyone experienced the emergency braking? I wonder how fast/close you have to be for it to activate, and if it will actually stop you from crashing into someone or just lessen the damage.

 

The other day, it just started to rain here and a rain drop caused the emergency braking to kick in momentarily. It felt like boost cut in a turbo car.

I've been more annoyed with the warning system than anything else. It will sometimes go off when I'm slowing down with regen and my foot is off the brake but it thinks I'm too close to the car in front of me. I wish Bimmercode could turn this off.

 

Like when I'm driving with my wife in the passenger seat, I learned what makes my SE complain and adjusted my traffic spacing accordingly.

 

Need an insurance claim? Just a couple laps around dorval circle!

 

One time, as I was entering St-Charles from Antoine-Faucon (by the Tim’s north of the 40), I glanced to my left and saw the light on St-Charles was red, then looked straight ahead at the Toyota Camry that had come to a dead stop at the yield sign in the slip lane as I slammed into the back of her. I jumped out of my car and angrily yelled, “Why did you stop at a yield sign when there was no traffic to yield for!?” Her only response was, “but I must stop.”

Another time, I was leaving the Costco in Pointe Claire, waiting my turn to exit the parking lot onto the 40 Service road, when a woman in an Accord didn’t see my smart sitting right there and decided there was a second lane and drove right into my driver’s door.

After both incidents, my sister and brother-in-law drove me to MB Auto Lux on St-Laurent to pick up my smart after the bodywork was done, and following me down the 40 on the way home they witnessed what drivers are like around small cars, and she later texted me and said that when they were watching all the idiots around me, that I am a bad-driver magnet.

 

I was moving slowly on a downhill counterclockwise freeway on ramp with traffic that merges from two lanes to one. I was using one pedal driving to carefully motor towards the freeway. Something about the downward angle seemed to make the system think I was suddenly much closer to the car in front of me than I actually was. It braked hard and I jerked forward against the seat belt even at a low speed. I was glad I wasn't rear-ended. It felt overly aggressive for the situation at hand, but I guess I'm glad to know that it will brake hard if needed.