2022 SE missing rear parking sensors

AlphabetCity98 said:
I picked up my Mini (Electric /Island Blue) right before Christmas, it was supposed to have the Driver Assistance package for $750, but it was missing. We wanted it for the adaptive cruise control more than parking. They told me that no-one was getting this along the BMW/Mini/RR line. Disappointing since we didn’t find this out until delivery.
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The lack of adaptive cruise control was a major factor for me in not buying an SE originally because I use the feature a lot in my GTI. Not only on the freeway, but often around town to prevent myself from accidentally speeding. So to me it was a no-brainer to add Driver Assistance to my Signature trim when it became available in the 2022 model. Now that I've used ACC in the SE, I wouldn't pay for the Driver Assistance package if I had it to do over again. Although its camera-based system generally performs okay, it gets fooled more than my GTI's radar-based ACC; enough so that I'd probably prefer just regular cruise control that I could adjust manually as I drive.

So as somebody who appreciates (radar-based) adaptive cruise control, I don't think you missed out on anything.

As an aside, I think cruise control (ACC or not) on the freeway is particularly useful with the SE. I have a hard time maintaining a constant freeway speed without it. Around town, on the other hand, I think cruise control isn't great to use like I do in my GTI because deactivating it requires some advanced planning due to the slight lag in deactivating followed by the regenerative braking if you don't compensate with the accelerator right away.
 
Godfrey said:
Now that I've used ACC in the SE, I wouldn't pay for the Driver Assistance package if I had it to do over again. Although its camera-based system generally performs okay, it gets fooled more than my GTI's radar-based ACC; enough so that I'd probably prefer just regular cruise control that I could adjust manually as I drive.
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I'm with you on this. The camera-only system fails frequently for me - on average, probably once on every road trip of more than 30 minutes. Changing lighting conditions - especially tree shadows and sun angles - cause the system to lose tracking and turn off. I still use it on the freeways, but around town I am more likely just to drive without.

I had one instance on a secondary road where I was letting the ACC slow my Mini while a car I was following slowed and turned in front of me. Although the system did not lose tracking, I had to apply my brakes as the Mini failed to slow down fast enough and the collision warning lights came on. I suspect I would have hit the car if I had trusted the ACC for that incident. I looked at my wife and asked, "That looked like I was going to hit that car, right??". She agreed that the Mini was not slowing down in time.

I trust my wife's Honda CR-V ACC way more than the system in the Mini.
 
Godfrey said:
I'd probably prefer just regular cruise control that I could adjust manually as I drive.
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What I want to know is now that the SE (and presumably other MINIs) knows the speed limit why isn't there a cruise control mode to follow the speed limit? Does anyone make a car that behaves that way? My service foreman did confirm the SE "sees" speed limit signs via the camera.
 
Puppethead said:
What I want to know is now that the SE (and presumably other MINIs) knows the speed limit why isn't there a cruise control mode to follow the speed limit? Does anyone make a car that behaves that way? My service foreman did confirm the SE "sees" speed limit signs via the camera.
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Does anyone follow the posted speed limit? Around here, if you are not driving at the enforced limit (usually 5 mph above posted, sometimes 10) you are considered a roadway pest. :)
 
Puppethead said:
What I want to know is now that the SE (and presumably other MINIs) knows the speed limit why isn't there a cruise control mode to follow the speed limit? Does anyone make a car that behaves that way? My service foreman did confirm the SE "sees" speed limit signs via the camera.
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I've also wondered this, especially since there is a speed warning feature that is just a fixed value and absolutely useless (why can't it warn you if you exceed the speed limit by X mph?).

My guess is just liability because the camera is not that reliable.

For example, in Oregon there's "speed zones" where a 25mph speed limit will be posted then further down the road it just says "end speed zone" rather than a new speed limit. Drivers are supposed to understand that this means 55mph but the MINIs camera doesn't know what to make of it.

It also frequently gets confused with school zone speed limits with the same sort of "end school zone" sign and will remain at 20mph instead of the actual 45.
 
GvilleGuy said:
I'm with you on this. The camera-only system fails frequently for me -
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I've been spoiled by the Jeep's radar based adaptive cruise, and the radar based cross path detection. I've not found a camera based system that performs nearly as well. Cameras often augment the forward collision avoidance algorithm to reduce false alerts.

I don't like that it is easy to miss the SE's disengaged status, and there seems to be a few steps to resume cruise. Radar based systems can get confused by direct sunlight or radar jammers, but its easy to see the "unavailable" notification and then its a one button resume when things clear.

A decade+ ago, when these radar based systems began to be installed, my radar would often set off car radar detectors, which slowed down the cross country traffic quite a bit. Annoying :)
 
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Carsten Haase said:
I've also wondered this, especially since there is a speed warning feature that is just a fixed value and absolutely useless (why can't it warn you if you exceed the speed limit by X mph?)..
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On my less sophisticated but GPS equipped cars, the GPS provides speed limit data to the radio for display, for road sections in the map data base. Seems to be pretty accurate if the posted limits haven't changed in awhile. Cell phone based navigation will have more current map data. Dunno if the SE uses the camera to over ride GPS maps, or doesn't use the maps at all.

My old Garmin stand alone GPS compared map data and the speed derived from the GPS signal and warned you if it varied by a settable amount. Worked pretty good out on the highway, not so useful around town. School zones where the speed varies by time of day were annoying. After the gimmick effect wore off, I didn't use the feature.
 
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AlphabetCity98 said:
I picked up my Mini (Electric /Island Blue) right before Christmas, it was supposed to have the Driver Assistance package for $750, but it was missing. We wanted it for the adaptive cruise control more than parking. They told me that no-one was getting this along the BMW/Mini/RR line. Disappointing since we didn’t find this out until delivery.
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Same thing on mine that I picked up first week of Jan.
 
Carsten Haase said:
It also frequently gets confused with school zone speed limits with the same sort of "end school zone" sign and will remain at 20mph instead of the actual 45.
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I’ve noticed this behavior with an exit ramp speed limit as well. Speed limit remain at freeway limit of 65 instead of 25 for the ramp.

It seems like a half-baked solution that reads only standard speed limit signs but not the other ones.
 
e22mini said:
I’ve noticed this behavior with an exit ramp speed limit as well. Speed limit remain at freeway limit of 65 instead of 25 for the ramp.

It seems like a half-baked solution that reads only standard speed limit signs but not the other ones.
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Coming from a Honda Insight designed in 1998, I think having a car that can read speed-limit signs is pretty amazing. At least 3/4-baked, I'd say.
 
e22mini said:
I’ve noticed this behavior with an exit ramp speed limit as well. Speed limit remain at freeway limit of 65 instead of 25 for the ramp.

It seems like a half-baked solution that reads only standard speed limit signs but not the other ones.
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I'm not a lawyer, but I'm pretty sure the signs on turns and off ramps are suggestions and not legally enforceable.
 
Honestly the rear sensors are a bit of a nuisance. If you’re parked close to another car (say, 12-15 inches), as you back up they’ll see the rear end of that car and start beeping like CRAZY even though you are clearly backing straight out and the car is over a foot beside you.
 
Bemsha said:
Honestly the rear sensors are a bit of a nuisance. If you’re parked close to another car (say, 12-15 inches), as you back up they’ll see the rear end of that car and start beeping like CRAZY even though you are clearly backing straight out and the car is over a foot beside you.
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Exactly!
 
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