Auto Start/Stop Option

Questions about the Auto start/Stop option and I feel this deserves it's own post:

1. When you asked the service guys to enable "last user mode" for the auto start/stop option, is there a cost associated with the update?

2. What do Manual F30 drivers think of this option? Do they too find it annoying like those who have automatics? I would assume it would be less of a problem in manuals.

I only drove my 335i for 5 days for ED but I bounced all around Germany and Austria. I liked the feature. It was a little hard to get used to but when I got back here I missed it. It started when you put the clutch in or move the steering wheel. My fear is the ware on the starter.

Sent from my MB860 using Bimmer App

Paul, you said you missed it. Did you have them disable it? Or talking about missing it on a different car?

Unrelated ED question: How do you deal with the break in restrictions while driving on he autobahns?

Originally Posted by 328i2013

Questions about the Auto start/Stop option and I feel this deserves it's own post:

1. When you asked the service guys to enable "last user mode" for the auto start/stop option, is there a cost associated with the update?

It is a free update that takes 4-5 hours.

My dealer did not know about the bulletin until I forwarded them a Bimmerfest post and made them read it. Few minutes later, the service manager comes out and tells me I was right and they'll be happy to do it.

Probably getting it done this Tuesday or Wednesday and I'll be rid of the hassle forever. In certain situations it's simply not safe for the car or the driver.

BJ

Originally Posted by boltjaM3s

It is a free update that takes 4-5 hours.

My dealer did not know about the bulletin until I forwarded them a Bimmerfest post and made them read it. Few minutes later, the service manager comes out and tells me I was right and they'll be happy to do it.

Probably getting it done this Tuesday or Wednesday and I'll be rid of the hassle forever. In certain situations it's simply not safe for the car or the driver.

BJ

It's free? Sweet. I'm shocked. Where can we find this bulletin, 'cause I know my dealer's gonna need me to show it to him before he'll do it. Thanks.

Originally Posted by CE750Jockey

It's free? Sweet. I'm shocked. Where can we find this bulletin, 'cause I know my dealer's gonna need me to show it to him before he'll do it. Thanks.

Mention Service Bulletin SI B12 15 12 and request that the service department enable "last user mode" for the auto stop start feature.

BJ

Originally Posted by boltjaM3s

It is a free update that takes 4-5 hours.

My dealer did not know about the bulletin until I forwarded them a Bimmerfest post and made them read it. Few minutes later, the service manager comes out and tells me I was right and they'll be happy to do it.

Probably getting it done this Tuesday or Wednesday and I'll be rid of the hassle forever. In certain situations it's simply not safe for the car or the driver.

BJ

Can you explain how in certain situations it's not safe for the car or driver? I can see this only if it does not perform as designed. I've been driving my wife's Honda Insight Hybrid for 3 years with this feature and never felt unsafe.

Originally Posted by Michael Schott

Can you explain how in certain situations it's not safe for the car or driver? I can see this only if it does not perform as designed. I've been driving my wife's Honda Insight Hybrid for 3 years with this feature and never felt unsafe.

Hybrids are different, the accelaration from a stop is powered by batteries, one get power before the engine starts. On the ASS system, there is like a 1/2 second delay when one let go of the brakes til the engine generate power. Theoretically, if a semi is racing toward you, you have a 1/2 less time to get out of the way, but the chance of the ASS system being a safety hazzard in any situation is very slim to say the least.
My wife use to have a hybrid as well and I am quite use to driving hybrids, the ASS system is like second nature to me. There are times when I know I need instant accelaration, thats when I push the ASS off button or most of the time, I shift into DS mode. There is a slight learning curve as to how to drive a car with the ASS system. I think most people simply do not give it enough time to adjust. I must admit, If I have a choice of shutting off my ASS system, I am not so sure I would.

Originally Posted by The X Men

My wife use to have a hybrid as well and I am quite use to driving hybrids, the ASS system is like second nature to me. There are times when I know I need instant accelaration, thats when I push the ASS off button or most of the time, I shift into DS mode. There is a slight learning curve as to how to drive a car with the ASS system. I think most people simply do not give it enough time to adjust. I must admit, If I have a choice of shutting off my ASS system, I am not so sure I would.

I agree.

If I know I need to make a quick getaway, I just slide the shifter into DS mode too. To me it's not that much of a pain, at least it wasn't during my 10 day ED. Perhaps when I get the car in the US, I might change my mind, but I doubt it. I'll take the fuel savings.

Originally Posted by neilk

I agree.

If I know I need to make a quick getaway, I just slide the shifter into DS mode too. To me it's not that much of a pain, at least it wasn't during my 10 day ED. Perhaps when I get the car in the US, I might change my mind, but I doubt it. I'll take the fuel savings.

I haven't got my car yet. However I did read upon the bulletin and passed the info along to my CA. He said they would do it once I got the car. When you flip it to DS mode, ASS is in a paused state such that the car will not shut off even though its active? Is that correct? I didn't know this. I thought if the ASS is on, regardless of what mode you are in, given the right environmental conditions, ASS will shut the car off. I may reconsider doing the update if the above is true.

Can someone clarify this or confirm it?

Originally Posted by neilk

I agree.

If I know I need to make a quick getaway, I just slide the shifter into DS mode too. To me it's not that much of a pain, at least it wasn't during my 10 day ED. Perhaps when I get the car in the US, I might change my mind, but I doubt it. I'll take the fuel savings.

Hitting little buttons, using DS, tapping the brake.....I didn't buy a $50,000 luxury car for it to cause me more work. And if I cared about saving $2.25 a week on fuel costs I wouldn't have chosen a throaty German performance car with turbo and the need for premium gas either.

I did not buy an economy car, I did not buy a Hybrid. I should not be coerced to act in an eco-friendly way if I don't want to. The car has an Eco Mode button; the ASS should only kick in if someone chooses that mode. Otherwise it should quietly disappear. Even when I have the firmware update to 'remember last state' I'm still going to be paranoid that it didn't stick or that I tapped it inadvertently. I just want out, shouldn't have to deal with this.

BJ

Originally Posted by neilk

I agree.

If I know I need to make a quick getaway, I just slide the shifter into DS mode too. To me it's not that much of a pain, at least it wasn't during my 10 day ED. Perhaps when I get the car in the US, I might change my mind, but I doubt it. I'll take the fuel savings.

+1, I like this feature and never had any issues with it.

My car had an unrelated fault which meant ASS wasn't active for a few days; I missed it.

Even easier than switching to DS mode, if you know you need to make a quick start from lights, you can ease off the brake very slight for half a second car restarts.

Originally Posted by Michael Schott

Can you explain how in certain situations it's not safe for the car or driver? I can see this only if it does not perform as designed. I've been driving my wife's Honda Insight Hybrid for 3 years with this feature and never felt unsafe.

There's a hesitation when the car restarts. It's only a split-second but it's enough to cause a delay and/or lack of confidence in making a fast scoot across traffic which is an unfortunate fact of life in busy urban areas.

I live in a development that lets out on both sides onto 25 MPH roads where people routinely go 50 MPH, one of which points due west and at 5pm the glaring sun blinds drivers. I live in a suburb of NYC so it's congested here, nothing I can do about that. So you pick your spots, you floor the accelerator, and you merge with the flow. And in that instant when you decide its 'go' time, you don't want the thought of a restarting engine clouding your focus.

Additionally, while I'm driving the car 95% of the time, on those two days a month that the wife needs to use it she'll never remember to shut ASS off or even remember that ASS exists and so when she feels that shudder of restart in that situation she would likely hit the brakes thinking something is wrong and thus slide halfway into traffic.

In this country there will be a huge learning curve about ASS and a lot of accidents as the technology rolls out and I don't want to be any part of it.

BJ

Originally Posted by boltjaM3s

and a lot of accidents as the technology rolls out and I don't want to be any part of it.

BJ

Really? ASS has been out for a while. You think there would already be some data to support this high # of accidents and BMW would have something about it.

BJ, I've been reading your posts on these forums for a few weeks now. You are obviously very passionate about the car and opinionated. However, you have to realize that not all of your opinions are going to be correct. Like this one.

Originally Posted by 328i2013

Really? ASS has been out for a while. You think there would already be some data to support this high # of accidents and BMW would have something about it.

BJ, I've been reading your posts on these forums for a few weeks now. You are obviously very passionate about the car and opinionated. However, you have to realize that not all of your opinions are going to be correct. Like this one.

To my knowledge, the F30 is the first non-Hybrid with auto stop start technology released in the United States. If it's not the first non-Hybrid, it's amongst the first. This is my third 3 Series in a decade and I've never been exposed to this, didn't even know it existed outside of battery powered Hybrid's.

Certainly not all of my opinions are correct. This one is. There's nothing wrong with the feature for those that want to save money or reduce their carbon footprint. It's great stuff, more power to ya. Just leave me out of it and give me a way to say "no thanks" without forcing it upon me or accidentally causing a family member to face a challenge they're not expecting. I don't think that's an unfair request, do you?

BJ

Originally Posted by boltjaM3s

There's a hesitation when the car restarts. It's only a split-second but it's enough to cause a delay and/or lack of confidence in making a fast scoot across traffic which is an unfortunate fact of life in busy urban areas.

I live in a development that lets out on both sides onto 25 MPH roads where people routinely go 50 MPH, one of which points due west and at 5pm the glaring sun blinds drivers. I live in a suburb of NYC so it's congested here, nothing I can do about that. So you pick your spots, you floor the accelerator, and you merge with the flow. And in that instant when you decide its 'go' time, you don't want the thought of a restarting engine clouding your focus.

Additionally, while I'm driving the car 95% of the time, on those two days a month that the wife needs to use it she'll never remember to shut ASS off or even remember that ASS exists and so when she feels that shudder of restart in that situation she would likely hit the brakes thinking something is wrong and thus slide halfway into traffic.

In this country there will be a huge learning curve about ASS and a lot of accidents as the technology rolls out and I don't want to be any part of it.

BJ

Thanks. So it's about the learning curve. I would hope the dealer CA's are doing a good job educating their customers on how the ASS system works. I think that after a while it becomes second nature.

Originally Posted by Michael Schott

Thanks. So it's about the learning curve. I would hope the dealer CA's are doing a good job educating their customers on how the ASS system works. I think that after a while it becomes second nature.

I understood how it worked from various YouTube 328i video reviews I watched while waiting the weeks to get my car from Germany. I read the threads on multiple BMW forums. I got a good walkthru from my CA.

It's not a matter of how it works. It's a matter of while it's doing its job its causing a potentially unsafe situation for drivers crossing traffic. Hey, if I lived in nowhere Idaho I'd love the feature. Why not? Lots of open road, turns without another car in sight for miles, bring it on. I just see this as a mess in a big city. I bought my BMW, in part, because when I need gobs of power BOOM, I get gobs of power and can bail myself out of a tight situation. ASS defeats this confidence.

BJ

Originally Posted by boltjaM3s

It is a free update that takes 4-5 hours.
BJ

The service people at the dealership are telling me it will be set to OFF. I said, 'But the bulletin says Last User Mode is the setting to use'. They said, NOPE it will be permanently off. When I tried to explain Last User Mode they said that they weren't engineers and to take it or leave it.

Right there in the service bulletin it says:

ON
OFF
Last User Mode

How could it be more clear?

Originally Posted by rdle_F30

The service people at the dealership are telling me it will be set to OFF. I said, 'But the bulletin says Last User Mode is the setting to use'. They said, NOPE it will be permanently off. When I tried to explain Last User Mode they said that they weren't engineers and to take it or leave it.

Right there in the service bulletin it says:

ON
OFF
Last User Mode

How could it be more clear?

So, you are actually considering letting someone in that service department re-code your car? Have you seen what coding an F30 is like? If not, check out the discussions on this topic. You could do it yourself, of course.

But why let a service department that cannot read the SIB mess with not just the coding -- but actually adding this feature to the digital vehicle order of your car, which the SIB also mentions. IOW, if they can't make out the English in the SIB, there's no telling what they will do when it comes time to do the relatively delicate work of recoding your car for ASS LUM.

Originally Posted by Yobyot

ASS LUM.

L O L

And I didn't think the abbreviations could sound any funnier

Originally Posted by samualcc

L O L

And I didn't think the abbreviations could sound any funnier

It could get funnier. Once you get the SIB, you have ASS-I-LUM.

Originally Posted by rdle_F30

The service people at the dealership are telling me it will be set to OFF. I said, 'But the bulletin says Last User Mode is the setting to use'. They said, NOPE it will be permanently off. When I tried to explain Last User Mode they said that they weren't engineers and to take it or leave it.

Right there in the service bulletin it says:

ON
OFF
Last User Mode

How could it be more clear?

Please God, let this be true.

Permanently off is like Christmas in August.

BJ

Originally Posted by rdle_F30

The service people at the dealership are telling me it will be set to OFF. I said, 'But the bulletin says Last User Mode is the setting to use'. They said, NOPE it will be permanently off. When I tried to explain Last User Mode they said that they weren't engineers and to take it or leave it.

Right there in the service bulletin it says:

ON
OFF
Last User Mode

How could it be more clear?

How close are you to Yorba Linda? If you need to get it programmed properly go to Integrity Motors. I have learned that most dealership service people are at most 2-5 years in the business and for many this is their first mechanic job. It is great when you are simply dealing with warranty items and the free maintenance but if you want do something "custom" like that I recommend going to an expert. Sevan at Integrity is beyond an expert when it comes to BMW, Porsche and Audi brands. If you need it done as per the service bulletin, I would go there.

And to add to Auto Start-Stop, mine only complaint was the little jerk the car made everytime it shut off. The back on part was smooth and came on when I wanted it to without delay, but everytime it shut off there was a slight jerk to the car, kind of like when you roll to a stop then suddenly press firmly on the brake and the car rocks forward as the momentum keeps the body rolling forward. It was slightly annoying but other than that the feature doesnt bother me.

Originally Posted by MonkeyCMonkeyDo

How close are you to Yorba Linda? If you need to get it programmed properly go to Integrity Motors.

And to add to Auto Start-Stop, mine only complaint was the little jerk the car made everytime it shut off.

Thanks for the recommendation. I told them not to do the update. I would wait for awhile. I really didn't have any confidence in their actual work if they had trouble understanding the service bulletin.

Originally Posted by bradlexxxxx

We just recently took delivery of a 2013 X2 28i with the new N20 engine; also equipped with ASS (not sure on the generation). The problem I have with ASS is three fold:

1) If you drive around town where there are a lot of stop signs, you end up experiencing a whole lot of stop-start action. At a stop sign, you only stop briefly. If you're obeying the law, you come to a complete stop, which means you must wait for the car to "settle". If you combine this with taking just a moment to check for oncoming traffic in both directions, you end up with a very brief stop-start cycle that is very apparent from the passenger area (the whole car shudders). My father insisted that something was wrong with our brand new car after experiencing it only one time.

2) Even if the first matter is simply an annoyance, I have now experienced more than one occasion where the engine failed to start in these abrupt engagements. This left the car in D, unable to restart until you follow a specific procedure: apply brake, engage P, press start button. This procedure seems simple, but when you're sitting in traffic trying to figure out why your car isn't moving when you press the gas pedal, it's incredibly frustrating.

3) The stop-start procedure is disruptive to the passengers in our X3 with the 8-speed auto transmission. When the engine disengages, I can feel the car settle back. When it restarts (often triggered while I'm still stopped because of climate control needs), I can feel the car lunge forward. It's unsettling and elicits strange looks from the people around me at the signal light. Call me self-conscious, but I really don't want people staring at me at signal lights because my car keeps turning on and off.

Originally Posted by sekxxx

It interferes with my regular driving because my car has stalled twice in traffic the first three weeks I've had the car. I now always shut it off when I start my car. To me, getting slightly better gas mileage does not equate with the possibility of not knowing when I'll have to manually restart the engine but knowing for sure that sooner or later, I will. That possibility occurs not because of anything I've done but because the manufacturer has provided a feature that defaults to a system that occasionally fails to work.

I know that pushing a button to override this feature when I start the car is no big deal. But I do know that I shouldn't even have to do that. For that reason, I definitely want the update to the last user mode.

Originally Posted by Frogxxx

I found that I was dreading coming to a stop to see how much the engine would shake the car when ASS stops the engine. Sometimes it's as smooth as silk and I think hey, this is great, and then other times it's so violent that I think the engine is going to rip itself out of the mounts. Plus, as was said before, the car lurches when this happens and everyone it the cars feels it.

Same on restart; sometimes it's really smooth, and other times it's really rough. No real pattern.

Then, once, I was in a intersection ASS stalled the engine on restart.

I was stopped in the intersection, ASS kicked in, I let my foot off the brake, and the engine stalled. The iDrive bings with a fault saying that ASS failed, I had to scramble to re-press the brake, push the start button, then press the throttle to go and end up just reving the engine. Looked at the shifter and realized that the car put itself in NEUTRAL! My adrenaline is pumping like crazy while I selected drive while getting honked at by people behind me. This is not something I want to repeat and definitely not something I want my wife to deal with!

So, I coded my car to remember the last ASS setting and I leave the dang thing off; I couldn't be happier. I don't worry about my engine stalling or shaking, or lurching any more.

If BMW can address these issues, I'd be the first to re-enable ASS, but not the way it works now.

Originally Posted by lawxxxx

Wow, this is crazy. And this isn't the first story I've heard like this. It's only by sheer provenance no one has been seriously injured or killed due to this. The fact that they have to program in a message that says "A.S.S. failed" means it shouldn't even be an option. If this were to happen at an intersection in which you are on a slight downhill you may find yourself rolled into the middle of the intersection trying to figure out what's wrong with the car.

BTW, if they can figure this out on golf carts why can't they do it on a $50k car?

Bumping this as it fell to the end of Page 1. Multiple F30 owners in another forum reporting unexpected stalls. If you're not going to get the firmware update at the dealer be cautious in using the ASS feature until it's been sorted.

BJ