Gentle slowing down is not done with brakes, but with easing off, as happens with cancelling cruise. Brake lights coming on cause following traffic to brake, further back down the road the wave effect causes a jam. Now I know who one of the damned idiots is who causes this. Frighten the tailgaters by all means, but don't add to the poor driving already out there by using another example.

Ps taking the throttle off does it cause sudden slowing down. It leads to gradual slowing down. The people driving without cruise intros have perfected the art of taking their foot off the accelerator without braking, did you never learn this?

Check your speedo's next time, its surprising how fast a car slows down when taking your foot of the gas at 70mph.

Personally if I'm switching cruise of to slow down I what the idiot in the BMW behind me to know that I'm slowing down, not get a surprise when the car suddenly slows up without warning.

Have I been following you lol?

Unless I'm seriously mistaken, switching CC off will result in a gradual slowing down and not something so fast that may catch other BMW driver's unaware!

Trust me 70 to 50 happens pretty quickly when you lift off

Page 53 of owner's manual only refers to the convenience turn signal flashing 3 times, so guess it can't be changed to 5.

You can with vcds

Trust me 70 to 50 happens pretty quickly when you lift off

But you would be doing this due to traffic slowing ahead, which those without cruise do by lifting off the accelerator.why can't you just do the same?!!! Cancel cruise normally and save the rest of us the grief you are causing at present.

@fireftrm, I would highly suggest a chill pill, name calling on the internet with people you don't know or haven't seen in traffic and their actions doesn't make you the bigger man. Alright, "mate"?

 

If you can't be bothered to read entire posts and then give it a second to sink in and understand what was said, maybe forum reading and posting isn't for you.

 

If my breaking on a nearly deserted motorway causes you grief, because some flashing red lights in front of your eyes gives you nightmares, I suggest another thing: change of life's priorities.

Edited 22 August, 201312 yr by TudorM

Sounds like a lot of people seem to be driving too close to each other.

If I see someone braking I don't need to break, unless I NEED TO BREAK

I was asking this cruise control question because it cought me of guard...

When I'm driving I usualy look at traffic a few cars ahead of me and not just the one in front of me and I don't like to brake unless it's realy necessary.

So I was driving on the motorway, CC engaged, when up ahead someone stepped on the brakes.
Since we humans are creatures of habit, I started to ease off by pressing the clutch, as I did in my O1, my foot was already of accelerator paddle because of CC.
There was no hurry to get rid of the speed so I droped down to 5th gear, still holding clutch and a few seconds passed.
I got a bit close to the car in front of me so I let go of the clutch thinking I would slow down even more. Guess what, it didn't. The car accelerated...

If CC disengaged when I pressed the clutch the car would slow down normaly.

 

 

 

You can with vcds

Do you maybe know where?

Edited 22 August, 201312 yr by O3Combi

Can we keep this thread on track guys, the OP is not about driving techniques or BMW drivers etc.

C'mon guys, they're 'brakes', not 'breaks'!

ACC to the rescue.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2

C'mon guys, they're 'brakes', not 'breaks'!

Sorry autocorrect demon

Have I landed on a different planet? Why would anyone disengage cruise control by dabbing the brake, or dipping the clutch? Number one is likely to cause mayhem in following traffic, number two leads to freewheeling, which is bad for the gearbox.the stalk has a flick to the right function,the top switch, which cancels cruise. You then use the stalk end switch up to reset. How difficult is this? Please be sensible and use the controls as they are meant to be and not stupid, dangerous, or damaging methods!

 

Dipping the clutch is usually followed by changing down a gear.  Causing the vehicle to gradually slow down.  As you yourself said:

 

Ps taking the throttle off does it cause sudden slowing down. It leads to gradual slowing down. The people driving without cruise intros have perfected the art of taking their foot off the accelerator without braking, did you never learn this?

 

 

No one mentioned freewheeling, AFAIK, only gradually slowing down using the gearbox.  As for freewheeling damaging the gearbox, really?  Are you sure??  LOL  :wonder:

Yes they did and yes it does. Also I never travel so close as to need to brake when the car in front gently slows down. However the application of brakes leads to brake lights and this is there ONLY to warn other drivers of the braking, so their correct response is to brake too. The OP was about cancelling cruise in order to slow down, the ONLY correct and safe way to do so is using the cruise control controls, quick flick to the right. Braking is dangerous, not to you perhaps, but certainly to all the poor sods who suffer the consequences.

The people who think this is neither serious, or part if this thread, are no doubt those who have never had an accident, but seen thousands in their rear view mirrors............

Can we keep this thread on track guys, the OP is not about driving techniques or BMW drivers etc.

actually he is on about driving techniques. Using the clutch to disengage a car's systems is part of a driving technique, a bad one at that, unless it is to change gear, of course. The clutch pedal. Is there. For one purpose alone, to disengage the transmission from the engine in order to change the gear. The cruise control control is there to control the cruise control. Use it!

Dipping the clutch is not 'usually' connected with changing gear, it is only for that. Dropping a gear does not cause a gradual slowing down, it's effect is that if engine braking, which is more sever than simply taking the throttle off, which is the correct way to gradually slow down on the flat.

Edited 24 August, 201312 yr by fireftrm

No one mentioned freewheeling, AFAIK, only gradually slowing down using the gearbox. As for freewheeling damaging the gearbox, really? Are you sure?? LOL :wonder:

erm AFAIK????!!!!!!

Someone called freddyg said:-

On the motorway I spotted a problem a good way off, dipped the clutch, freewheeled for a bit......

As well as failing to properly use the cruise control control you failed to keep proper control of your car, being in neutral means a loss of much if the control of the vehicle, it also means using fuel, which cancelling the cruise would have avoided. Very, very bad driving practice.

Edited 24 August, 201312 yr by fireftrm

I suggest you learn your mechanics of modern vehicles before you go ahead and generate this kind of responses. In modern vehicles having the gearbox out of gear, does not damage or cause wear to absolutely anything, other than what normal use does anyway. That's like saying that having your car out of gear at a stop light wears down your car. That's quite silly to even imply let alone say with utmost confidence.

 

And then again with the "seen thousands of accidents in the rear view mirror", I would suggest you keep such opinions to yourself. If you think that someone's braking to disengage the CC causes said thousands of accidents, I can only imagine the horrendous pile-ups when people brake for exits, slow traffic, other people cutting you off or maybe even when you're aproaching someone with the CC on at a much higher speed and you have to break anyway. Oh wait, those thousands of accidents never happened, cause you know you're not the only one with a brain and knows how to use it.

I suggest you learn your mechanics of modern vehicles before you go ahead and generate this kind of responses. In modern vehicles having the gearbox out of gear, does not damage or cause wear to absolutely anything, other than what normal use does anyway. That's like saying that having your car out of gear at a stop light wears down your car. That's quite silly to even imply let alone say with utmost confidence.

 

It certainly will put strain on your gearbox!

 

Unless you match your engine and gear speed before putting it back in gear after "free wheeling".

 

I also agree that random braking on the motorway is a PITA, use the cruise control properly.

I do know vehicle mechanics and have experience of the construction and use of gearboxes. Running for a period with the clutch disengaged, so as to allow freewheeling as freddy described, places unnecessary wear on the release bearing and the gearbox spins without its input shaft being driven. Whilst this is not causing any real damage it is extremely bad practice and is actually potentially illegal in the UK, as it is against the Hughway Code. Also it continues to use fuel, whereas operating the car's controls correctly, by cancelling the cruise by its controls, leads to zero fuel use. The reduced vehicle control is the reason it is against driving rules here. Perhaps Romania has other practices.

Clearly you think that bad driving practices need to be defended. I doubt you have even seen the accidents you have caused, as no doubt the mirrors are unused in your car.

I don't think that, I just don't think this is one of them. How close would you have to be behind me to actually be influenced by the situation I have described? If you're at a safe following speed, even at motorway speeds, it shouldn't make you apply brakes on your own vehicle as you can obviously tell I'm not slowing down in any other way other than slowly in mine. If you're that close that it would cause you grief and cause you to frantically go for your own brakes, maybe you should reconsider your own driving methods and which one is more dangerous.

 

The point about fuel usage and gearbox wear is moot, as we're talking split second breaking or pressing the clutch pedal. I doubt you could even physically measure the increase in fuel usage and/or wear.

 

Plus, making assumptions about how I drive doesn't win you any arguments. You have no idea how good/bad my driving skills are or how much I'm using my mirrors. And no, I haven't caused any accidents that way. The only accident I've caused in 12 years of driving was by the bumping into another car on an icy road at under 10 mph because I was stupid enough not to maintain a proper distance to the car ahead. I'm no expert driver, but I do follow the rules. End of topic for me...

 

PS: I've been behind drivers using the same method and me not using the CC, and my reaction was to just lift off the accelerator. I always watch the road ahead of the vehicle right in front of me so I can tell anyway if there's cause for immediate necessary braking or just gradually slowing down. I hope you do too.

Edited 24 August, 201312 yr by TudorM

erm AFAIK????!!!!!!

Someone called freddyg said:-

On the motorway I spotted a problem a good way off, dipped the clutch, freewheeled for a bit.......

Gosh, you certainly live up to your firey name, don't you? Lol!

Try and quote the whole sentence so it is in context next time: "On the motorway I spotted a problem a good way off, dipped the clutch, freewheeled for a bit, selected the next gear down and released the clutch."

As for using the switch on the stick... Ideally, yes. But I found it fiddly to use and not particularly intuitive after 3 years with my current car.

Maybe it's time to lock the subject now as things have been discussed to their extreme and hopefully the OP has gleaned some relevant info?