[DaveCM5]

I had my girlfriend follow me today to see if the adaptive brake lights (where only the outside ones light with slight brake, and they all light with heavy braking) and it always used both sides of the brake lights. I tried with only very slight pressure gradually increasing, but both would come on at the slightest pressure.

Also, when I went to the BMW Driving Experience, all of the test cars also used both brake lights all the time.

Is this feature really included or is it just a hoax??

-Dave C. '06 330i

[E90Fleet]

Apparently the latest software update fixes a problem with the 5 Series Brake Force display, Maybe the E90 also has a problem ?

Also in the USA manual it shows that the light that is the rear foglight in europe ( under reverse light) shuold also come on when BFD is active

[Nathan]

Nope mine works. I tested it at the dealer.

[agarbati]

Originally Posted by Nathan

Nope mine works. I tested it at the dealer.

How did you test it on a parked car? I'd like to test mine.

[jbl16]

Its no hoax i saw them in action last weekend in the ultimate driving experience, during the crash avoidance exercise in the safety school. Some people didnt brake hard enough and only one set turned on, while other clearly braked harder and both sets of lights came on.

[DaveCM5]

Originally Posted by Nathan

Nope mine works. I tested it at the dealer.

Yes, how did you test it? And which lights came on under light and heavy braking?

-Dave C. '06 330i

[Nathan]

i had my wife drive, and drove about 20 mph and had her slam on the brakes. All this stuff is in the brochure, it shows exactly which light comes on in intense breaking. On the right hand side, the left most brake light comes on during intense breaking.

[agarbati]

Originally Posted by Nathan

i had my wife drive, and drove about 20 mph and had her slam on the brakes. All this stuff is in the brochure, it shows exactly which light comes on in intense breaking. On the right hand side, the left most brake light comes on during intense breaking.

Guess I'll have to wait - I ain't slammin' the brakes before break-in is done.

[ward]

nope, it's a total hoax

also BMW decided to skimp on ABS hoping that no one would be strong enough to lock up the brakes

[TwinPowerF30]

what there'es no ABS?

[Armen52]

Originally Posted by agarbati

Guess I'll have to wait - I ain't slammin' the brakes before break-in is done.

agarbati, if I'm not mistaken, the brakes should be entirely broken in within 300 miles or so, as well as the tires. After 500 miles you should be fine on those. Besides, if you need them, you'll be using the brakes, break-in or not

[Armen52]

Originally Posted by weiweiwei

what there'es no ABS?

no weiwei, ward is just making unproductive posts. Technically its sarcasm but its not really necessary. Dave had a valid question.

[ward]

well, the second stage of lights should only come on when ABS is active or when DSC, DTC is going nute

I sincerely apologize for the unproductive post above

[Armen52]

ward, is that info in the manual?

That means its gonna take some seriously hard braking to bring them on then. I was test driving an Accord V6 the other day and I couldn't get the ABS to come on at city-street speeds, let alone a 330's. That's a good thing I suppose

[E90Fleet]

Originally Posted by Armen52

ward, is that info in the manual?

That means its gonna take some seriously hard braking to bring them on then. I was test driving an Accord V6 the other day and I couldn't get the ABS to come on at city-street speeds, let alone a 330's. That's a good thing I suppose

Yes, it only comes on when ABS or DSC/DTC is working ( ie interventing)

[quackman]

Originally Posted by ward

well, the second stage of lights should only come on when ABS is active or when DSC, DTC is going nute

I sincerely apologize for the unproductive post above

I laughed

[DaveCM5]

Originally Posted by Nathan

i had my wife drive, and drove about 20 mph and had her slam on the brakes. All this stuff is in the brochure, it shows exactly which light comes on in intense breaking. On the right hand side, the left most brake light comes on during intense breaking.

Your car must have a malfunction. Because the brochure says one thing, and the owners manual says another.

I was going by what the brochure says, so apparently I never gave it enough brake to engage the adaptive brake light because the two lights were always coming on...so I was trying to press it lightly enough to just make the one come on. But since the owners manual says differently I will try again later and see if it behaves like the manual says.

I guess the brochure came out before they had a final decision on how it was going to work.

-Dave C. '06 330i

[nocturnal]

Recently read this: "The back end does not look like a BMW. Thin secondary brake lights are a radical extension of the L-shaped taillamps BMW has used previously, most notably on the current 3 Series. Extending across the trunk lid, they are designed to draw the eye across the back, making the car look wider. The taillights are a technological marvel themselves, employing a new feature BMW calls adaptive brake lighting that is designed to signal the intensity of the driver's braking to other drivers. Under normal braking, the outboard and third brake lights illuminate as usual. Under hard braking or when ABS is activated, the taillights join the brake lights for a significant increase in visibility of the brake lights. If that isn't impressive enough for you, a monitoring system will signal you when a bulb burns out. And while you're waiting for an opportunity to get to a dealership to replace it, the system will commandeer other bulbs in the taillamps to use as brake lights. That's but one of many examples of the amazing attention to detail on this car. "

Is the end of that true? The system will commandeer other bults in the taillamps to use as brakelights?

[drkeng]

I believe in adaptive brake lights, but here's my question:

How does the person behind you know the difference between regular braking and hard braking lights? It wouldn't be a bad idea to have solid amber lights come on with hard braking or antilock activation; they could just use the turn signals. That would be an obvious difference from regular braking.

[KevinC]

"BFD" - what a fitting acronym for this apparently elusive feature.

[Nikki]

I think that the adaptive brakelights should come on before ABS, but only when there is very hard braking. Many other drivers may be unaware of the adaptive brakelight system, but if no manufacturer goes ahead and implements these types of technologies, then they would never exist. If competitors see a value in the adaptive brakelight system then they will utilize this feature as well and it will be adopted as a standard, becoming widely acceptable to the general public. If other companies do not latch on, then it will simply fade away.

[Ghunger]

Well, even if the following driver doesn't know about adaptive brake lights, when they light up extra bright it will at least be more likely to make them notice, possibly enough to get them to stop their cell phone coversation long enough to apply their own brakes.