1st drive in the rain in my 128, can I disable the traction control?

[Ilovemountains]

First drive today in the rain in the 128, having been an MX5 fanatic for over 15 years I have to say I'm very tempted to list the 128 and go back! I love the power but its just not as fun to drive.

Is there a way to disable the traction control? I went to hang it out this afternoon and it all but stalled, the power gets cut to the point that its just comical! I cant imagine having to spin my way up a hill in the snow in the rare event that I get caught out with the BMW.

All of my MX5s had Torsen LSD's, I know this thing has an open diff but Id really like to be able to turn off all of this madness when I want to. Any ideas or am I missing a button somewhere?

[Kgolf31]

Middle button above the emergency lights - DTC

Press and hold for 5 seconds. You'll see TRACTION show up on the dash then after holding you'll see DTC OFF. Traction control will be completely off but the e-diff will still be active

[MightyMouseTech]

No owners manual?

[IEDEI]

[Ilovemountains]

Sorry, posted that when I got back to the office, owners manuals are in my garage, I pressed the DTC button thinking it would turn it off but it seems to turn on DTC. Ill break out the manual tonight

[fcman]

Hold down the DTC button for about 5-6 seconds, the icon will show this icon when everything is fully disabled.




or this

[Kgolf31]

Originally Posted by Ilovemountains

Sorry, posted that when I got back to the office, owners manuals are in my garage, I pressed the DTC button thinking it would turn it off but it seems to turn on DTC. Ill break out the manual tonight

There are 3 traction modes per say.

First, is stock. This will control throttle intake and yaw control of the car. If you lose traction, the engine will choke itself to reduce power and regain control

Pressing it once will give you yaw control, or DTC mode. The engine will no longer retard itself to reduce power, however you still have active braking on the wheels to keep the car pointed straight.

Third is traction off, where you lose engine retarding and yaw control.

[mrvco]

The Owner's Manual is a tad convoluted on this topic. Deactivating stability control by holding down the DTC button is in the "Deactivating DSC" section while the DTC section explains activating DTC and its uses in wintery conditions, but makes no mention of using the DTC button to deactivate DSC or activating DTC to loosen things up a bit during spirited driving.

[Gray_Panther]

Originally Posted by Ilovemountains

First drive today in the rain in the 128, having been an MX5 fanatic for over 15 years I have to say I'm very tempted to list the 128 and go back! I love the power but its just not as fun to drive.

Is there a way to disable the traction control? I went to hang it out this afternoon and it all but stalled, the power gets cut to the point that its just comical! I cant imagine having to spin my way up a hill in the snow in the rare event that I get caught out with the BMW.

All of my MX5s had Torsen LSD's, I know this thing has an open diff but Id really like to be able to turn off all of this madness when I want to. Any ideas or am I missing a button somewhere?

Let's ask the real question here:
Why did you even bother buying a 128i?

[Lucky1]

The snow and driving uphills thing I get but be forewarned from me to you that one simple mistake in the rain with the traction control off could be your last. You sound like an experienced RWD driver but keep in mind there's no LSD here and 50/50 weight distribution won't seem so incredible when the wrong throttle input in a turn leaves you facing the wrong way.

Try tapping the DTC button once til it shows "DTC" on the dash. That will resolve most of the throttle cut out issues you described while keeping stability control which is the safe thing to do. In my opinion if you were describing that the throttle was cutting out in a comical way and it was in the rain (assuming it was from your thread title) then that was the car telling you you are putting too much power down for the road conditions and available traction. Disable all nannies at your own risk (and the risk of others) in this case.

[david in germany]

Originally Posted by Lucky1

The snow and driving uphills thing I get but be forewarned from me to you that one simple mistake in the rain with the traction control off could be your last. You sound like an experienced RWD driver but keep in mind there's no LSD here and 50/50 weight distribution won't seem so incredible when the wrong throttle input in a turn leaves you facing the wrong way.

Try tapping the DTC button once til it shows "DTC" on the dash. That will resolve most of the throttle cut out issues you described while keeping stability control which is the safe thing to do. In my opinion if you were describing that the throttle was cutting out in a comical way and it was in the rain (assuming it was from your thread title) then that was the car telling you you are putting too much power down for the road conditions and available traction. Disable all nannies at your own risk (and the risk of others) in this case.

Agreed, Sounds like somone is on the wrong tires and can't get traction. The cars are smarter than we would like to give them credit for. If the traction control is always bothering you in the rain,poor tread, side wall stiffness can also be a problem.
I would not reccomends that you turn anything off unless you are in a controlled environment off of the normal roads until you have a bit of expirence on how the car will react to the changes.

[shah269]

How many cars have died due to this?
Here is how it goes....

Joe "I think i'm a rock star, i have long hair, i have an ax and i always wear leather pants! And i want to take this car sideways around corners to blow the panties off the ladies!"

Bob "Joe, well here is how you do it but you know this car is a bit nuts and does like to kill itself when the TC is turned all the way down. So just be careful ok!"

Joe "Dude Bob Bob Bob...oh you pathetic sorry sack of stuff....I"M A MOFO Rock star man! Diddn't you notice the leather pants the long hair and the guitar! I am gods gift to women and the open road! How dare you question my testicular mass and my ability to hang out with my wang out!"

Bob "I'm just an engineer....i don't get attractive women mostly because i'm too busy installing dimmer switches around the house to impress my digital girlfriend from eastern europe who i send $100 a month to so she will show me her boobies.....but if you die can i have your black book of big boobied babes?"

Joe “Bob, two things will not happen to me…I will never lose my amazing hair and I will not die in this car!”

Bob “Ok just sign on the dotted line! And yeah this is how you turn off the traction control of this 1 series all the way”

Later that day in the rain Joe was driving his 1 series around various parking lots and twisty roads here is what the onboard super secret BMW black box recorded
Joe “AWESOME! Narly! EPIC! LOOK AT ME I AM A DRIVING GOD! AH yeah….Hanging with the wang out…oh oh ohooooooohhhhoooohhhooohhooohhaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh shit shit shit shit tree tree tree…sky sky sky ground ground ground….not the hair not the hair not the aaaaaaaaaaahhhhh why are you clawing and pecking at my face don’t you know who I am! Just look at the leather pants!”

The resulting accident report indicated that at a speed of 40mph Joes BMW 1 series decided it no longer wished to live on this planet an half way through an apex of a corner decided it wanted to become one with a rather robust elm tree which housed a number of birds and various other woodland creatures. None of the animals died but in revenge for attacking their home a number of very angry squirrels broke the sun roof of the car and attacked Joe..the resulting facial trauma was so much that Joe had to give up the life he was living go to school for the only profession that allowed him to work in a dimly lit poorly ventilated environment where no one would look at him….Joe became an engineer.
Bob could not be reached for comment..he was last seen telling his manager who was once an engineer to go shove a protractor up his ass while he left the office wearing leather pants while a very attractive women waited for him outside in his undamaged 1 series with the traction control on.

Don’t be like Joe…don’t become an engineer….dive with the TC fully on in the rain, in the snow and especially in the dry!

[MightyMouseTech]

Dunno, I pretty much always drive with the TC off. On the street I always leave the stability control on though.

[Pyrat 2]

At the track I disable to the extent the car allows. On the street I usually don't touch it. That said I have an LSD and it tends to interfere less than before the LSD.

[mr.fabulous]

One has to admit the manual is damn unclear on this, and so thanks for making it clear (I wouldn't have otherwise understood this).

[MightyMouseTech]

Guess I was lucky, it was all explained to me at the Welt on a simulator.

[Ilovemountains]

I can assure you I am not like “Joe“.

I’ve been primarily driving RWD vehicles for the last 20 years, ranging from several MX5’s, a G35 manual, an S2000 and an RX8. I don’t drive spiritedly around others or on busy streets but I am known to drift around empty parking lots and the occasional empty intersection. Like my post title said, it was the first drive in the rain and I was testing the boundary’s to get a feel for the breaking point of the car and to see how it reacts.

Anyway, as to why I bought the 1, I’m not sure just yet! Part of it stems back to 2009 when my wife and I rented one in Sorrento Italy, that was a diesel and took some getting used to shifting with my left hand but I love the look of the car. The other part of it was impulse….

If my last MX5 was child seat friendly I would have kept it, I lost my a$$ selling it this past fall, I had modified it over many years to my liking from a full roll cage, re-geared with a Bosch Torsen LSD, full exhaust, suspension etc etc etc It was a fantastic little car but my wife hated it, she always thought it was too small, rode too rough and on and on. Anyway didn’t mean to rustle any feathers, Ill have to get a copy of the owner’s manuals for my office

[MightyMouseTech]

LOL!

[shah269]

Ilovemountains
Bro i was just yanking your chain...i'm the only one holding down the fort in my office and was slightly high on fumes from the Makerbot printer that's sitting nex to me.
Just be safe. But also VERY SMART idea to test the car out in the rain in a wide open space to see what's like when things don't work.
Honestly i prefer the snow, about a inch or two on the ground and i do the same thing.
The funny part...it's amazing how much the car changes from year to year.
The first year i had this car in the snow with the TC off it has a horrid snap over steer due to the RTF tires.
I got rid of those and got the Kuhmos and it was still a snap but not as hard.
This year i'm on some French company who has a thing for chubby babies...i wonder how they will behave at the limits of traction.
But like i said just yanking your chain, be safe and have fun!

[Ilovemountains]

I know!

My car has new Toyo Proxes 4 plus tires and a compact spare kit in the trunk, no grip at all compared to the Nitto NT05's that Im used to running! I really wont be driving the car in the rain and snow too often, my daily driver is a 4x4 Tacoma TRD 4 door so this spring Ill probably have a set of NT05's mounted and road force balanced. I just ordered M3 sub frame bushings, I knew this would happen when I bought the car, its a disease I'm telling you!! It is pretty sad that BMW didn't opt to put a real torsen in these cars and that they actually sold an M Sport car that has blue tooth buttons but no blue tooth module, that's just sad, not what I was expecting but being an impulse buy it is what it is!

[Bimmer-Bob]

Originally Posted by Ilovemountains

Ill have to get a copy of the owner’s manuals for my office

Just download it; it's pretty handy to have around the first few weks of ownership: http://www.bmwusa.com/Standard/Conte...modelcode=1020

[DSSG]

God the morons are out in force today.

The best way to learn these systems is to find a wet large parking lot and experiment a bit. The car handles quite well, and it won't kill you if you make a mistake.

I always drive with DSC, dynamic stability control, off. This was the way a car was meant to be driven by real men.

There are essentially two system of control on the One - Dynamic Brake Control or DBC which combines the functions of ABS, Antilock Brake System, EBV, Electronic Brake-force distribution, and DBC, Dynamic Brake Control. This system is always on and can't be turned off.

The second system is DSC or Dynamic Stability Control which includes DTC or Dynamic Traction Control. This system can be turned off. Essentially what this system does if keep the car from veering off course and keeps it going in a straight line. Obviously, you want it off if you were doing a power slide through a corner hanging the rear end out.

If you want the feel of the road and you aren't a nut case, it is quite safe to turn DSC off. If the system is on and the indicator light flashes a lot, you might question your own driving habits and maybe make some funeral arrangements.