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Thread: How to tell from pictures if an F01/F02 7er has Active Cruise Control?

  1. #1
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    Question How to tell from pictures if an F01/F02 7er has Active Cruise Control?

    Hey Folks-

    I'm actively shopping for a F01/F02 750, but one of my "must have" requirements is dynamic/adaptive/active cruise control (BMW calls it "Active", right?).

    I actually looked through all the 7-series owners manuals for 2010-2012, and they all seem to indicate that there should be distance controls on the steering wheel if the car actually has this feature.

    Is it possible to have active cruise control without there being the distance buttons on the steering wheel? Is there somewhere else I should be looking?

    I only ask, because I've found several postings that claim the car has active cruise control, but when I look at the pics on the steering wheel, I do not see the distance control buttons. I'd assumed the dealership/owner must be mistaken, but started to think that maybe there's some other way to tell (?)

    Thanks for any help you can lend!

    By the way, side note: I'm awfully surprised that there aren't more F01/F02s on the market with active cruise control. What gives? I've probably looked through over a hundred postings between Autotrader and Cars.com (within 100mi of Chicago, Peoria, Louisville, Indianapolis, and Cincinnati) and I've only found 2 so far that I could confirm from pics which actually had it haha .. frustrating! Would have figured more people would have sprung for that option on a high-end luxury sedan.
    Last edited by S0nik; 04-10-2015 at 10:25 AM.

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  2. #2
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    Think I've sorta eventually answered my own question. Ended up finding a couple of BMW VIN lookup tools that list out all the options originally installed on the car. Just been using that for the postings where I couldn't really tell if the car had Active Cruise Control or not.

    2001 E46 M3 SC ESS VT2-525 with pretty much everything else done
    2009 E90 335i xDrive (Daily) with JB4 and DCI
    1995 E36 M3 (indefinite hiberation) with Garage-Built Hodgepodge Turbo and more mods than I can remember anymore; 415whp/371wtq @ 12psi
    2000 E39 M5 (sadly gone; traded in for 335) with Magnaflow exhaust that I miss the most and would buy another in a heartbeat

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    And not meaning to bump my thread, but one more follow-up post to my other question about why this option isn't more common, in case anyone else stumbles across this somehow and actually cares. One of the dealers I talked to said that it was a more-or-less pilot option available for custom orders until about 2013 and wasn't very common to have cars built from the factory for dealerships with it installed. In the case of dealership cars, it was up to dealerships to make the call on whether it was worth it to install after the fact. He said that, at the time, it was a $2600 option (in parts) and that a lot of dealerships probably didn't opt to install it. Since then, the price has come down to about half that and it sounded like more cars are being built in the factory for dealerships with it already installed. I may be misremembering the year or the prices he told me, but sounded like that was the gist of why there aren't more 7-series out there with this feature installed.
    Last edited by S0nik; 04-13-2015 at 06:45 PM.

    2001 E46 M3 SC ESS VT2-525 with pretty much everything else done
    2009 E90 335i xDrive (Daily) with JB4 and DCI
    1995 E36 M3 (indefinite hiberation) with Garage-Built Hodgepodge Turbo and more mods than I can remember anymore; 415whp/371wtq @ 12psi
    2000 E39 M5 (sadly gone; traded in for 335) with Magnaflow exhaust that I miss the most and would buy another in a heartbeat

  4. #4
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    Question How to tell if an F01/F02 has Adaptive Cruise Control?

    I also am shopping for a 2013 to 2015 F01/F02 and absolutely insist on having adaptive cruise control. I've used it in rental cars and such and am absolutely sold on it as an important safety feature, together with blind spot warnings and lane departure assist, for us over-50 drivers, especially at night.

    I hope I'm not incorrect, but I've been assuming that I could tell if a car for sale had the feature by looking at the buttons to the left of the steering wheel, underneath the headlight knob. The buttons from left to right appear to be 1) blind spot warning, 2) adaptive cruise, 3) lane departure warning, and 4) collision avoidance. I don't know what the one to the far right is, as it is blank in this photo. Can anyone tell me if I'm correct? I'd hate to assume a car has adaptive cruise control and then find out post-sale that it does not.

    Is_this_adaptive_cruise_control.jpg

    Also, since this is important to me and I have done a lot of shopping around, I can say that 2015 and newer models are far more likely to have adaptive cruise. It may even have become standard equipment for 2016 and newer, or at least it bloody well should have. Can you imagine a $100K+ 7-series that lacks a feature now becoming common on ordinary rental cars? Sheesh!

    I questioned a salesman at a BMW dealership about this and he gave me a lot of bull about how BMW's are "driver's cars" and the people that buy them are less interested in "babysitting" features like this. Sounded like an excuse to me. He also did say categorically that the dealership CANNOT at any price add adaptive cruise to a car that did not have it equipped from the factory, though I'd rather trust a more reliable source on that point.

    However, if I am correct about these buttons, there are still quite a few 2013 and 2014 models with adaptive cruise control. These are the only ones I am considering.

    I am intentionally staying away from 2010 to 2012 model years because BMW revised the engine in 2013 to reduce some of the reliability issues with the 4.4L twin-turbo V8. Even still, I am also looking at a 740Li xDrive because, though I would miss the power of the V8 (especially coming down from a V12), the turbocharged V6 is said to be far more reliable than the V8 and offers better mileage. Adaptive cruise would probably be very rare in 2010 to 2012 models anyway, though I understand that some European cars had adaptive cruise even going back to 2000 and 2001 e38 models, an option then, of course.

    - - - Updated - - -

    Oh, and also, I believe that many cars with adaptive cruise control are probably not marked that way on the postings because the new and used car dealerships doing the postings don't take the time to do it. If it IS marked, you can PROBABLY be assured it has the feature, but it not being marked does not necessary mean it does not.
    Swordsman
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  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Swordsman View Post
    I also am shopping for a 2013 to 2015 F01/F02 and absolutely insist on having adaptive cruise control. ... I hope I'm not incorrect, but I've been assuming that I could tell if a car for sale had the feature by looking at the buttons to the left of the steering wheel, underneath the headlight knob. The buttons from left to right appear to be 1) blind spot warning, 2) adaptive cruise, 3) lane departure warning, and 4) collision avoidance. I don't know what the one to the far right is, as it is blank in this photo. Can anyone tell me if I'm correct? (I'd hate to assume a car has adaptive cruise control and then find out post-sale that it does not.)


    Sorry Swordsman...but your assumption is not correct. The driver assistant switch panel you posted in your quote is NOT the way to tell if a BMW is equipped with ACC. The options that are represented in your pic above indicates:
    1 - blind spot
    2 - collision warning (your pic shows the updated icon for this option...the illustration below (#9) shows the original icon used for this option)
    3 - lane change warning
    4 - HUD (head up display)

    The way to visually tell if a BMW is equipped with ACC is to look at the LEFT switch block (button pad) on the steering wheel. Note the addition of buttons #8, #9, & #10 which are the ones that adjust the distance for ACC. If you have regular CC...then you only have 4 buttons on the left switch block #9, #11, #12, & #13:


    The collision warning button (#2 in the pic you posted & #9 in the illustration below) is another feature/option. It is for "city mitigation" (if you don't have ACC) which is a two-stage warning system to help prevent collisions. When activated, a red warning light will illuminate in the instrument cluster to warn the driver that a car ahead is in eminent danger of colliding with you so you should brake to slow down or avoid a collision. The 2nd stage of this option will illuminate the warning light as well as emit a warning tone which means it is imperative that you brake to avoid a collision...and the braking system pre-charges to prepare for an abrupt stop. If you have ACC...this feature will also brake at highway speeds to help avoid an impending collision.

    BTW, the 5th button space on the driver's assistant switch panel is for NIGHT VISION:

    Last edited by Qsilver7; 02-15-2019 at 03:14 PM.
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  6. #6
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    I would strongly not recommend the "stop and go" sub-functionality of active cruise control. Stop and go is when the cruise detects a vehicle ahead and automatically brakes/accelerates for you....without letting you know. On my X3 (wife's car) I find it frustrating to be driving 80 on the interstate, come up behind a car (heading uphill), and all of a sudden trying to figure out why I am now going 70. The "stop and go" functionality is not independently (from the other cruise functionality) able to be turned off.
    Some other comments:
    https://www.bimmerfest.com/news/9308...opgo-function/

  7. #7
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    Cool Now I know how to tell from a photo if the 7-series has adaptive cruise control

    Thanks, QSilver7, for the thoroughly complete and accurate description I was looking for. Much appreciated. My misunderstanding of the meaning of these different controls could very easily have led me to purchase a vehicle thinking it had ACC when it did not.

    conroyt, I'm not exactly sure what you mean. The "stop and go" functionality of ACC, whereby the car keeps a set following distance if the car in front is driving at a lower speed than that to which you have the cruise control set, is the definition of adaptive cruise control. If I didn't want that feature, I would not be looking for adaptive cruise control at all. Normal cruise control would be adequate and every 7-series has cruise control, though not necessarily ACC.

    I have now driven several thousand miles in three different rental cars, though not BMW's, that were equipped with ACC plus other features like lane departure warning and blind spot detection. I think these features are terrific safety features, especially for us over-50 drivers.

    Thanks for including the links to the various comments. There is clearly some variation in the opinions for and against, but I think the reasons in favor of it outweigh the known drawbacks.
    Last edited by Swordsman; 03-02-2019 at 04:30 PM.
    Swordsman
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