[Rich4]

I have now had my new car for a week and whilst I am quite thrilled with its smoothness, less outside noise, and some of the new features it has, I am very disappointed that the auto start/stop function has changed from my previous 2013 model year car. There now appears to be no way to prevent the engine from switching off when coming to a stop at traffic lights, unless the auto stop function has already been deactivated earlier. Clearly, if you are going to be stationary for only a few seconds, you don’t want the engine shutting down.

Previously it was quite easy to keep the engine running, (most of the time) if the pressure on the brake pedal was released slightly after coming to a stop; now one has no choice, and the engine switches off as soon as the car has stopped. So, just wanted to know if that is the norm these days, or if perhaps my setting is over sensitive and can be corrected, as it cuts out immediately the car comes to a halt.

Another disappointment is the mandatory daytime running lights, where it is no longer possible to switch them off.

[Jypsie]

put it in sport or sport +
You can also do some coding....

[Andy_o]

Originally Posted by Rich4

I have now had my new car for a week and whilst I am quite thrilled with its smoothness, less outside noise, and some of the new features it has, I am very disappointed that the auto start/stop function has changed from my previous 2013 model year car. There now appears to be no way to prevent the engine from switching off when coming to a stop at traffic lights, unless the auto stop function has already been deactivated earlier. Clearly, if you are going to be stationary for only a few seconds, you dont want the engine shutting down.

Previously it was quite easy to keep the engine running, (most of the time) if the pressure on the brake pedal was released slightly after coming to a stop; now one has no choice, and the engine switches off as soon as the car has stopped. So, just wanted to know if that is the norm these days, or if perhaps my setting is over sensitive and can be corrected, as it cuts out immediately the car comes to a halt.

Another disappointment is the mandatory daytime running lights, where it is no longer possible to switch them off.

Underneath the starter button there is a switch to disable stop/start.

DRL's are a legal requirement in EU that's why you can't disable unlike older cars

[clivem2]

I find the start/stop is much improved over my 2011 X3. My LCI engages start/stop less often whereas my 2011 did it infuriatingly often. I find my LCI moves away smoothly when I press the accelerator, with my 2011 I had to tweek the steering wheel instead of pressing the accelerator to start the engine - if I didn't us the the steering wheel (or Sport) the car lurched forward uncomfortably.

Er yes....DRLs are required.

[TuffLittleUnit]

Odd, I haven't noticed a difference - I know the little tricks you're referring to with braking (classic use case being a long run up to a red traffic light when you know it's about to change and you don't want start/stop to kick in for the 1 or 2 seconds that you're stationary). My personal technique has been to apply the brake gently and I'm sure this still works on my LCI (2.0d SE with auto box).

Unrelated but the other thing I love on the LCI is that if you slow gently then the parking sensors automatically switch on - no need to wait to go into reverse or press the button.

[Rich4]

Originally Posted by clivem2

I find the start/stop is much improved over my 2011 X3. My LCI engages start/stop less often whereas my 2011 did it infuriatingly often. I find my LCI moves away smoothly when I press the accelerator, with my 2011 I had to tweek the steering wheel instead of pressing the accelerator to start the engine - if I didn't us the the steering wheel (or Sport) the car lurched forward uncomfortably.

Er yes....DRLs are required.

clivem2 — Are you really saying that it is possible for the engine not to cut out when you come to a stop? Using the pre-LCI technique of releasing pressure on the brake pedal immediately the car stopped just doesn’t work at all now, even with a very slow stopping action. If you are saying you can actually prevent start/stop from engaging, than maybe it can be sorted by my dealer adjusting the sensitivity of the brake pedal pressure. I would appreciate your confirmation that you are able to keep engine running.
I completely agree that the engine restart is so much quicker and smoother than before, but I would prefer to have control of it as I had in the 2013 model.

[clivem2]

Originally Posted by Rich4

clivem2 — Are you really saying that it is possible for the engine not to cut out when you come to a stop? Using the pre-LCI technique of releasing pressure on the brake pedal immediately the car stopped just doesn’t work at all now, evening with a very slow stopping action. If you are saying you can actually prevent start/stop from engaging, than maybe it can be sorted by my dealer adjusting the sensitivity of the brake pedal pressure. I would appreciate your confirmation that you are able to keep engine running.
I completely agree that the engine restart is so much quicker and smoother than before, but I would prefer to have control of it as I had in the 2013 model.

With my 2011 model I couldn't prevent the start/stop working via the brake pedal so I'd hit the disable button instead. With the LCI it's not that I'm controlling when it operates, what I'm finding is that the software decides less often to stop the engine, presumably due to the condition of the battery. This could be a characteristic of the 35d in that maybe a drains the battery faster than your 30d - but I doubt it.

[Rich4]

Originally Posted by TuffLittleUnit

Odd, I haven't noticed a difference - I know the little tricks you're referring to with braking (classic use case being a long run up to a red traffic light when you know it's about to change and you don't want start/stop to kick in for the 1 or 2 seconds that you're stationary). My personal technique has been to apply the brake gently and I'm sure this still works on my LCI (2.0d SE with auto box).

Unrelated but the other thing I love on the LCI is that if you slow gently then the parking sensors automatically switch on - no need to wait to go into reverse or press the button.

I would really appreciate if you could check and confirm that you can actually keep the engine running as before. I know it's a technique thing, but with mine there is just no way to do it as engine cuts out before I can even release break pressure!

Yes, the cameras are far better now, and so are other features - I just love it, except for a couple of issues, including my start/stop

[Rich4]

Originally Posted by clivem2

With my 2011 model I couldn't prevent the start/stop working via the brake pedal so I'd hit the disable button instead. .

Thanks for your response. That is strange, and maybe suggests that it could be an adjustment thing that they can rectify/alter, or on the other hand, that it just does not work on the larger 3.0 and 3.5 engines? I have to say when I mentioned it to the salesman on collecting the car, he was surprised and said they could look it when it goes back for another issue. However, the sales guys are not very technically minded and I wanted to prepare, before I went back.

Perhaps other LCI owners would care to comment?

[clivem2]

I believe also X3s get different battery sizes depending on options installed. Maybe they've de-rated the battery for the LCI. This or some other LCI changes could well be behind the less frequent start/stop I experience. The software management of these cars is a minefield.

[xdriv3]

I have LCI. I tried some braking tricks to prevent ASS from kicking in.. no dice.

My trick is to turn the wheel at least half a turn either side to keep ASS from activating.

[Rich4]

Originally Posted by xdriv3

I have LCI. I tried some braking tricks to prevent ASS from kicking in.. no dice.

My trick is to turn the wheel at least half a turn either side to keep ASS from activating.

Thanks, will try that though it needs precise timing as my engine switches off as it stops - not even one second later. It might worry drivers either side or the cop behind me!

[WorksopOWLS]

Is there not an auto stop start button next to the main On / Off Switch. There is on my manual version

[PerryGunn]

IMO, Auto Stop/Start is one of the worst 'features' ever to be added to a car, it's been developed solely to eek out a few extra percentage points in the CO2 emissions tables without worrying too much about the extra strain it places on other components in the longer term.

The manufacturers claim that they've beefed up the batteries and starter motor to cope with this additional load but it appears that they've only beefed them up enough to avoid lots of in-warranty failures. Sticking with BMW, the initial models of auto stop/start cars are now around 7 years old and, if you do a bit of googling, you'll find plenty of examples of what would normally be considered premature battery and starter motor failure

I've coded our F25 so that auto start/stop is normally disabled and we have to actively switch it on if we wish to use it.

[ianfp]

I sometimes press the deactivate button as soon as I start the engine. If that feature is no longer available, I would flip the gear stick to sport mode when you stop and this prevents the engine from turning off. I have been doing this recently and it is quite useful as there are occasions when I let the engine switch off if the traffic looks to be stationary for a long time.

[clivem2]

I quite like start/stop. Even with the 6 pot diesels there's a slight vibration when the car is idling. It's so much more serene with the engine off. It's easy to defeat if you don't like it.

[robwoods]

I agree with clivem2, I like auto-start-stop, don't understand the obsession with disabling it.

[TuffLittleUnit]

Originally Posted by Rich4

I would really appreciate if you could check and confirm that you can actually keep the engine running as before. I know it's a technique thing, but with mine there is just no way to do it as engine cuts out before I can even release break pressure!

Yes, the cameras are far better now, and so are other features - I just love it, except for a couple of issues, including my start/stop

Turns out I'm wrong - last night I braked very lightly several times but every time I came to a stop the engine turned off. I've always been happy with start/stop so never really tried to fight it and therefore haven't notice the changed behaviour on the LCI.

[nyalpine90]

just press the button to left, it deactivates the feature

[Renaud]

Originally Posted by nyalpine90

just press the button to left, it deactivates the feature

[JSY]

Originally Posted by Rich4

Thanks for your response. That is strange, and maybe suggests that it could be an adjustment thing that they can rectify/alter, or on the other hand, that it just does not work on the larger 3.0 and 3.5 engines? I have to say when I mentioned it to the salesman on collecting the car, he was surprised and said they could look it when it goes back for another issue. However, the sales guys are not very technically minded and I wanted to prepare, before I went back.

Perhaps other LCI owners would care to comment?

My ASS is activated no matter how lightly I press on the breaks to come to a stop. My LCI kicks it in when the car stops regardless of pressure on the break pedal. (35i).

I don't mind it, but sometimes when it's stop and go frequently, it gets annoying. However, the logic for it seems to be pretty good. It seems to know not to activate if I only move up a little bit.

Like others have suggested, the only guaranteed way seems to be moving to the Sport mode to disable it while the car is running.

[TuffLittleUnit]

Originally Posted by nyalpine90

just press the button to left, it deactivates the feature

OP knows that Think he's happy to have start/stop on but just wants the ability to over-ride when he knows it's a very short pause. On the original F25 this was possible with gentle braking but now it seems start/stop always kicks in (once the engine is warmed up etc)

There are plenty of ways to re-start - twitch the steering wheel, tap the accelerator, move the gear shift to sport etc but I think he's trying to avoid the stop in the first place but not all the time.

Correct Rich4 ?