silly question

pacismakaveli · Oct 11, 2004

What exactly does ASC do? and when should i have it on?

codex57 · Oct 11, 2004

It's basically your traction control. I think it stands for automatic stability control or something like that. Basically, leave it on at all times unless you're trying to get a fast drag racing time or at the track.

Kirby · Oct 11, 2004

ASC uses the antilock brake sensors on each wheel to make sure that all 4 wheels are spinning at about the same RPM. If a rear wheel is spinning faster than the others, the computer says "DOH! He's spinning a wheel!" and modulates the fuel supply, reducing the power to the wheels, to eliminate the spin.

As Codex said, leave it on unless you have a good reason to turn it off - racing, track, stuck in the mud or snow, etc.

MrElussive · Oct 11, 2004

Keep in mind that the ASC system is always on and running every time you start your car. Only when it detects slippage, will it "kick in" and that warning light comes up when you push the button, meaning "caution the system is now off so becareful."

pacismakaveli · Oct 11, 2004

when i press the asc... a sign ({!} with a triangle) comes on between my spedometer and rpm. The sign is not there when i turn the car on...do i have to push that button everytime i want it on? or is it on automatically??? how do i check???

thanks

theBMWenthusiast · Oct 11, 2004

it should be on automatically and when you see that triangle with the ! in the middle it should mean its off, i think

CaveDweller · Oct 11, 2004

pacismakaveli said:

It is on when you start the car. It is off if you see that triangle with the !. You have turned off all traction and stability control if you see that warning triangle and the brake light indicator on the dash is lit yellow.

pacismakaveli · Oct 11, 2004

Thanks for the info...is there anything i can do myself to check if its working?

codex57 · Oct 11, 2004

Sure, hose down the area around your rear tires. Make sure it's good and wet. See if you can park in a puddle if possible. Than, get in and floor it. Your car should struggle to gain traction and the light should turn on and you should feel it.

Any particular reason you don't think it's working?

pacismakaveli · Oct 11, 2004

^^well, the drive is perfect except for a few roads....
when i driven on this one road...the steering tilts, and when i brake it steers to the left. Now this does not happen at all roads, just this and maybe 1 other....what i notice is that the road is not perfectly flat..!!!??????!?!? this has been bothering me for a while.

Also, my previous car (95 integra ls) did the same thing, but the integra had an accident, so i knew the reason....but my bimmer is doing the same thing.....but only on the road that is "wavy" and uneven...!!??!!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

Kirby · Oct 11, 2004

Some cars and tire combinations do this. My Volvo did it on a local highway in about a 1/2 mile section where the road was worn and rutted.

codex57 · Oct 11, 2004

If there's a problem, it would be a suspension, alignment, tire problem, etc. Something like that. ASC would have nothing to do with that.

If the road isn't flat though, it's prolly just the road. I mean, if there was a problem with your car, it would do that no matter how the road is like.

MrElussive · Oct 12, 2004

pacismakaveli said:

It's called the "tramline effect". It is when the power steering of the car and the tires find a new "track" in the road and they basically "wander off" to follow the new track. Just hold the wheel good and tight and counter-steer if the car starts to drift. This is not uncommon at all and is perfectly normal for the car to do.

pacismakaveli · Oct 12, 2004

really? so there is nothing to worry about? i guess thats good...lol

by the way, u know the 4321 gears....when should i drive on D, and when should i gear down to these other gears? [unsure]

codex57 · Oct 13, 2004

pacismakaveli said:

You only need those gears when you want to hold a lower gear for whatever reason. Typically, it's for racing or in the mountains to use engine braking and keep your brakes from overheating. You really don't need to mess with them though if you don't know what they're for. The BMW tranny is sophisticated enough.

pacismakaveli · Oct 13, 2004

oooh.....so lets say im at a red light, and there's a honda thats wants to "race"...lol...what gear should i place myself in? [paranoid]

codex57 · Oct 13, 2004

pacismakaveli said:

Move the gear shift lever over into Sport mode. Turn off ASC (hold the button down for more than 5 seconds). Don't need to mess with the individual gears. So I've heard... [paranoid]

andreyiv · Oct 13, 2004

I don't know about e46s but on my e36, the manual shifting takes some time. I mean, if I floor it and lets say move the lever over at about 3k rpm in first to second, it would actually shift no sooner than 3.5k rpm. If I want to actually manualy shift, I would have to shift the actual lever before i actually want the tranny to shift. I wouldn't want to use that during racing because I would want to shift near redline and I don't really want the tranny to keep my engine at redline for more time than it is supposed to be there or shift earlier than needed. My best guess that for racing you would just want to keep it in the sport mode.

Average Jae · Oct 13, 2004

even in the manual mode, the tranny will shift for you once you get near the redline. but here's the thing, even if it is in the "manual" mode, it still is an automatic, so it'll hunt for the right time to up/down shift for you, which does take some time..

one of the good uses for the manual mode (besides the ones mentioned by codex) is when merging into highway from a long loop. this way you can hold your gear and get the most power for merging. (auto will prolly down shift into 4th or some times the over drive gear since you'll be coasting a bit)

pacismakaveli · Oct 13, 2004

sport mode???

what gear is that?
[pray]

i dont have stepronic...just auto

silly question

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