"Secret" car features.

[CraigyMc]

RicksAlfas said:

CraigyMc said:

giantpanda said:

BMW F30, hold down unlock on the key fob and all of the windows wind down slightly handy on hot days when walking back to the car. IIRC on BMW E90s, holding down the lock button sets off the car alarm?

Holding down unlock winds the windows down on most cars, on some cabrios it opens the roof.
Holding down the lock button on my e90 just locks the car then makes my thumb sore after a while

My E90 was a similar age to yours, and it wound the windows down and opened the sunroof on unlock and closed them on lock.

Requoted for context, which is that holding down the lock button doesn't set off the alarm.

[Mr2Mike]

CGJ0 said:

Argh! And there was me genuinely interested in trying to read about some "easter eggs" with ease!

Edited by CGJ0 on Thursday 14th July 09:19

You sound like the life and soul of the party. Do you speak with an adenoidal voice at all?

[C70R]

giantpanda said:

BMW F30, hold down unlock on the key fob and all of the windows wind down slightly handy on hot days when walking back to the car. IIRC on BMW E90s, holding down the lock button sets off the car alarm?

My e46 (and many others) does this, as does my 2000-model CLK. It was a simple, programmable option at the factory (or via someone with the right software) on the BMW.

Edited by C70R on Thursday 14th July 10:12

[Jimmy Recard]

w201 said:

The original freelander had a great feature of if you drive near a mobile phone mast or radio tower the car sets off the immobiliser, even if you're driving.... Just I case someone is trying to mimic the key fob...

Other Land Rover products of that era got upset by things like that too. There are loads of reports of people leaving P38 Range Rovers near phone masts and finding that it's lifted/dropped the suspension and locked the immobiliser and similar.

[Wills2]

The Mad Monk said:

Wills2 said:

T16OLE said:

Wills2 said:

Something I didn't realise about my car is if you're in a high gear at low speed (in manual mode), if you press the pedal down to the bottom and then flick the downshift paddle it will change down to the lowest gear, i.e from 7th to 2nd in one flick.

Quite neat that.

It's called kickdown

Yes very good, but it's the way you summon the feature in S mode that was the point.

But thanks for the insight....

Why isn't the lowest gear called 1st?

Because if you're in 7th in my car and the gearbox drops to 1st it will eat itself.

[rscott]

The factory fit Bose sound system in my MX-5 changes the audio profile when the roof is down, boosting the treble slightly to compensate for the completely different acoustics.

[JordanTurbo]

One I only found out recenty in my Discovery 2 with climate control.

If you push the recirculation button, it puts the vents into recirculate mode as normal. However, If you hold the button down for 3 seconds it will then give a conformation beep. The result is the same but after 5 minutes it will automaticly return the vents to external mode.

[The Don of Croy]

The E84 X1 I bought secondhand has 'Performance Control' fitted - at a cost of £100 on the original invoice.

It's a software feature that apparently enhances the acceleration on limited traction surfaces...on a car with AWD? Just how would you know if it's fitted? There's no button, no indicator - just a line on the invoice...and the usual array of standard anti-slip + anti-yaw + anti this and anti that.

[Tyre Tread]

DervVW said:

Tyre Tread said:

If I leave the windows open on my car and it rains they close automatically.

It's a Skoda

You must have auto lights and auto wipers too

Yup.

And if I fart, the windows open.

[Trabi601]

DervVW said:

Tyre Tread said:

If I leave the windows open on my car and it rains they close automatically.

It's a Skoda

You must have auto lights and auto wipers too

Nah, it's water getting into the comfort control module

[shep1001]

My BMW has indicators apparently, still not found them though......

[GC8]

talksthetorque said:

talksthetorque said:

Posting a post which is the type of post poster is complaining about.
It's not 10000 spoons when all you need is a knife, but it's not far off.

Firstly, I'd like to apologise about quoting this line from Alannis Morrisette.
She was not a great purveyor of Irony.

Quoting Alanis Morrisette when talking about irony: now THAT'S ironic!

[Jimmy Recard]

M4cruiser said:

This indicator thing reminds me of the Corsa (2007-2015) and the similar age Astra which had indicators with a secret "off" switch you just couldn't find. So after indicating you would be going left left left right right right left etc for the rest of your journey.
The system was so good that BMW added it to the 1 series and the Mini mark 2.
I hate it ...

Imagine the left indicators are flashing. Flick the stalk as if to activate the right indicators.

This will cancel it. I know it's very difficult to work out, but it's really the same as cars that hold the indicator stalk in place.
I like it. Very easy and no clicking stalk.

I use the endlessly variable wiper intervals in Vauxhalls all the time.

I've also found that a Vectra with rain-sensing wipers will close the windows if it's left with them open and it starts to rain. I think that's a pretty great feature.

[Silent1]

The Don of Croy said:

The E84 X1 I bought secondhand has 'Performance Control' fitted - at a cost of £100 on the original invoice.

It's a software feature that apparently enhances the acceleration on limited traction surfaces...on a car with AWD? Just how would you know if it's fitted? There's no button, no indicator - just a line on the invoice...and the usual array of standard anti-slip + anti-yaw + anti this and anti that.

It's basically an electronic diff:

http://www.bmw.com.al/al/en/newvehicles/x1/x1/2009...

[Gav147]

The auto dipping passenger side mirror on E92 BMW when you put it in reverse, great little idea but annoying at times.... Over 6 months before I realised you can switch it on and off by moving the wing mirror adjustment button, if it is set to adjust the passenger side mirror will dip, move it to adjust drivers side and it doesn't

[JordanTurbo]

100SRV said:

Motormatt said:

Another feature I presume is for use in extreme cold is the ability to start it without the key (and no, its not keyless!) Start the car as normal. Stop it, remove the key, start it again within 30 seconds and you can now leave it running, lock it and walk away with the key in your pocket. I have no idea how an insurance company would deal with a theft under these circumstances as technically the vehicle was locked and the owner would have both keys.

Bathrobe/Breakfast mode - quite popular in the colder states of North America. It means you can let the car warm up on a frosty morning while you finish your breakfast. IIRC it was a "new" feature on Discovery 2 when launched.

The "feature" is a bit less technical on the Discovery 2 though.

In short it involves turning the engine on using the ignition, and then yanking the fob. At which point it detaches and leaves the key blade behind in the barrel



It worked at the time, but now with the vehicle and keys getting old the blades are almost always too loose in the fobs. Meaning they have a tendacy to fall out and get lost.

[graham22]

Gav147 said:

The auto dipping passenger side mirror on E92 BMW when you put it in reverse, great little idea but annoying at times.... Over 6 months before I realised you can switch it on and off by moving the wing mirror adjustment button, if it is set to adjust the passenger side mirror will dip, move it to adjust drivers side and it doesn't

Isn't it the other way, leave in on driver's side & it auto dips, leave on passenger side & it doesn't?

[Gav147]

graham22 said:

Gav147 said:

The auto dipping passenger side mirror on E92 BMW when you put it in reverse, great little idea but annoying at times.... Over 6 months before I realised you can switch it on and off by moving the wing mirror adjustment button, if it is set to adjust the passenger side mirror will dip, move it to adjust drivers side and it doesn't

Isn't it the other way, leave in on driver's side & it auto dips, leave on passenger side & it doesn't?

Could be... not going outside to check though lol

[Gompo]

graham22 said:

Isn't it the other way, leave in on driver's side & it auto dips, leave on passenger side & it doesn't?

You're right. For some reason my passenger mirror sometimes moves by itself, so it's always switched to that side. On my 1 Series, anyway.

[stewjohnst]

On my outlander, if you pull the screenwash for a brief second instead of holding it down, it enters an automatic mode where it jets the screen five times intermittently instead of one long burst, avoiding it wasting/getting screenwash splattered by the wipers when they swing through the jets.