Automatic Engine Start/Stop

[RacerMDR]

I had my first experience of the Auto engine start/stop feature on a 1series today (118d)

It wasn't as bad as I expected........do these features really not cause any issue to the car? It seems very odd. Particulary in slow moving traffic, where every time you stop the engines stops......but if you free wheel (i know bad habit but it was a queue in traffic down hill) it starts up again on it's own.

So you basically are in a situation where you either stop properly, out of gear (handbrake optional) and engine dies - then let the car roll engine comes on, off every five minutes.

Or you have to keep the clutch depressed so it doesn't cut engine.

Or obviously you turn the feature off in that scenario.

Other than that it seemed to work really well - zero lag when waiting at light with engine off.......as soon as clutch dipped to get going, engine fires up.

Do you have any realtime figures for if this autostop feature improves real world fuel consumption.

Other than that - quite like the 1series.........anyone got a good reason why I shouldn't buy one for a runabout? (other than the fact they seem to really hold their value with 10k for a 50/60k example)

Edited by RacerMDR on Wednesday 25th May 15:21

[StottyZr]

Apparently if the engine is off for more than 2seconds it is saving fuel. And I believe the start/stop function only begins working once the engine is up to temperature?

I havent heard any problems with the systems yet and they've been common for the last couple of years so I would expect it doesn't cause any engine problems.

I'm a little dissapointed with the free rolling engine start up though, I do it quite often to save fuel and it always annoys me that my engine is still on tickover. I presumed the BMW's wouldn't start the engine unless a pedal was depressed. That information has put me off them a little bit

[Acheron]

I've often wondered about these people who turn the engine off themselves in traffic lights. Are they really saving any fuel at all by doing this? Im not talking about 20 minute haoldups either, just the standard rush hour few minutes sat still.

[Amateurish]

When the engine turns off you lose power steering, hence the engine restarts when freewheeling.

Pretty sure start stop operates even when engine is cold although not when outside temperature is cold.

[kambites]

StottyZr said:

I'm a little dissapointed with the free rolling engine start up though, I do it quite often to save fuel and it always annoys me that my engine is still on tickover. I presumed the BMW's wouldn't start the engine unless a pedal was depressed. That information has put me off them a little bit

If the engine isn't running, you have next to no brakes and steering. It would be rather dangerous to let the car coast without the engine running.

[kambites]

Acheron said:

I've often wondered about these people who turn the engine off themselves in traffic lights. Are they really saving any fuel at all by doing this? Im not talking about 20 minute haoldups either, just the standard rush hour few minutes sat still.

If everything is warm, the general consensus seems to be that with a fuel injected engine, it's worth turning it off for anything over about five or ten seconds.

[RacerMDR]

StottyZr said:

Apparently if the engine is off for more than 2seconds it is saving fuel. And I believe the start/stop function only begins working once the engine is up to temperature?

I havent heard any problems with the systems yet and they've been common for the last couple of years so I would expect it doesn't cause any engine problems.

I'm a little dissapointed with the free rolling engine start up though, I do it quite often to save fuel and it always annoys me that my engine is still on tickover. I presumed the BMW's wouldn't start the engine unless a pedal was depressed. That information has put me off them a little bit

ok - it was my first effort in the car.........so I could have been doing something wrong.

i'm 99% certain that when I was 'freewheeling' with no pedals depressed, starting from a position where the engine was off (in auto mode) - once above about 2/3mph it fired up on it's own.

I don't know how to turn the system off (as it's a courtesy car and I haven't tried) - but i'm sure it is possible to turn it off.

So don't let it put you off........you'd just have to turn it off in that scenario.

It does work really well though, in general.

[GSP]

No doubt loads of people will come on saying its ugly but I don't think it is.



I've got a 120D, the feature is ok, it's amazing how many numbskulls shout and laugh at you for stalling

The car is brilliant, I've had mine 6 months and it's going in for it's 18k service on Friday.

Mine is eating tyres though but I do give it hell everywhere.

It goes very well, and handles fantastics.

The only thing that may not be to everyones taste is the MSport suspension with 18" runflats. It can be a bit embarassing taking passengers.

[RacerMDR]

kambites said:

StottyZr said:

I'm a little dissapointed with the free rolling engine start up though, I do it quite often to save fuel and it always annoys me that my engine is still on tickover. I presumed the BMW's wouldn't start the engine unless a pedal was depressed. That information has put me off them a little bit

If the engine isn't running, you have next to no brakes and steering. It would be rather dangerous to let the car coast without the engine running.

that's correct Kambites........

but.......with the system off - you can freewheel with the engine running (or with the Clutch depressed - as that appears to be one of the triggers to firing up the engine or not shutting it down)

[RacerMDR]

GSP said:

No doubt loads of people will come on saying its ugly but I don't think it is.



I've got a 120D, the feature is ok, it's amazing how many numbskulls shout and laugh at you for stalling

The car is brilliant, I've had mine 6 months and it's going in for it's 18k service on Friday.

Mine is eating tyres though but I do give it hell everywhere.

It goes very well, and handles fantastics.

The only thing that may not be to everyones taste is the MSport suspension with 18" runflats. It can be a bit embarassing taking passengers.

I did 40 miles in the one I borrowed this morning..........it's not fast by any stretch - but it's perfectly ok. Chassis I though was very good. Front turn in was great......couldn't get poweroversteer with the TC off even.......but i'm sure you could get it sideways on the brakes or in the wet.

I really liked it as an everyday mile muncher - great seating position, I was getting 50mpg reasonably easily....... the controls were very similar to my M3.

Anyone know if they come with SAT NAV as an option?

I'm genuinely tempted as my everyday snotter is on 118k miles and is fked

[kambites]

RacerMDR said:

that's correct Kambites........

but.......with the system off - you can freewheel with the engine running (or with the Clutch depressed - as that appears to be one of the triggers to firing up the engine or not shutting it down)

In the ones I've driven, the car moving triggers it so even if you're in neutral with the clutch up, it'll still into life if you start to roll.

[bennyboydurham]

Presumably you lose air conditioning when the engine is off? I can't imagine that would be much fun on a boiling hot day. Or does the compressor run off the battery for a while?

[sebhaque]

To turn the start/stop off in the 1er the button is on the bottom of the dash just above the ashtray - it's got a circular arrow and an A in the circle - prod the button and the s/s goes away.

I do love my 120d, it's a nice car to drive, nice place to sit, and it's pretty good on fuel too so I'm happy. Residuals are pretty favourable too.

I'm actually considering selling mine as I want to just get one car (M3 or similar) now - send me a pm if you're tempted (I'll even throw in my Tomtom as it hasn't got in built sat nav )

ETA: When the engine stops the air con isn't as powerful although on very hot days when I've had it on full at 18C the engine starts itself quicker than usual to keep you cool. Another little feature it's got is there's a button on the dash that, if you're parked up somewhere with the engine off and fancy some heat, it'll pull in residual hot air from the engine bay to keep you toasty.

[renrut]

So do they only turn off the engine when you put it in neutral? Not sure I'd have much use for it then as I'm stopped long enough to even bother putting it into neutral maybe once a journey.

[kambites]

renrut said:

So do they only turn off the engine when you put it in neutral? Not sure I'd have much use for it then as I'm stopped long enough to even bother putting it into neutral maybe once a journey.

Stationary and in neutral with the clutch up, in my experience.

[RacerMDR]

kambites said:

RacerMDR said:

that's correct Kambites........

but.......with the system off - you can freewheel with the engine running (or with the Clutch depressed - as that appears to be one of the triggers to firing up the engine or not shutting it down)

In the ones I've driven, the car moving triggers it so even if you're in neutral with the clutch up, it'll still into life if you start to roll.

yep - that's what it was doing for me too..........but you can turn the feature off though ? So engine would just stay running in that scenario?

[kambites]

RacerMDR said:

yep - that's what it was doing for me too..........but you can turn the feature off though ? So engine would just stay running in that scenario?

You can turn off the entire auto-stop thing but you have to do it every time you get in the car because it defaults to on every time you turn the ignition on.

[RacerMDR]

sebhaque said:

To turn the start/stop off in the 1er the button is on the bottom of the dash just above the ashtray - it's got a circular arrow and an A in the circle - prod the button and the s/s goes away.

I do love my 120d, it's a nice car to drive, nice place to sit, and it's pretty good on fuel too so I'm happy. Residuals are pretty favourable too.

I'm actually considering selling mine as I want to just get one car (M3 or similar) now - send me a pm if you're tempted (I'll even throw in my Tomtom as it hasn't got in built sat nav )

ETA: When the engine stops the air con isn't as powerful although on very hot days when I've had it on full at 18C the engine starts itself quicker than usual to keep you cool. Another little feature it's got is there's a button on the dash that, if you're parked up somewhere with the engine off and fancy some heat, it'll pull in residual hot air from the engine bay to keep you toasty.

how funny - i'm going in the other direction. Had my M3 (which I love) for 12k miles and 10 months.......I do ALOT of miles though........so I have a snotter diesel streon. Needs replacing.

The M3 is expensive to run and service - I didn't feel I wanted to do 600 miles a week in the M3 for fuel, depreciation and servicing costs (just paid 1k for 30k oil change, engine, gearbox, diff and plugs)

Hence me looking at the 1 series as best of both worlds. I am keeping the M3 though - it's too good not to!

[GSP]

RacerMDR said:

I did 40 miles in the one I borrowed this morning..........it's not fast by any stretch - but it's perfectly ok. Chassis I though was very good. Front turn in was great......couldn't get poweroversteer with the TC off even.......but i'm sure you could get it sideways on the brakes or in the wet.

I really liked it as an everyday mile muncher - great seating position, I was getting 50mpg reasonably easily....... the controls were very similar to my M3.

Anyone know if they come with SAT NAV as an option?

I'm genuinely tempted as my everyday snotter is on 118k miles and is fked

Satnav is a £1500 option.

The 118d feels a bit restricted, my girlfriend had one as a hire car while her car was being fixed. It feels very similar to the Cooper D and runs out of puff straight away.

If you spent a bit more and got the 120 or 123 you would have no problems getting it sideways in the dry if that's what your after. I guess it depends on what you consider to be fast though. It's no sports car but the 120d will happily sit at 90+ in the outside lane, and 7.5sec to 60 for the 120d is going alright by my books. It's not fireblade performance but for a run around it fun enough.

[kambites]

GSP said:

Satnav is a £1500 option.

£1500? One thousand five hundred pounds? For a ten quid receiver, a little screen and 100 quid's worth of map licences?